On Saturday, a struggling England won their first Test on Australian soil in 15 years, restoring their damaged pride with a defiant four-wicket victory and ending a chaotic fourth Ashes match in two days.
Following the fall of 20 wickets on the opening day, in front of a crowd of 92,045 at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, the excited tourists dismissed Australia for 132 shortly after lunch.
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The result left them chasing 175 points for victory, with Harry Brook unbeaten in 18 matches and Jamie Smith unbeaten in three, as they returned home with the loss of six wickets to loud cheers from the ‘Barmy Army’ of traveling fans.
Jacob Bethel contributed 40 and Zach Crowley 37.
England captain Ben Stokes said: “It feels good. It’s been a tough tour so far.”
“In the lead-up to the Test, with so many challenges ahead, a lot of credit must go to the players, staff and management for overcoming them all, performing and defeating a very good Australian team, who stayed focused on cricket.
“I’m very proud. We showed courage and were brave.”
England went into Melbourne under enormous pressure after suffering heavy defeats in the first three Tests, amid questions over their limited preparation and allegations of excessive drinking during a beach break midway through the series.
However, they ultimately achieved a good result and will head to Sydney for the fifth and final Test full of confidence.
England had not won a Test in Australia since Sydney in January 2011, with 16 losses and two draws, but openers Crawley and Ben Duckett had a clear aim of ending the losing streak – playing an ultra-aggressive ‘buzz ball’ style.
Duckett hit a boundary off Mitchell Starc in the first over and Crawley smashed Michael Nether for a six and a four on successive balls.
They delivered an opening partnership of a dizzying 50, but the next ball, Duckett, was bowled for 34 by a Stark yorker.
Fast bowler Brydon Kearse then stepped into the center as a surprise number three in place of Bethel.
However, England’s pinch-hitting experiment failed, with Kearse having just eight balls before letting Jay Richardson whiff on Cameron Green.
Crawley dropped his weight to Scott Borland after a hard knock and Bethel was caught by fellow bowler Usman Khawaja.
Richardson trapped Joe Root LBW for 15 and Starc scored two for Ben Stokes, but by that point only 10 runs had been needed, with Brook and Smith completing the job.
“It was a tricky game, a quick game,” Australia captain Steve Smith said.
“If I had scored another 50-60 in both innings, things might have been different. The wicket played as expected, but once the ball got soft, it didn’t behave at all the way I wanted it to.”
“When you look at 36 wickets falling in two days, you know it was probably a little more than intended,” he added of the MCG pitch.
criticized pitch
After an explosive opening day, Australia restarted 4-0 up in the second innings, dropping 20 wickets, with the hosts dismissed for 152 wickets and England dismissed for just 110.
This was the most wickets to fall on the first day of an Ashes Test since 1909, surpassing the 19 wickets fell on the first day of the series in Perth.
There was 10mm of grass on the track, which was a bowler’s dream, but many former greats criticized the pitch as being “too much” and “unfair to batsmen”.
Nightwatchman Boland outbid Gus Atkinson to wicketkeeper Smith, but the bowler quickly left the field with a tight grip on his left hamstring.
Josh Tan joined the attack with a hat-trick after taking Australia’s last two wickets on the opening day, while Jake Weatherald took three from a full ball.
Weatherald needed a decent knock to cement his place at the top of the order, but he failed again, bowled five times by Stokes, leaving a delivery that was barely returned.
Travis Head was joined by Marnus Labuschagne but only scored eight goals as Root took a slip of the tongue catch.
Head remained in good touch until he was bowled by Peach on a delivery that beat the outside edge from Kearse for 46, but momentum returned to England when Khawaja (0) and Alex Carey (4) were separated between nine balls.
After going into lunch at 98-6, Green, 19, became the seventh wicket to fall with the score at 119, taking a rising Stokes ball to Harry Brooke at slip.
Kearse sacked Nessel and Starc without scoring, Richardson scored 13 runs for the last four wickets to lose to Stokes, and Steve Smith remained unbeaten on 24.
