England rolled for 110 on chaotic day in Melbourne

On an almost farcical first day of the fourth Test at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, England's Ashes tour teetered on another crisis after being bowled out for 110 by Australia on an almost tumultuous first day. The 20 wickets to fall on the first day of an Ashes Test since 1909, and they have surpassed the 19th wickets on the second day of the first Test of this series in Perth. The 10mm long grass on the pitch, according to Steve Smith, who is standing in as Australia's captain, would mean batters would be on their game in the Boxing Day Test. Smith was right. His team was rushed out for 152, and then England was decimated in a single session after tea. There was still time for Australia to face one over their second innings before the game was over, but it was only the third time in Ashes history that the third innings of the match began on day one. The hosts are 4-0, leading by 46 runs. In 104 years, Perth was the first two-day Ashes Test in two days. Melbourne may be the second in a matter of five weeks. England's improved results with ball and in the field brought them a distant memory of the evening's commotion. Josh Tongue, a pace bowler, was sensational in his 5-45 win. However, England was bowling again before the day's end as their batting was flattened in 29. 5 overs. England were 8-3 and 16-4. Harry Brook's dance, swipe and miss at Mitchell Starc from his first ball seemed witless in the moment, but it was Brook''s audacity that saved England from complete implosion. Brook swatted 41, including two sixes. Ben Stokes and Gus Atkinson were the only other men to reach double figures. Michael Neser took four wickets, Scott Boland three, with the day's silliness summed up by Boland's appearance as the nightwatchman.

Christmas chaos at the G

Following England's abandonment of the Ashes inside three Tests and allegations of overebriation on their trip to Noosa, the tourists may have hoped that returning to playing cricket would bring some Christmas cheer to an incredibly miserable tour. England seemed to be having their best day of the series for two sessions, only to be rolled over in an evening of cricketing chaos. This was their lowest total and shortest completed innings since captain Stokes and coach Brendon McCullum took over more than three years ago. The suggestion of a dead rubber did nothing to dampen the spirit of an Australian Christmas tradition. If anything, the promise of more English pain boosted the Boxing Day crowd to 94,199, a record for a cricket match in Melbourne. The atmosphere at the start of England's innings, when it seemed that a wicket could fall every ball, was pulsating. The pitch sparked the helter-skelter reaction. It's also unknown if the conditions were too difficult for batting. Nonetheless, it made the situation all the more persuasive, and Australia ended with the upper hand as normal.

Australia flatten England again

Both teams have to put the Test's conditions into perspective. After Australia's struggles with the bat, there was a suspicion that England would find it difficult. What followed was pandemonium. Ben Duckett miscued Starc to mid-on and Zak Crawley edged the same bowler to second slip on either side of Jacob Bethell's Ashes debut yielding one run before he nicked Nes England were three down in 26 deliveries. If not for Brook, England may have been in for real humiliation. His first hack at Starc was ugly, but his coworkers were being dismissed for trying to protect. During a long-off for six and whip of Neser for another maximum, there was a touch of genius in his loft of Starc. Brook and Stokes combined for 50 runs in as many balls, but Boland pinned Brook across his stumps, causing Brook to walk across his legs to be pinned lbw by Boland. England lost five wickets for 25 runs at the start of the season. England was in dire circumstances from 91-9, but Atkinson and Tongue joined with the bat as they had with the ball. Atkinson was able to win by a precious 28 points on a slew of strikes. Cameron Green bowled him out of his place, but he then took the new ball in Australia's second innings. Boland, who mistakenly batted number 11 and opened on the same day as a Test match, was surrounded by all nine England fielders in catching positions. The fifth ball was just shy of the slip cordon, and another one for four made the most noise at the end of a wild day.

Tongue leads forlorn England improvement

This was an indication of the future of England's pace attack - the first time Tongue, Atkinson, and Brydon Carse had played in the same Test. They engineered a dramatic England show together, ensuring that the vital toss did not go missing. England found their fullest length of the story after Bar Carse's wayward spell with the new ball. They were backed up by effective trapping and Carse's direct-hit run out of Green in his sequel. Tongue skipped the first two Tests but showed promise when he was recalled for the third Test in Adelaide. His length was the longest of the England attack, and when Smith bowled Smith with a superb nip-backer, it brought an end to dismissing the Australian great in all four first-class innings against each other. Atkinson had to cut Travis Head, but Tongue was the beneficiary of a leg-side tickle by Jake Weatherald, and the same bowler discovered the edge of Marnus Labuschagne. Atkinson was mistakenly led by the leaden-footed Usman Khawaja, who was late for lunch, and the lead-foot was Stokes, curiously, did not use himself before the break, but the expert placement of Crawley at leg slip kept Alex Carey's flick. In a counter-punching stand of 50, Neser and Green threatened to withdraw the game from England, but only for Carse's death to shame Green's inability in setting off for a single. Tongue and Carse were able to mop up the tail after it was opened. Australia lost three wickets in four runs in three balls. It was nothing compared to the carnage that followed.