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By Jon Healy
By Simon Smale
Topic:Ashes
Australia and England meet in front of a massive MCG crowd on Boxing Day as England looks to salvage some pride having already lost the series.
Follow all the action in our live blog below, check out all the scores and stats in our full Test scorecard, and listen to the live radio call.
By Simon Smale
Good stop at gully from Bethell, diving, reaching and stopping a fended ball towards him by Weatherald.
Head leaves the next.
Carse is getting the ball to nip in off the deck, which could be dangerous if he was able to do this consistently, Head just not sure about how much deviation it's going to get off the seam and that's just creating a hint of doubt in his mind.
Head leaves outside off.
On the leg side, Head clips beautifully to deep square leg for a couple.
By Simon Smale
Better, but still a bit short from Atkinson as Weatherald shoulders arms and leaves on length as the ball fizzes across the face of him from over the wicket.
Better, Weatherland defends solidly.
Nicely played from Weatherald, just a punch through the covers for a couple.
Good from Atkinson, just outside off, Weatherald alert to the uncertainty playing at a ball like that provides and leaves it alone.
Weatherald clips off his hip and gets a single.
Good ball from Atkinson, proving to the England hierarchy why he should have played in Adelaide instead of Carse, has Head leaving outside off.
By Simon Smale
He's not been good all series, Carse, but he's getting another chance with the new ball.
Well, that's a poor start, down the leg side and wide. Oh my goodness, it's a no-ball as well. What a start from Carse.
BEATEN! That's a bit better, the ball nipping back, and Head wafted at it, and the ball just misses the outside of the bat.
Down leg side, off the thigh pad, and it's four leg byes. There was movement off the deck there — if he can put the ball up a bit, he'd be dangerous.
There is a leg slip in place now, goodness me, a field for the poor delivery already, three balls into his first spell.
The ball hits the pad, and there is an appeal, but there's nothing there.
Solid defence from Head as Carse finally gets one to go near the stumps.
CLOSE! Short ball, Head went to pull and only just missed getting an edge or glove on it, though to the keeper.
And again, he bowls one down the leg side, a waste of a ball, and it's a poor start for Carse.
By Simon Smale
Good carry outside off from Gus Atkinson. Needs to pitch the ball up early on.
And probably on the off side to be honest as he sends one down leg side.
That's moved a bit off the deck, and Head is beaten, the ball hitting him high on the thigh pad.
And now he hits the deck, and Head pops the ball up to short square leg.
It's still too short. It has to be fuller. Much fuller.
CLOSE! Head comes so close to chopping on as he cuts a ball that looked a tad close to cut. He gets a single. It was close but, again, it's too short.
Short leg comes in as the sun comes out and Weatherald leaves outside off, good carry and zip off the pitch, but a largely unthreatening over in terms of really attacking the Aussie batters.
By Simon Smale
Here's more from the experts in the ABC Sport commentary box.
"I think the wicket's going to offer something all match. It's going to do a little bit sideways with the 10mm grass," Stuart Clark says.
"There will be enough sideways movement … but it's all about their length."
Dizzy Gillespie thinks England will need to be patient, though.
"I think there needs to be more trust with his bowlers and more patience from the bowlers," he says.
" You'll see a lot of play-and-misses today, but it might do too much."
By Simon Smale
Happy Christmas ABC blog team ! It's a very cold morning here in northern Tassie. If it's similar north, just across the moat, I'd want to be bowling just to keep warm and playing in 2 sweaters and a down jacket.
– Old timer
Welcome, Old timer,
Looks an awful lot like early season County Championship cricket out there, to be honest — apart from the 95,000 people in the cavernous stands, that is.
There are long-sleeved jumpers on the players, the crowd is wrapped up warm, and there are clouds obscuring the sun — beautiful English conditions!
Can the tourists do anything with it?
By Simon Smale
By Simon Smale
Aunty Joy is conducting the Welcome to Country as the crowd masses at the MCG.
Then it's God Save the King, and Advance Australia Fair.
By Simon Smale
Dizzy Gillespie has been talking on ABC Sport radio, where you can listen to ball-by-ball action.
He has pointed out that externally, how England has gone about this tour has not been the best.
"The messaging, the optics, haven't been great," he says.
"If you're winning, those things [the Noosa trip] get masked over, but when you're losing, they get amplified."
Haven't they just.
By Simon Smale
Is it correct that since January 2022 Usman Khawaja has scored more Test runs and more Test centuries than any other Australian batsman?
– Chris
Hi Chris,
Almost correct!
In that time span, Khawaja has scored 3,290 runs, averaging 47.00 with eight hundreds and 15 fifties.
Next is Travis head (2,941 at 43.25), and Steve Smith third (2.913 at 46.23).
So yes, he has scored more runs at a higher average.
BUT he's not scored the most hundreds.
Steve Smith had tonned-up nine times to Khawaja's eight. Head has also scored eight hundreds.
He has scored more half centuries than anyone else, though.
By Simon Smale
Steve Smith is the stand-in captain for the Australian team once again.
He laughs when he is asked whether he'd have liked to play on what was a great batting track in Adelaide – but his eyes aren't smiling…
"Nice to be back," he says.
"I would have [bowled]. A bit of grass on the wicket, we're playing four quicks.
"The batters are going to have to be on their game, put pressure on when they need to."
It's really interesting to see how England's bowlers go in these conditions – because, as Michael Vaughan has just said, a team could get blown away in these conditions.
He is predicting a "plethora of wickets" in the day.
By Simon Smale
Brendan Doggett is the man to miss out, says Steve Smith.
That means Australia will line up like this:
It's Jhye Richardson's first Test since the 2021 Adelaide Ashes Test.
Australia won that one by 275 runs, and Richardson, after going wicketless in the first innings, took 5-42 in the second innings.
By Simon Smale
Ben Stokes has won another toss, that's three from the series.
"Nice coverage of grass," Ben Stokes notes about the pitch.
"Now it's about executing the plans."
With the cloud cover and the grass, there's no question that bowling first was the best option to take.
But this will be a massive crowd that the English will play in front of, including Jacob Bethell.
But Stokes says the youngster is able to handle it.
"It is one of those when you get experience this, it is the first few minutes that are the toughest," Stokes says.
"Once he realises you are playing another game of cricket like he always does, the nerves will go.
"We are lucky to participate in a sport like this, and we are all looking forward to it."
By Simon Smale
The English team is out kicking a soccer ball around ! I would have thought as much catching practice as possible would be better.
– Phillip
Perhaps they don't want to be "over-prepared", to quote Brandon McCullum.
But no, it's a great point, Phillip.
Joe Root is out there smacking some throwdowns into a net in the outfield, getting his eye in and preparing his way.
The other England players are in a circle with a football.
I can't claim credit for this, but I heard someone on the BBC make the very valid comment that he'd never seen Manchester United or Chelsea get the backyard cricket stumps out and play a quick game of cricket to prepare for a Premier League football match, so why do the England cricketers feel the need to play football before a cricket Test?
I'm sure there are reasons to do with activating certain fast-twitch fibres and reactions in a light-hearted way, but it's a poor look really.
I'd have expected getting used to having a cricket ball flying at you from a background that you're not used to would be far better.
By Simon Smale
So, let's talk about this bloke, shall we? (The one on the left, not McCullum, we'll get to him later.)
Ben Duckett has not had a good tour.
Just 97 runs scored, a high score of 29 and an average of just 16.16.
Compared to the other openers in this series, Zak Crawley (214 runs, 35.66 average), Jake Weatherald (131 runs at 26.20) and Travis Head (379 at 63.16), it places his failings into stark relief.
So when video emerged of him appearing to be the worse for wear in Noosa, when that little trip had already been under the spotlight for a "stag do"-like environment, it isn't the best look.
The ECB has said it is investigating the video.
But, Duckett's been named in this Test and will no doubt want to silence the doubters and critics with a big innings today.
By Simon Smale
Morning all. They’re saying the crowd today is a sellout. What sort of numbers are we talking about ? A real packed to the doors sellout of say 100,000 or a PR sellout in the 90000’s?
– Phillip
It's a term I've never really understood, the sellout, when it's not in fact a sellout, but hey, we're slaves to what we're told.
By Simon Smale
England has been forced into changes too, with Jofra Archer's Ashes ending due to a side strain and the struggling Ollie Pope ditched for the up-and-coming batter Jacob Bethell.
Pope has only scored 125 runs at 20.83 this series, so it's no surprise that he's been left out.
But none of England's batters have exactly shone, with Ben Duckett managing just 97 runs so far at 16.16.
For reference, often England's number 10, Archer has made 102 with a half century this tour, highlighting just how poor Duckett has been.
There are other reasons that Duckett might have been left out of this match, but we'll get to that.
By Simon Smale
With the unfortunate injury to Nathan Lyon — and Pat Cummins being rested — the only decision that the Aussies needed to make today was whether to play Todd Murphy or bring in another seamer.
And it seems they've done the latter, picking a 12-man, pace-heavy squad to pound a demoralised England further into the ground.
We'll get the starting XI at the toss, but leaving a spinner out at the G is certainly a bold move, even if there is a lot of grass on the wicket.
By Simon Smale
Good morning folks, and welcome to Boxing Day!
On behalf of the ABC Sport team, I wish you a very Merry Christmas, and I hope you all ate, drank and enjoyed yourselves yesterday.
I will be with you all day today, as will Jon Healy, Chris De Silva and Dean Bilton — so thanks for being with us.
I wonder how much England's team enjoyed Christmas lunch, knowing their chances of coming home with the urn have completely evaporated, and all they have been saddled with is derision and mocking from the cricketing public.
Australia, meanwhile, will no doubt have tucked into its Christmas dinners with relish knowing the urn is safely in its possession, and another sack full of wickets awaits them at the 'G in front of an expected crowd of over 90,000.
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