Australia lead England after 20 wickets fall at Boxing Day Ashes Test

Australia slightly ahead of England after frenetic opening day in which both teams were bowled out cheaply at the MCG.Published On 26 Dec 2025Australia finished marginally ‌on top at the end of a chaotic opening day of the fourth Ashes Test after an extraordinary ‍20 wickets fell in ‍front of a record crowd at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on Friday.Australia nightwatchman Scott Boland was four not out with Travis Head yet to score as the hosts went to stumps at four for no loss in their second innings, carrying a 46-run lead over England.Recommended Stories list of 3 itemslist 1 of 3The Ashes: Cricket’s Longest Argumentlist 2 of 3AFCON 2025: Egypt and South Africa prepare for blockbuster showdownlist 3 of 3Man Utd’s Bruno Fernandes ‘impossible’ to replace, says Amorimend of listWith England bowled out for 110 in reply ⁠to Australia’s first innings 152, it was the highest number of wickets in a single day at the MCG since a ​record 25 fell in the 1902 Ashes.Josh Tongue took a career-best 5-45 to skittle Australia on the ‍grassy pitch after England captain Ben Stokes won the toss and elected to field first, but the tourists’ batters were then guilty of an even more egregious collapse.The constant loss of wickets was watched by a crowd of 93,442, eclipsing the stadium’s previous record of 93,013 for ‍a day of cricket ⁠at the 2015 World Cup final.England’s Ben Stokes leaves the field after being dismissed on the opening day at the MCG [Martin Keep/AFP]England, who have already lost the series after three straight defeats, came into the match under a cloud following reports that some players had taken a “stag party” attitude to a trip to Noosa between the second and third tests.But they would have been well pleased with their work in the field early on, rattling through Australia in 45.2 overs to bring tea early.The alarm bells were soon ringing, however, as their top order collapsed with Australia’s seamers running riot.