- By Namrata Vijay
- Sat, 27 Dec 2025 10:14 PM (IST)
- Source:JND
Ashes 2025: England made a brilliant comeback as they won their first Ashes Test match in Australia for the first time in 15 years. They had been criticised heavily after Australia retained the Ashes after winning the third match by 82 runs.
The visitors were under immense pressure as a video of an intoxicated Ben Duckett had gone viral on social media. He was also seen struggling to bat in the first three matches.
Ben Stokes Ignites Melbourne Pitch Debate After Historic Win
The Melbourne pitch became fast-bowlers-friendly as 20 wickets were taken on day 1. The pacers of both teams got the much-needed help from the pitch as the match was finished within two days. And that led to the pitch getting slammed heavily.
Post the series opener, it was the second time that a match got over within two days. England skipper Ben Stokes emphasised that if this match had been held somewhere else, then the pitch would have been criticised more.
“Being brutally honest, that's not really what you want. Boxing Day Test match. You don't want a game finishing in less than two days. Not ideal. But you can't change it once you start the game, and you've just got to play what's in front of you. But I'm pretty sure if that was somewhere else in the world, there'd be hell on. Not the best thing for games that should be played over five days. But we played a type of cricket that ended up getting the job done," Ben Stokes was quoted as saying on ESPN Cricinfo.
Pace Bowlers Masterclass On Display At Melbourne
Josh Tongue got a lot of help from a tricky pitch as he took his third five-fer and helped the team skittle the host out for just 152 runs. English batters were also seen struggling as Australia's Scott Boland and Michael Neser took advantage of the seam movement and helped the hosts take a lead of 42 runs.
Brydon Carse's four-fer rattled Australia's batting lineup, and then Jacob Bethell's gritty knock of 40 runs helped England script history at Melbourne.