England break 14-year drought with rare Ashes Test triumph

The Ashes series heads to Sydney with Australia leading 3-1 after England‘s action-packed victory over their arch-rival inside two days in Melbourne.

By Jonathan Healy, at the MCG

England have breathed new life into the Ashes and broken a drought of more than 14 years with a noteworthy four-wicket victory over Australia in the Boxing Day Test in Melbourne.

Ben Stokes’ side wrapped up the fourth Test of the series late on the second day at the MCG, with Harry Brook (18 not out) and Jamie Smith (three not out) at the crease at the end as England chased down 175 for victory with relative ease following a raft of low scores through the first three innings of the match.

England scored at more than five runs per over during their run chase and even promoted fast bowler Brydon Carse to bat at No.3 in the search for quick runs and still managed to score the highest score of the match in the fourth innings of the competition.

This was England’s first Test victory over Australia away from home since they won the fifth Test in Sydney in January 2011, breaking a drought of 5468 days and almost 15 years Down Under in the process as they reduced the series deficit on the hosts with one match remaining.

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England victory also boosts their chances of reaching the final of the ongoing ICC World Test Championship cycle, with the side increasing their win-loss percentage to 35.19 percent through the triumph despite still remaining in seventh place on the standings.

Australia remain in first place on the standings after the loss with an 85.71 percent, but their advantage at the top is reduced over second-placed New Zealand (77.78 percent) and third-placed South Africa (75 percent).

England’s victory may have come at a cost though, with key pacer Gus Atkinson injuring his hamstring early on the second day and in some doubt for the series finale in Sydney.

The fifth and final Test of the Ashes series commences at the Sydney Cricket Ground on January 4.

Australia XI:

Travis Head, Jake Weatherald, Marnus Labuschagne, Steve Smith(c), Usman Khawaja, Alex Carey(wk), Cameron Green, Michael Neser, Mitchell Starc, Jhye Richardson, Scott Boland

England XI:

Zak Crowley, Ben Duckett, Jacob Bethell, Joe Root, Harry Brook, Ben Stokes (c), Jamie Smith (wk), Will Jacks, Gus Atkinson, Brydon Carse, Josh Tongue

Steve Smith showered praise on England following their four-wicket victory over Australia in the fourth Ashes Test in Melbourne.

Considering that the tourists snatched the game away from the hosts, Smith told reporters afterwards, “I thought England came out today and played some really good cricket. They got the ball in the right areas and dismissed us.

“And then I thought the way they started with the bat was good. Obviously, they were really aggressive, and tried to break the back of a reasonably short chase on a tricky wicket.

“They got off to a bit of a flier. And a couple of their heavy blows kind of softened our seam quite a bit.

“Probably didn’t offer as much as it had for the rest of the game after that. So credit to them.”

England managed to discard Australia twice in two days, folding the hosts for 152 and 132 in the two innings.

Having set a target of 175 on Day 2, the visitors managed to chase down the total in 32.2 overs, with four wickets to spare.

Smith believes that it was England’s aggressive batting strategy that aided them to turn things around after three successive losses in the ongoing ICC World Test Championship series.

The guy with the most success on that wicket was probably Harry Brook. Running down the wicket, playing some rogue shots, and trying to get the bowlers off their lengths,” he said.

Brook was the leading run-getter for England in the first innings – notching a quickfire 41 off 34 deliveries. The England batting sensation was also unbeaten in the middle as they wrapped up a famous win.

Analyzing if his side could have borrowed a page out of the opposition’s book, Smith said, “Whether we could have been a bit more proactive and played a few more of those (attacking shots), that’s something we’ll talk about but in the end, it’s also a tricky one to do that.

“You want to try and dig in for your team, you want to extend a couple of those partnerships and maybe the ball would have gotten a bit softer and played a little easier. We never really got to that point in the game,” he added.

The result ended Australia’s unbeaten streak against England at home since 2011, which included 18 Test matches.

It was also a first loss for the two-time finalists in the ongoing WTC cycle. Australia had arrived into the Boxing Day Test on the back of six straight victories from as many appearances in the 2025/27 cycle.

“We would love to win every game and keep every streak going but like I said, England played really well today,” said Smith.

“We probably controlled the first half of the game yesterday and then they came back into the game today and took the game away from us.

“Especially the way (Zak) Crawley and (Ben) Duckett started, they got them off to a flier and softened the ball, which made a big difference.”

The two teams will go at it one final time this Ashes starting January 4 in Sydney.

Ben Stokes suggested the fourth Ashes Test wicket would face more scrutiny if it was played “somewhere else in the world” as the Melbourne Cricket Club braces for the International Cricket Council’s forthcoming verdict on its seam-friendly pitch.

With Cricket Australia facing another multimillion-dollar loss from the second two-day Ashes Test of the series, Steve Smith conceded he was uncertain why curator Matt Page left 10mm of grass on the seam-friendly MCG wicket that saw 36 wickets fall in 142 overs.

England The 852 balls it last were five more than bowled in this summer’s Perth Test, and the Melbourne match was the first ever completed Test on these shores that did not see a single over of spin bowled.

It will have ICC match referee Jeff Crowe contemplating whether to give the MCG pitch an “unsatisfactory” rating, which would essentially put the venue on notice. That rating would see the MCG slapped with a demerit point by the ICC.

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