Star Sports (licence number 009177) is licensed and regulated by the Gambling Commission.
After just 11 days of cricket, England are already conducting a post-mortem on another failed Ashes tour, writes WILLIAM KEDJANYI.
Since the final wicket fell in Adelaide attention has rightly turned to many subjects including England’s on tour behaviour, the flaws in England’s mental and technical approach, a poor preparation, the state of the red ball game in England back home and also the squad resources taken, with no backup opener and Shoaib Bashir left unused even in Adelaide when Nathan Lyon played a key part in Australia’s victory.
Ben Stokes, Brendon McCullum and Rob Key are all under the spotlight over the outcome – and the batting lineup is about to feel some selection pressure, which has already taken place (more on that later). There’s an investigation into conduct on tour, with reports that some players spent six days drinking in between tests, a 1:1 ratio off the back of only one domestic warm-up game between the first team and the Lions to boot. Going forward, it remains to be seen what changes are implemented given that the ECB has given up much control of various
There are still two tests still to play and pride to fight for along with the careers of some players, so there’s plenty on the line for both sides even if the urn remains with the Aussies.
4th Men’s Ashes Test
Melbourne Cricket Ground
Thursday 25th December – Tuesday 30th December
Daily Timings:
🏏 First ball: 11.30pm
🍔 Lunch: 1.30am – 2.10am
☕️ Dinner: 4.10am – 4.30am
🕚 Close: 6.30am – 7.30am
Live on TNT Sports HD, Discovery+ and BBC Test Match Special
What Happened In Adelaide?
Australia wrapped up the series with an 82-run win in the third Test at Adelaide, built on a pair of big stands led by Alex Carey (106 & 72) and Travis Head (10 & 170; 0-61). Asked to bat first, Australia recovered from 33-4 as Usman Khawaja (82 & 40) dug in and Carey counter-attacked, lifting the hosts to 371. Jofra Archer (5-53 & 1-20) was outstanding with the new ball and at the death, but England’s reply again fell short: Ben Stokes (83 & 5; 0-53 & 1-26) and Archer (51 & 3) dragged them from 71-4 to 286, with Harry Brook (45 & 30) also chipping in, only for Pat Cummins (13 & 6; 3-69 & 3-48) and Scott Boland (3-45 & 1-35) to keep Australia in front with the ball.
In the second innings, Head took over, turning 53-2 into a dominant position with a blistering 170, supported by Khawaja’s 40 and another measured Carey knock of 72. England did fight back through Brydon Carse (0 & 39*; 2-89 & 3-80) and Josh Tongue (7* & 1; 1-64 & 4-70), who shared seven wickets to bowl Australia out for 349, but that still left a target of 435.
Chasing what would have been a record score, England produced their best batting of the tour but still came up short. Zak Crawley (9 & 85) gave them a proper foothold at the top, Joe Root (19 & 39) looked in control before falling to Cummins yet again, and the real late hope came from Jamie Smith (22 & 60) and Will Jacks (6 & 47; 2-105 & 0-61), who, with Carse, dragged the game deep into the final afternoon.
But Nathan Lyon (9; 2-70 & 3-77), bowling through a worsening hamstring injury, and Mitchell Starc (54 & 7*; 1-61 & 3-62) finished the job, Lyon taking key middle-order wickets and Starc removing Smith and Jacks to end England’s resistance on 352. Australia went 3–0 up, retained the urn inside three Tests, and Carey’s all-round influence with the bat and the gloves earned him Player of the Match.
☀️ MCG Guide
Those with long memories may think of past tests at the MCG – as an example, Sir Alastair Cook made 244 not out here in 2017, and in 2010 England famously put on 513 when winning by an innings – but in recent times the conditions have, like many other venues in Australia, become much more bowler-friendly. More sporting pitches have been prepared since and the seam and swing on offer can make life tough for the batters.
The one Sheffield Shield game this season saw a top score of 255, when Victoria pulled off a fine chase of 195 in a low-scoring match where 194 and 255 (Western Australia) played 255 and 195/4 (Victoria). There were some runs for the openers – especially Blake Macdonald, but there were several low scores punctuated by some middle-order fifties.
🇦🇺 STARSPORTS.BET ASHES MARKETS 🏴
Team News
With the series done and dusted, Pat Cummins will play no further part to protect his back and Nathan Lyon’s hamstring injury has ruled him out of the series. They have gone for an all pace attack however, with Todd Murphy left on the sidelines to favour Steve Smith missed the last test with vertigo but will be back so that might move Usman Khawaja, who took his chance with both hands in Adelaide, into the middle order.
🇦🇺 Australian XI: 1 Jake Weatherald, 2 Travis Head, 3 Marnus Labuschagne, 4 Steven Smith (capt), 5 Usman Khawaja, 6 Alex Carey (wk), 7 Cameron Green, 8 Michael Neser, 9 Mitchell Starc, 10 Jhye Richardson/Brendan Doggett, 11 Scott Boland
Jofra Archer has been ruled out of the rest of the series with a side strain, so Gus Atkinson comes back in to join Brydon Carse and Josh Tongue. Many will be disappointed that Matthew Potts hasn’t been given a chance. England and Ben Stokes in particular, have backed Ben Duckett despite this week’s events, albeit that they don’t have a replacement opener. Ollie Pope has been dropped for Jacob Bethell, and the rest of the side is unchanged.
🏴 English XI: 1 Zak Crawley, 2 Ben Duckett, 3 Jacob Bethell, 4 Joe Root, 5 Harry Brook, 6 Ben Stokes (capt), 7 Jamie Smith (wk), 8 Will Jacks, 9 Gus Atkinson, 10 Brydon Carse, 11 Josh Tongue
🇦🇺 STARSPORTS.BET FOURTH TEST MARKETS 🏴
🏏 Match Verdict
Many will consider the match betting more open than usual, given the personnel changes on both sides, although from this point of view Australia remains strongly favored. They have been much better in these likely conditions, the first innings in Perth aside, and it’s probably no coincidence that England’s best showing so far came in Adelaide overall.
However there’s been a gulf between the two sides that’s impossible to escape and with the loss of Archer hitting the bowling stocks hard for England and the gulf between the pair in fielding (the hosts have taken 47 and dropped eight of 55 chances – a success rate of 85% compared to England’s 77% (33 catches, 10 drops), there’s no appeal to the visitors at the prices with starsports.bet.
It would be no surprise if this was another quick test – Perth was over in just two days and the day/nighter at the Gabba ended early enough in the final session of Day 4 – and backing another pre-day 5 finish will appeal to many. A late day 3 finish and an early day 4 finish are of interest.
Batters – Australia 🇦🇺
It has been boom or bust for Travis Head, who has high scores of 123 and 170, both having come in the second innings. The new ball threat in the first innings could be tricky to deal with if Australia are put in but another big score late on would make the boosted 10/1 on him landing man of the match honours very much of interest.
The middle order has played a key part in this series, and conditions would look like ripe for batters down the line to play a big part in the first innings. Marnus Labuschagne’s game wasn’t in the best order over in Adelaide on a good pitch, whilst Cameron Green had a shocker with the bat there after playing a composed innings under the lights. The prices on Alex Carey, our ante-post selection for top batter of the series and for Australia, to make a first innings score or top the runscoring lists appear to be value. Carey has batted brilliantly this series with scores of 26, 63, 106 and 72 and if the first innings is low scoring, then 6/1 could be value here. Usman Khawaja had been struggling for fitness early on, but he was impressive in Adelaide, even allowing for the pitch, and if he can find the best time for batting then it wouldn’t be a surprise if he outperformed odds of 6/1 to be the top first innings runscorer with starsports.bet.
Batters – England 🏴
Again, the focus leads more towards the middle order here and strongly so. Likely conditions are surely against Zak Crawley and Ben Duckett, well out of touch this tour, has intense off field scrutiny to deal with before one factors in conditions, and Jacob Bethell is coming in cold after sparse warmups against various XI, including the Lions.
Harry Brook dug in more in Adelaide but could be exposed to the new ball early and he’ll need to keep himself reigned in, so the players of focus are Joe Root, Ben Stokes, Jamie Smith and Will Jacks, with the latter looking well overpriced at 10/1 with starsports.bet that he makes a first innings 50 has to be worth having onside. Since being thrown into the side Jacks has shown better technique and attitude than most of the side bar, getting stuck in his crease in the first innings, and it would be no surprise if he was best placed for top runscorer status in the first innings.
Bowlers – Australia 🇦🇺
Scott Boland leapt into the big time here when he destroyed England with 6-7 in the 2021-22 renewal (watch below if you can dare/are Australian) and he posted his best spell of the series so far in Adelaide, helped by bowling tight lines with Alex Carey close by.
Seam, swing and overhead conditions on his home ground should be music to his ears and he’s value at 9/4 in what could be a two-man contest against Mitchell Starc, who has a lower strike rate and average here than elsewhere. Boland should also share new ball duties on his home ground here, which adds to the value.
Bowlers – England 🏴
This is open with Jofra Archer not playing and conditions that should suit this attack. Josh Tongue was unlucky not to land more wickets on his first innings return at Adelaide and he quickly took 4/70 in the second innings. Fresher than his key bowling rivals, his strong record against the tail adds extra appeal here, albeit in a tight market with starsports.bet.
🇦🇺 STARSPORTS.BET ASHES MARKETS 🏴
RECOMMENDED BETS – Match
BACK Day 3, Session 5 End of Test 1 pt at 5/1 (⭐️
CLICK TO BET NOW)
RECOMMENDED BETS – Batters
BACK Travis Head Player of the Match 1 pt at 10/1 (boosted) (⭐️
CLICK TO BET NOW)
BACK Alex Carey Top Australian 1st Innings Runscorer 1 pt at 6/1 (⭐️
CLICK TO BET NOW)
BACK Usman Khawaja Top Australian 1st Innings Runscorer 1 pt at 13/2 (⭐️
CLICK TO BET NOW)
BACK Ben Stokes Top England 1st Innings Runscorer 1 pt at 13/2 (⭐️
CLICK TO BET NOW)
BACK Will Jacks Top England 1st Innings Runscorer 1 pt at 10/1 (⭐️
CLICK TO BET NOW)
RECOMMENDED BETS – Bowlers
BACK Scott Boland Top Australian 1st Innings Wicket Taker 2 pts at 9/4 (⭐️
CLICK TO BET NOW)
BACK Scott Boland Player of the Match 1 pt at 8/1 (⭐️
CLICK TO BET NOW)
BACK Josh Tongue Top English Wicket Taker 1 pt at 3/1 (⭐️
CLICK TO BET NOW)
PROFIT/LOSS (DEC 2025): +12.76 points
#BettingPeople: David Lovell, born…
We’ll be spending Christmas Day…
We’ve got a fair few runners…
Star Sports (licence number 009177) is licensed and regulated by the Gambling Commission.
