The last Test of the Ashes series (2025-26) between Australia and England is being played at the Sydney Cricket Ground. On Monday, on the second day of the Test, a heated argument was seen between England captain Ben Stokes and Australian batsman Marnus Labuschagne. This debate gradually increased, its video is also going viral.

This altercation took place between Ben Stokes and Marnus Labuschagne on the second day of the Australia vs England fifth test. It started when Travis Head hit a four on a ball from Stokes in the 29th over.

Heated debate between Stokes and Labuschagne

After hitting the four, Ben Stokes said something to Travis Head. The head also replied to this. Meanwhile, when Stokes came to take his cap from the umpire after finishing the over, Marnus Labuschagne said something to Stokes. Then a heated argument started between these two. Finally Stokes came and placed his hand on Labuschagne’s shoulder and started saying something.

Things got pretty heated#Ashes pic.twitter.com/UHum32WUH0

— cricket.com.au (@cricketcomau) January 5, 2026

Travis Head completed 500 runs

By the end of the second day of Sydney Test, Australia had scored 166 runs after losing 2 wickets. Currently the hosts are 218 runs behind. Head is playing after scoring 91 runs. He along with Marnus Labuschagne made a partnership of 105 runs for the second wicket.

Head is the only batsman to complete 500 runs in the Ashes series 2025-26. He has scored 528 runs, while the second highest run scorer, Joe Root, is 134 runs behind him. Root has scored 394 runs. Root scored 160 runs in the first innings of the fifth Test being played in Sydney.

Australia has won the series

Australia cricket team had already taken an unassailable lead in the 5-match test series. The team won the first 3 test matches, while England won the fourth test. Head is the batsman who scored the most runs (528*) and Mitchell Starc (28*) is the bowler who took the most wickets in this series.

Australia vs England 5th Test is being played at Sydney Cricket Ground, in which something happened which has not happened in the last 138 years. For the first time, Australia is playing without a specialist spinner. Steve Smith said that he was forced to take this decision, he also looked unhappy with the pitch.

Australia cricket team has already made an unassailable lead in the Ashes series. The team won the first 3 matches, while the fourth match was won by England. The Sydney Test started from Sunday. There is no specialist spinner in Australia’s playing 11, on which Steve Smith said that he did not like it but the pitch was such that he had no other option.

This happened for the first time in 138 years

This is the first time in 138 years that Australia is playing a Test match without a specialist spinner at the Sydney Cricket Ground. Smith said that he was brought to this situation where he was forced to take this decision. Beau Webster was included in the playing 11 in the fifth test. Off-spinner Todd Murphy was dropped.

Australian captain Steve Smith said, “I also do not like playing without a spinner, but the kind of pitches that are being made where there is no possibility of spin and where only the cracks will play a role, then what option will the captain have.”

The role of spinners has been continuously decreasing in this series. Nathan Lyon was dropped from the Brisbane Test. Todd Murphy was dropped from the Sydney Test after Melbourne. At the same time, the England team also did not give a chance to their main spinner Shoaib Bashir in the Sydney Test. Bashir did not play in any test in this series.

Spinners lacked importance in the series

Steve Smith said that if the spinners do not get help on the pitch, they can score runs more quickly. This turns the match in favor of the opposing team. Smith said, “I like to see the spinners playing a role, but in the current conditions there is no concrete reason to bowl to them.”

The Sydney pitch was considered helpful for spinners, but the fast bowlers seem to be getting help there. There is a lot of talk on whether such pitches will not reduce the importance of spinners’ art in the game?

Rain spoiled the game on the first day

England had decided to bat first after winning the toss. After 3 wickets fell at 57, Joe Root (72) and Harry Brook (78) took charge of the innings and both remained unbeaten till the end of the day’s play. Let us tell you that due to rain only 45 overs were played on the first day. England has scored 211 runs after losing 3 wickets.

The fifth Ashes Test between Australia and England will start from January 4. The Australian team has already won the series, leading 3-1 after 4 matches. England coach Brendon McCullum is the target of critics for this poor performance. Even the demand to remove McCullum from the post of coach has gained momentum. But it seems as if the pride of English team captain Ben Stokes is still not broken.

Before the fifth Ashes Test to be held in Sydney, Ben Stokes said, “There is not the slightest doubt in my mind that Brendon and I are the best choices to take over the reins of the England team for the next some time. I have thoroughly enjoyed the time I have worked with Brendon McCullum. I don’t think there will be any other person with whom I can take this team beyond its current position.”

Brendon McCullum took over as the coach of the England Test team in May 2022. After he became the coach, the ‘Baseball Era’ of the England team started. The England team initially got success by playing in baseball style and in the year 2024, Brendon McCullum was appointed the coach of the England team in all three formats, but he took over the post of coach of England in all three formats in January 2025.

The pair of Ben Stokes and Brendon McCullum had won 10 out of the first 11 test matches, due to which the expectations of the fans also started increasing. But after that there has been discontinuity in the performance of the England team. In the last 34 Test matches, England have won 16 matches and lost the same number of matches, while 2 matches have ended in a draw.

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Usman Khawaja Announces Retirement From International Cricket: Australia’s experienced opening batsman Usman Khawaja has announced his retirement from international cricket. An Ashes series of 5 test matches is being played between England and Australia, the last match of which will be played at the Sydney Cricket Ground. This match will be the last test of Usman Khawaja’s career. Let us tell you that Usman Khawaja also made his Test debut on this ground. This last match of the Ashes series 2025-26 will start from January 4, 2026.

How was the international career of Usman Khawaja?

Usman Khawaja made his debut for Australia in the 2010-11 Ashes series. Due to the injury of Australian captain Ricky Ponting in this series, he got a chance to debut in Test cricket. Usman Khawaja is the first player born in Pakistan and playing for Australia. He came to New South Wales, Australia with his family at the age of just 4 years. Sydney Test will be the 88th match of his career. At the same time, so far in 87 tests he has scored a total of 6,206 runs at an average of 43.39. This includes 16 centuries and 28 fifties. Khawaja’s biggest inning was 232 runs. Apart from this, he has scored a total of 1,554 runs in 40 ODI matches and 241 runs in 9 T20 International matches.

Khwaja gave an emotional speech

Khawaja said in an emotional speech on the announcement of his retirement, ‘I lived on Cook Road, a short distance from the Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG). I’ll never forget when I was little, I saw Michael Slater driving his red Ferrari. I couldn’t believe my luck, I had just seen a Test cricketer. As a boy whose parents were barely making ends meet and were trying to feed their children in a small two-bedroom apartment, I thought that one day I too would become a Test cricketer and one day I would drive whatever car I wanted.

Usman Khawaja further said- I have come today to announce that after the SCG Test match, I will retire from all international cricket. I am a proud Muslim colored boy from Pakistan, who was told that he would never play for the Australian cricket team. Look at me now. I hope that I have repaid your (parents) sacrifice by leaving everything in Pakistan and coming to Australia to give a better life to our children.

The fourth Ashes Test between Australia and England was played in Melbourne, which could not last even for 2 days. On the second day of this match, there was a lot of ruckus regarding the wicket of Marnus Labuschagne. Labuschagne was out in the second innings after scoring 8 runs in 18 balls, but there was a lot of uproar over whether Joe Root caught him cleanly or not. Was this one catch the reason for Australia’s defeat? Know here what is this whole controversy.

This incident is of the 18th over of Australia’s second innings. Josh Tong came to bowl and the very first ball of the over took the edge of the bat and went into slip. Joe Root, who was in the slip position, took the catch, after which the entire England team appealed. Labuschagne did not even move from his place because he had a suspicion in his mind that the catch had not been taken properly.

The ground umpire left the decision to the third umpire. After examining the video review from different angles, the third umpire admitted that Joe Root’s fingers were under the ball, hence Labuschagne was declared out. Labuschagne, on the other hand, looked unhappy with this decision and returned to the dressing room disappointed.

What did you make of this catch? Out or not out?#Ashes , #DRSChallenge , @Westpac pic.twitter.com/pnWo2qt6qc

— cricket.com.au (@cricketcomau) December 27, 2025

Test match ended in 142 overs, England won

The fourth Ashes Test played in Melbourne ended in just 142 overs of play. In a Test match, 90 overs are bowled in a day, so you can imagine how the fast bowlers wreaked havoc on both the days of the match. Australia’s first innings was all out for 152 runs, but in response, England’s batting unit was all out for just 110 runs, giving Australia a lead of 42 runs in the first innings.

Australia scored 132 runs in the second innings, giving England a target of 175 runs. England achieved this target with 4 wickets remaining.

Australia vs England Boxing Day Test ended in just 2 days. On the first day, Australia’s first innings was reduced to 152 runs, although England’s performance was worse than the hosts. England’s first innings was limited to 110 runs. The condition of Australia remained the same in the second innings also, the entire team could score only 132 runs. England achieved the target of 175 to win in the third session and won by 4 wickets. This is Australia’s first defeat in the ICC World Test Championship 2025-2027 cycle, which has also given some benefit to the Indian team.

England had decided to bowl first after winning the toss in the Melbourne Test. Josh Tong took 5 wickets in the first innings for England, the host team was all out for 152 runs. Then Australian bowlers Michael Neser and Scott Bowland created havoc, Michael took 4 wickets and Scott took 3 wickets. Mitchell Starc made 2 batsmen his victims.

In Australia’s second innings, 8 batsmen could not even touch double figures. Travis Head scored 46 and Steve Smith scored 24 runs. Chasing the target, Jack Crowley (37) and Ben Duckett (34) made a good start for England, after which Jacob Bethel scored 40 runs. This is England’s third win in the ICC World Test Championship 2025-27 cycle.

Australia’s first defeat in the WTC 2025-27 cycle

Australia cricket team has already won the 5-match test series against England. This is Australia’s first defeat in the ICC World Test Championship 2025-2027 cycle, although despite this defeat, the team remains at number one in the points table. However, due to this defeat, Australia’s winning percentage has reduced from 100 to 85.71. The team has 72 points.

New Zealand team is at second place. New Zealand has won 2 out of 3 matches. Along with New Zealand, South Africa, Sri Lanka and Pakistan have benefited the most from this defeat of Australia. India also has an advantage in this. The Indian team has won 4 matches out of 9 Tests and lost the same number, one match has been drawn. Team India is at sixth position in the table with 48.15 win percentage.

WTC 2025-27 Points Table

1. Australia- 6 wins out of 7, 1 loss
2. New Zealand- 2 wins out of 3, 1 draw
3. South Africa- 3 wins out of 4, 1 loss
4. Sri Lanka- 1 win out of 2, 1 draw
5. Pakistan- 1 win, 1 loss out of 2
6. India- 4 wins, 4 losses, 1 draw out of 9
7. England- 3 wins, 5 losses, 1 draw out of 9
8. Bangladesh- 1 loss, 1 draw out of 2
9. West Indies- 7 defeats out of 8, 1 draw

The name of Melbourne Cricket Ground has been recorded in history. Australia vs England 4th Ashes Test has ended in just 2 days. England won the Melbourne Test by 4 wickets, no team could touch the 200-run mark in all four innings of the match. This was the fourth shortest Test match in terms of balls in Test cricket history, which ended in only 852 balls.

The fourth Ashes Test is surrounded by criticism. 94,199 people had come to watch this match, but within 2 days their hopes were dashed. The pitch of the Melbourne ground is also under question and veteran England cricketer Kevin Pietersen, citing India, said that Australia should also be strongly criticized due to the poor pitch.

If this had happened in India, there would have been an uproar.

Former England cricketer Kevin Pietersen tweeted after the first day’s play of the fourth Ashes Test. In fact, 20 wickets had fallen on the first day of the match, while on the second day, 16 wickets had fallen before England won by four wickets. The match ended in only 142 overs of play.

Kevin Pietersen said, “When wickets keep falling on the first day of a Test match, then India gets criticized a lot. I hope that Australia also has to become a victim of the same kind of criticism. It would be fair.”

India ALWAYS gets hammered when wickets fall like crazy on day 1 of a Test and so I hope that Australia gets the same scrutiny!
Fair is fair!

— Kevin Pietersen (@KP24) December 26, 2025

Not a single fifty in the entire match

It is also an interesting fact that not a single half-century was seen in all four innings of the Melbourne Test. The highest individual score in the match was 46 runs, which was scored by Travis Head in Australia’s second innings. Apart from him, only Harry Brook and Jacob Bethel were able to cross the 40-run mark in the entire match.

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The fourth Ashes Test between Australia and England is being played in Melbourne. 20 wickets fell on the very first day of the match and by the end of the first day’s play, Australia had scored 4 runs in the second innings without losing any wicket. A new history has been written on the very first day of this match, because this is the first time in the history of the Ashes in the last 123 years that 20 or more wickets have fallen on the very first day of a Test match in Melbourne.

20 wickets fell on the first day

In the fourth Ashes Test, England won the toss and chose to bowl first. The Melbourne pitch was so bad for batting that within no time Australia lost 4 wickets till the score was 51. Somehow the team crossed 100 runs. In the end the Kangaroo team’s innings was reduced to 152 runs.

When the England team came to bat, its condition was worse than Australia. England had lost 4 wickets within 16 runs. Thanks to Harry Brook’s 41 runs and Gus Atkinson’s 28 runs, the England team somehow reached the score of 110. Let us tell you that all these 20 wickets were taken by fast bowlers.

This feat happened after 123 years

The last time 20 or more wickets fell on the first day of a Test played in Melbourne was in 1902. At that time 25 wickets had fallen on the very first day of the match. This is a world record in MCG stadium history. The maximum number of wickets fell in the matches between Australia and England on the first day of a Test match. In 1888, 27 wickets fell on the first day of the England vs Australia Lord’s Test.

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Steve Smith Gave Statement On England Team: Australia’s legendary batsman Steve Smith has expressed sympathy towards the England cricket team which is facing criticism after disappointingly losing the Ashes series. Smith said that I know what the situation of pressure is like after a defeat. Speaking to reporters at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, he said, ‘When you are losing, the spotlight is always on you and things can be talked about. They can be greatly exaggerated. I kind of feel bad for them. This may be difficult. You’re in a country where you know you can go out and have fun. You also have to experience the country you are in. He got a big break in between, but due to pressure he could not do it.

Steve Smith gave statement on England team

Apart from losing three consecutive Tests, the England cricket team is also in the news due to excessive drinking of many players. On this subject, Smith said, ‘I can’t talk much about how they are feeling or how they are doing things, but yes, I definitely believe that when you lose two Test matches, and you get such a long break, sometimes you need to step away from the game and switch off completely.’

Australia will be eyeing a clean sweep

The England Cricket Board is seriously investigating allegations of excessive drinking by several cricketers, notably Ben Duckett, during the period between the second and third Tests. Australia has taken an unbeatable 3-0 lead in the series by winning the first three tests. Steve Smith will captain Australia in the fourth and fifth Tests to be held in Melbourne and Sydney and he will try to clean sweep the series by winning both the Tests.

Australia has dominated the Ashes series so far. So far, Australia has won all three Test matches, whereas England has not even come remotely close to winning any match. The fourth Ashes Test will be played in Melbourne from 26 December. Even before the fourth Test was played, Australia has announced the last 12 players, in which the team’s regular captain Pat Cummins is not included. In his absence, Steve Smith will be seen captaining.

Australia vs England The third Ashes Test was played in Adelaide, in which Steve Smith did not play. Smith is making a comeback and will be the captain of the team in the absence of Pat Cummins. Let us tell you that this will be the last test match between any teams for the year 2025. Fast bowler Jhay Richardson has returned, who has not played any Test match for Australia after 2021.

In the press conference held before the fourth Test, Steve Smith told that he will captain the Australian team in the last two Test matches. Pat Cummins is out of the series due to injury. Smith has also clarified the situation regarding the batting position of Usman Khawaja. Usman Khawaja will play at number 5 in the fourth Test, but he also said that the playing eleven will be selected from these 12 players on the morning of the match.

Captain Smith also made it clear that Australia will play with 4 fast bowlers and there will be no spinner in the playing eleven. Travis Head, who played a memorable inning of 170 runs in the second innings of Adelaide Test as an opener, can also open in Melbourne.

Australia’s 12 players for the fourth test: Travis Head, Jake Weatherald, Marnus Labuschagne, Steve Smith (c), Usman Khawaja, Alex Carey (wk), Cameron Green, Mitchell Starc, Scott Boland, Brendon Doggett, Michael Neser, Jhye Richardson.

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