Australia vs England, 4th Test at Melbourne, The Ashes, Dec 26 2025 - Full Scorecard
Australia 1st InningsÂ
| Batting | Â | R | B | M | 4s | 6s | SR | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| b Atkinson | 12 | 22 | 28 | 2 | 0 | 54.54 | |||
| c †Smith b Tongue | 10 | 23 | 46 | 1 | 0 | 43.47 | |||
| c Root b Tongue | 6 | 19 | 28 | 0 | 0 | 31.57 | |||
| b Tongue | 9 | 31 | 46 | 2 | 0 | 29.03 | |||
| c †Smith b Atkinson | 29 | 52 | 78 | 2 | 0 | 55.76 | |||
| c Crawley b Stokes | 20 | 35 | 55 | 0 | 0 | 57.14 | |||
| run out (Carse) | 17 | 34 | 60 | 2 | 0 | 50.00 | |||
| b Tongue | 35 | 49 | 65 | 7 | 0 | 71.42 | |||
| c Stokes b Carse | 1 | 6 | 12 | 0 | 0 | 16.66 | |||
| not out | 0 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | |||
| c Brook b Tongue | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | |||
| Extras | (b 4, lb 8, nb 1) | 13 | |||||||
| Total | 45.2 Ov (RR: 3.35) | 152 | |||||||
Fall of wickets: 1-27 (Travis Head, 6.1 ov), 2-31 (Jake Weatherald, 9.2 ov), 3-34 (Marnus Labuschagne, 11.5 ov), 4-51 (Steven Smith, 19.2 ov), 5-89 (Usman Khawaja, 28.5 ov), 6-91 (Alex Carey, 31.2 ov), 7-143 (Cameron Green, 42.1 ov), 8-152 (Mitchell Starc, 44.5 ov), 9-152 (Michael Neser, 45.1 ov), 10-152 (Scott Boland, 45.2 ov) • DRS | |||||||||
| Bowling | O | M | R | W | ECON | 0s | 4s | 6s | WD | NB |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 14 | 4 | 28 | 2 | 2.00 | 69 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
6.1 to TM Head, Atkinson strikes! It's a familiar demise for Head, looking to attack as ever, but this time the line from over the wicket is too tight for the cut, and the extra nip off the seam cramps his intentions. It's a fat under-edge into his stumps, and out of the blue, England have a wicket!. 27/1 28.5 to UT Khawaja, big appeal and England review! Root looks particularly eager for this one... it was angled into the body from round the wicket, and nipped away as Khawaja's hard hands pushed through the line... Smith gathered calmly, and sure enough, there's a spike! As ever with Snicko it isn't perfectly aligned to the action, but it's palpable all the same, and England have their fifth!. 89/5 | ||||||||||
| 12 | 3 | 42 | 1 | 3.50 | 53 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 1 | |
44.5 to MA Starc, super catch, Stokes running back from mid-off! Full at off stump, Starc plays a lofted drive but can't get the distance. Stokes turns, chases and makes a lot of ground to take it over his shoulder. 152/8 | ||||||||||
| 11.2 | 2 | 45 | 5 | 3.97 | 50 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
9.2 to J Weatherald, strangled down the leg side! Tongue's line and length isn't quite there yet, but his knack for breakthroughs certainly is! Very full, shaping into the legs, Weatherald aimed a flick across the line but managed only a feather through to the keeper! Smith gathered with a tumble, and the finger went straight up!. 31/2 11.5 to M Labuschagne, rinse and repeat, this time straight to Root at first slip! If Tongue's first wicket was bit of luck, this one is entirely to his credit! Seam canted towards the slips, angle coming into the stumps, Labuschagne is forced to play to defend his wicket but is done in by the movement off the pitch. The first hour is done, and extraordinarily, England are right in the mix now!. 34/3 19.2 to SPD Smith, through him, cleaned up! Tongue has three. Full, nipping back at the stumps, Smith goes for a booming drive and it zips past the inside edge to knock back middle stump. Loose from Smith, but an excellent delivery. 51/4 45.1 to MG Neser, cleaned up! Full, seams back, beats the big drive and takes the top of the stumps. Like the Smith delivery, that came back a long way. 152/9 45.2 to SM Boland, edged, taken! Good length outside off, Boland presses forward, the thick edge flies towards Brook at second slip who takes it nicely. Five wickets for Tongue, and that's finished in rush. He'll be on a hat-trick in the second innings. 152/10 | ||||||||||
| 8 | 1 | 25 | 1 | 3.12 | 35 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
31.2 to AT Carey, pinged off the pads to leg gully! Carey, one of Australia's main men of the series, falls to the leg trap for the second time in the series! Crawley with the safe hands as Stokes kept aiming full, into the toes, inviting the flick round the corner. England are in business now!. 91/6 | ||||||||||
England 1st InningsÂ
| Batting | Â | R | B | M | 4s | 6s | SR | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| c Smith b Starc | 5 | 14 | 24 | 0 | 0 | 35.71 | |||
| c Neser b Starc | 2 | 5 | 12 | 0 | 0 | 40.00 | |||
| c †Carey b Neser | 1 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 20.00 | |||
| c †Carey b Neser | 0 | 15 | 21 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | |||
| lbw b Boland | 41 | 34 | 59 | 2 | 2 | 120.58 | |||
| c Smith b Neser | 16 | 38 | 67 | 1 | 0 | 42.10 | |||
| b Boland | 2 | 3 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 66.66 | |||
| c †Carey b Boland | 5 | 10 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 50.00 | |||
| b Green | 28 | 35 | 45 | 3 | 1 | 80.00 | |||
| c Boland b Neser | 4 | 12 | 12 | 0 | 0 | 33.33 | |||
| not out | 1 | 9 | 27 | 0 | 0 | 11.11 | |||
| Extras | (lb 4, nb 1) | 5 | |||||||
| Total | 29.5 Ov (RR: 3.68) | 110 | |||||||
Fall of wickets: 1-7 (Ben Duckett, 2.3 ov), 2-8 (Jacob Bethell, 3.4 ov), 3-8 (Zak Crawley, 4.2 ov), 4-16 (Joe Root, 7.6 ov), 5-66 (Harry Brook, 16.5 ov), 6-68 (Jamie Smith, 18.2 ov), 7-77 (Will Jacks, 20.2 ov), 8-83 (Ben Stokes, 21.1 ov), 9-91 (Brydon Carse, 23.6 ov), 10-110 (Gus Atkinson, 29.5 ov) • DRS | |||||||||
| Bowling | O | M | R | W | ECON | 0s | 4s | 6s | WD | NB |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6 | 0 | 23 | 2 | 3.83 | 26 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
2.3 to BM Duckett, oh my, that's a ghastly way to go! Starc has his habitual early wicket, but that's just a lollipop of a catch to mid-on. The ball was shaping down leg and stopped in the pitch a fraction, but Duckett's balance was all awry. A loose poke, hands out in front of his pads, a leading edge, the simplest chance of the series to Neser. A bad week for England's opener gets worse still. 7/1 4.2 to Z Crawley, edged straight to second slip! Incredible scenes at the 'G! Starc serves up the wobble seam, and hammers that full length, attacking fourth stump from over the wicket. Crawley is obliged to place his bat down the line, the ball skims off the splice, straight to Smith. England's innings is in freefall yet again!. 8/3 | ||||||||||
| 10 | 1 | 45 | 4 | 4.50 | 41 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
3.4 to JG Bethell, edged to the keeper, England in chaos now! Well, actually, has he been given out lbw? It's round the wicket, shaping in on such a tight initial line. If there's no snick, he's plumb in front, if there is, it's a flick off the back pad and through to Carey! Bethell's much-vaunted arrival ends in early ignominy. 8/2 7.6 to JE Root, edged and gone this time! Root falls forward, unable to get to the pitch of Neser's awkward wobbly length. There's more movement away off the deck, a thin kiss off the outside edge, and Carey stoops to scoop it up! Root does for his second duck of the series, and he never looked like getting off the mark! It's a subtly different type of edge to the limp pokes that did for him off Cummins. This was harder hands, almost reaching for the ball out of desperation. 16/4 21.1 to BA Stokes, edged, taken at second slip! Sharp catch by Smith. Back of a length, angled across outside off, Stokes drives away from his body, flies quickly and Smith takes it above his head. 83/8 23.6 to BA Carse, top edge, well taken by Boland! Dropped in short, Carse looks to swing it over the leg side, sends the pull high into the air towards long leg where Boland does very well to hold on. The crowd behind him loved that. 91/9 | ||||||||||
| 9 | 1 | 30 | 3 | 3.33 | 39 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
16.5 to HC Brook, huge appeal and given! Length ball, nips back and Brook doesn't even consider a review. Boland on the board. Takes him on the knee roll. Top of the stumps, you'd reckon. 66/5 18.2 to JL Smith, through him, not for the first time! Pushed up a little fuller, nips back off the seam, scoots past the inside edge, glances the pad into middle stump. A major technical deficiency for Smith exposed again, but lovely bowling. 68/6 20.2 to WG Jacks, huge appeal, and given caught behind! Short of a length, climbs outside off stump, nips back past the inside edge and takes the nick through to Carey. 77/7 | ||||||||||
| 4 | 1 | 8 | 0 | 2.00 | 19 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | |
| 0.5 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0.00 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
29.5 to AAP Atkinson, all over! Fuller and straight, Atkinson gives himself room, misses the drive and is cleaned up. 110/10 | ||||||||||
Australia 2nd InningsÂ
| Batting | Â | R | B | M | 4s | 6s | SR | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| c †Smith b Atkinson | 6 | 17 | 27 | 1 | 0 | 35.29 | |||
| b Carse | 46 | 67 | 101 | 4 | 0 | 68.65 | |||
| b Stokes | 5 | 15 | 21 | 0 | 0 | 33.33 | |||
| c Root b Tongue | 8 | 18 | 30 | 1 | 0 | 44.44 | |||
| not out | 24 | 39 | 89 | 1 | 0 | 61.53 | |||
| c sub (OJ Pope) b Tongue | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | |||
| c Brook b Carse | 4 | 6 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 66.66 | |||
| c Brook b Stokes | 19 | 29 | 38 | 3 | 0 | 65.51 | |||
| c & b Carse | 0 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | |||
| c Root b Carse | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | |||
| c Crawley b Stokes | 7 | 10 | 12 | 1 | 0 | 70.00 | |||
| Extras | (b 4, lb 6, nb 3) | 13 | |||||||
| Total | 34.3 Ov (RR: 3.82) | 132 | |||||||
Fall of wickets: 1-22 (Scott Boland, 6.1 ov), 2-40 (Jake Weatherald, 10.5 ov), 3-61 (Marnus Labuschagne, 17.1 ov), 4-82 (Travis Head, 20.6 ov), 5-83 (Usman Khawaja, 21.3 ov), 6-88 (Alex Carey, 22.5 ov), 7-119 (Cameron Green, 30.5 ov), 8-120 (Michael Neser, 31.5 ov), 9-121 (Mitchell Starc, 31.6 ov), 10-132 (Jhye Richardson, 34.3 ov) • DRS | |||||||||
| Bowling | O | M | R | W | ECON | 0s | 4s | 6s | WD | NB |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5 | 1 | 20 | 1 | 4.00 | 22 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
6.1 to SM Boland, edged, taken! Boland goes. Back of a length, in the channel just outside off, draws him into playing, good catch by Smith as the ball was dying on him. 22/1 | ||||||||||
| 11 | 3 | 34 | 4 | 3.09 | 49 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | |
20.6 to TM Head, bowled him with a peach! That's one heck of a nut from Carse! Pitching on leg stump, nipping and climbing off the scrambled seam, past the edge of Head's bat to ping the top of the off bail! Not quite in the same league as Harris to Cook in 2013-14, but if you saw that, you might have an idea. Head laughs in bewilderment as he leaves the stage. 82/4 22.5 to AT Carey, huge moment! Carey has a flirt at the angle coming across his bows... it's the wobble seam once more, the lift off the deck forces the batter to commit to his shot with an open face, and Brook swoops at second slip to prise out the sixth of the session!. 88/6 31.5 to MG Neser, what a catch! Full, angling into the stumps, Neser looking to work to the on side and gets a leading edge which flies to Carse's left. Grabs it one handed at full stretch. 120/8 31.6 to MA Starc, edged, taken at first slip! The extra ball does the trick. Short of a length, nips away off the seam, Starc's bat face closes and takes a thick edge to Root. What an over from Carse. 121/9 | ||||||||||
| 11 | 2 | 44 | 2 | 4.00 | 48 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 2 | |
17.1 to M Labuschagne, hits his length, fenced to first slip! Root scoops it up and is instantly up for the celebration, but Labuschagne isn't budging... now then, that definitely bobbles, but it's off Root's fingers! Marnus thought it had been grounded, but the third umpire determines that the fingers were under the ball! He's not amused by that one, but he has to go! Either way, it's an excellent ball from Tongue, hitting his handkerchief, ball angling in at the stumps, rising into the edge of the bat. Priceless timing, with the match slipping away from England. 61/3 21.3 to UT Khawaja, tucked up by the short ball, Khawaja holes out! Well now, this game has swung again! Round the wicket from Tongue, 139kph, into the body, and it's an uncomfortable reflexive pull, takes a top edge straight to Pope, the sub fielder, on the rope at fine leg!. 83/5 | ||||||||||
| 7.3 | 1 | 24 | 3 | 3.20 | 33 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
10.5 to J Weatherald, Left alone, and bowled! Full outside off, Weatherald in two minds whether to play or leave, takes the bat away at the last moment, the ball comes in with the angle and flicks the top of the stump. Thought he'd played it on at first look. 40/2 30.5 to C Green, edged, straight to second slip! Short outside off, Green keeps trying to get forward, reaches well away from the body and ends up guiding it to Brook at chest height. 119/7 34.3 to JA Richardson, carved high in the air, taken at cover! Short of a length, Richardson swings across the line, skies high off the top edge and it's a simple catch. 132/10 | ||||||||||
England 2nd Innings (T: 175 runs)
| Batting | Â | R | B | M | 4s | 6s | SR | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| lbw b Boland | 37 | 48 | 95 | 3 | 1 | 77.08 | |||
| b Starc | 34 | 26 | 35 | 4 | 1 | 130.76 | |||
| c Green b Richardson | 6 | 8 | 14 | 0 | 0 | 75.00 | |||
| c Khawaja b Boland | 40 | 46 | 75 | 5 | 0 | 86.95 | |||
| lbw b Richardson | 15 | 38 | 49 | 0 | 0 | 39.47 | |||
| not out | 18 | 22 | 43 | 3 | 0 | 81.81 | |||
| c †Carey b Starc | 2 | 9 | 14 | 0 | 0 | 22.22 | |||
| not out | 3 | 2 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 150.00 | |||
| Extras | (b 8, lb 10, nb 5) | 23 | |||||||
| Total | 32.2 Ov (RR: 5.50) | 178/6 | |||||||
Fall of wickets: 1-51 (Ben Duckett, 6.6 ov), 2-65 (Brydon Carse, 9.5 ov), 3-112 (Zak Crawley, 18.4 ov), 4-137 (Jacob Bethell, 24.3 ov), 5-158 (Joe Root, 28.4 ov), 6-165 (Ben Stokes, 31.2 ov) • DRS | |||||||||
| Bowling | O | M | R | W | ECON | 0s | 4s | 6s | WD | NB |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10 | 0 | 55 | 2 | 5.50 | 35 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 1 | |
6.6 to BM Duckett, yorker! Timber! Duckett's fun is done! It's been a priceless cameo, but it's ended with a superb delivery. A piledriver of a yorker, in at the toes, deflecting off the pad, into the stumps. Australia have their opening!. 51/1 31.2 to BA Stokes, Stokes hacks outside off, snicks to the keeper! His 13th dismissal to his nemesis... Stokes thought it was there for the huge mow, and maybe it was... but Starc rolled his fingers, got some grip off the deck, and Carey reached high in front of first slip to pouch the chance! Very good take to be fair, both feet off the ground.Surely not.... 165/6 | ||||||||||
| 8 | 1 | 54 | 0 | 6.75 | 25 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 0 | |
| 5.2 | 1 | 22 | 2 | 4.12 | 22 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 4 | |
9.5 to BA Carse, wiped high, high, high in the air! A huge hack across the length ball, a steepling outside edge spirals down to Green at deep third, whose bucket hands make no mistake. A qualified success from Carse... in that 14 runs were hewn from the requirement. Better now than at eight-down, I guess!. 65/2 28.4 to JE Root, nailed by the inswinger! Root won't get the chance to hit the winning runs, or will he? He's reviewing but this looked very adjacent! Umpire's call on leg stump! He was stuck in the crease, and it was brisk, late movement from Richardson. It's probably too little too late for Australia, but against this England team, who dares to presume!. 158/5 | ||||||||||
| 9 | 0 | 29 | 2 | 3.22 | 36 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
18.4 to Z Crawley, thumped on the shin, up goes the finger! Full and straight from over the wicket, Crawley is playing across the line... he reviews, but this looks very adjacent! BallTracker confirms that is smashing middle and leg! Now then.... 112/3 24.3 to JG Bethell, makes room to leg, crashes his cut into the covers, Khawaja pockets the chance! Still no fifty in this Test, but the end of a fine knock from the rookie. He wanted to remain aggressive, and backed himself to beat the infield, but couldn't find the angle. A good tumbling take to his right from a man who is clearly over his back issues. 137/4 | ||||||||||
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Close of Play
Fri, 26 Dec - day 1 - Australia 2nd innings 4/0 (Scott Boland 4*, Travis Head 0*, 1 ov)
Sat, 27 Dec - day 2 - England 2nd innings 178/6 (32.2 ov) - end of match
Match Flow
Day 1
Day 2
- Australia: 50 runs in 13.3 overs (81 balls), Extras 4
- Drinks: Australia - 51/2 in 14.0 overs (TM Head 28, M Labuschagne 7)
- Lunch: Australia - 98/6 in 25.0 overs (SPD Smith 16, C Green 6)
- Australia: 100 runs in 25.2 overs (154 balls), Extras 8
- Over 26.5: Review by England (Bowling), Decision Challenged - Wicket, Umpire - HDPK Dharmasena, Batter - SPD Smith (Struck down)
- Innings Break: Australia - 132/10 in 34.3 overs (SPD Smith 24)
- England 2nd innings
- Over 4.2: Review by Australia (Bowling), Decision Challenged - Wicket, Umpire - HDPK Dharmasena, Batter - Z Crawley (Struck down - Umpires Call)
- England: 50 runs in 6.5 overs (41 balls), Extras 2
- 1st Wicket: 50 runs in 41 balls (Z Crawley 15, BM Duckett 34, Ex 2)
- Over 10.2: Review by Australia (Bowling), Decision Challenged - Wicket, Umpire - HDPK Dharmasena, Batter - Z Crawley (Struck down)
- Tea: England - 77/2 in 12.0 overs (Z Crawley 22, JG Bethell 9)
- England: 100 runs in 15.5 overs (97 balls), Extras 7
- Over 18.4: Review by England (Batting), Decision Challenged - Wicket, Umpire - HDPK Dharmasena, Batter - Z Crawley (Struck down)
- Drinks: England - 141/4 in 26.0 overs (JE Root 12, HC Brook 0)
- England: 150 runs in 27.2 overs (166 balls), Extras 16
- Over 28.4: Review by England (Batting), Decision Challenged - Wicket, Umpire - HDPK Dharmasena, Batter - JE Root (Struck down - Umpires Call)
- Total attendance: 92,045
Match Details
| Melbourne Cricket Ground | |
| Toss | England, elected to field first |
| Series | |
| Season | 2025/26 |
| Player Of The Match | |
| Series result | Australia led the 5-match series 3-1 |
| Match number | Test no. 2615 |
| Hours of play (local time) | 10.30 start, Lunch 12.30-13.10, Tea 15.10-15.30, Close 17.30 |
| Match days | 26,27 December 2025 - day (5-day match) |
| Umpires | |
| TV Umpire | |
| Reserve Umpire | |
| Match Referee | |
| Points | England 12, Australia 0 |
Language
English
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