England surged through Australia on day one of the fourth Ashes Test, skittling the hosts for 152 as they seized early control at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. Captain Ben Stokes won a crucial toss on a green pitch, and his pace trio attacked from the outset as overcast skies hung over a packed crowd.Openers Travis Head and Jake Weatherald fell cheaply for 12 and 10, while Marnus Labuschagne scraped to 6 as Gus Atkinson and Josh Tongue found ample movement. Steve Smith looked to steady the innings but was dismissed for 9 when Tongue found his middle stump. England’s fans, the famous “Barmy Army,” celebrated as the hosts faltered.
Post-lunch, Usman Khawaja (29), Alex Carey (20) and Cameron Green (17) offered brief resistance before fading. Neser led Australia’s scoring with 35, but Tongue’s residual menace yielded five wickets for 45 runs.Australia had already secured the series after comfortable wins in Perth, Brisbane and Adelaide, leaving England hoping to salvage pride in Melbourne. The tourists, criticized for their limited Ashes preparations, watched the urn slip away in 11 days amid controversy over off-field behavior during a mid-series beach break.Missing the injured Jofra Archer, England brought back Atkinson, who opened the bowling. An aggressive Head struck back-to-back boundaries off a wayward Brydon Carse, yet he fell for 22, middle-order chopping on to Atkinson’s next over. Weatherald also didn’t last long, feathering one to Jamie Smith off Tongue’s first ball, and Labuschagne edged to slip where Joe Root accepted the catch.Smith and Khawaja briefly steadied, but Tongue struck again, removing the Australia captain and shifting momentum England’s way. The sun appeared as the innings resumed after lunch, and Khawaja lofted a sumptuous boundary off Atkinson, only to fall next ball on a marginal edge to Smith; Carey then flicked Stokes to Zak Crawley at leg gully.Green’s return to form was brief as he crunched successive fours off Tongue, while Neser’s counterpunch in his fourth Test but first red-ball appearance came with three consecutive boundaries off the same bowler. Alas, disaster struck once more: Green was run out for 17 attempting a risky single, and Stokes held a high catch at mid-off as Starc hoisted Carse before Tongue dismissed Neser and Boland, ending Australia’s innings.
