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England end 15-year wait for Test win in Australia with wild two-day triumph
England’s long wait for an Ashes win on Australian soil is finally over as they came out on top after two days of mayhem in Melbourne.
Ben Stokes’ dreams of bringing the urn back home may already be over after three straight losses, but the grim prospect of a 5-0 whitewash is off the table after his side emerged from a batting graveyard at the MCG with a dramatic four-wicket win in the fourth Test.
England last won Down Under in January 2011, losing 16 times and drawing twice across four tours before finally ending the sequence here.
Jacob Bethell top-scores with 40 as we complete our first Test win in Australia since 2011.
The series may have gone, but that's a result to be proud of 🤝 pic.twitter.com/lkuzSY4Iar
— England Cricket (@englandcricket) December 27, 2025
Chasing 175 may have felt like a lottery on a minefield of a pitch, but for once England had the winning ticket as Jacob Bethell made a vital 40 on Ashes debut.
For the second time in the space of 24 hours England’s bowlers held up their part of the bargain, rolling over Australia for 132 in less than 35 overs, despite Gus Atkinson’s withdrawal with a hamstring injury.
In his stead Brydon Carse found some long-awaited rhythm as he claimed four for 34, with three scalps for Stokes and two for Josh Tongue.
The target was a slender one compared to some of the huge numbers this side have hunted on their best days, but it was also the biggest score of a match that was hurtling towards an indecently fast finish.
The jeopardy brought England back in touch with the wilder side of ‘Bazball’, having previously allowed their ultra-aggressive instincts to be curbed.
Ben Duckett, out of form and in the headlines for the wrong reasons, set the tone with a chaotic 34 against the new ball, Carse leapt from number 10 to number three in a revival of the so-called ‘nighthawk’ role once embodied by Stuart Broad, while Bethell even attempted a scoop shot off the first ball of the decisive evening session.
It was a bold, bewildering and oddly bewitching inversion of the hard-bitten Test cricket that is typically needed in this part of the world. But most importantly for an embattled team who have been run off the rails over the past seven weeks, and most of the past 15 years, it was successful.
Having travelled at turbo speed towards its end game, the match looked every bit a 50:50 bet as a fragile England line-up began their chase on a seamer’s paradise.
Duckett came out fizzing with intent, mixing four boundaries and a jaw-droppingly ambitious ramp for six off Michael Neser with a handful of addled hacks. He lasted only seven overs before Mitchell Starc had the final word with a pacy yorker, but in that time he helped England chip off 51, Zak Crawley weighing in with an audacious straight six off Neser.
England used Duckett’s dismissal to pull a joker from the pack, confusing everyone, including the stadium announcer, who initially called out Harry Brook’s name.
Carse’s arrival was an unpredictable move but had a predictable result, Australia setting the field back and waiting for a wild miss-hit. The gambit lasted eight balls and brought six runs before Bethell belatedly joined the action.
He and Crawley put on a settling stand of 47 either side of tea, beginning the final session still needing 98.
Bethell’s misjudged scoop off the evening’s first delivery suggested an excess of adrenaline, but he calmed himself to score some tough runs.
Batting remained a hazardous existence, Scott Boland trapping Crawley lbw for 37 and tempting Bethell to pick out cover, while Joe Root and Stokes both fell before the job was done.
Brook was there at the end with an unbeaten 18 but missed the rare chance to hit the winning runs, settling instead for four leg-byes that will go down as some of the most celebrated extras in English history.
England’s bowlers had set things up with an outstanding show in helpful conditions. Atkinson removed nightwatcher Boland in his opening burst but was soon limping from the field after four overs.
His exit hastened Stokes’ introduction and the skipper made short work of Jake Weatherald, bowling him with no shot offered in his first over.
Marnus Labuschagne was subjected to a brief and bitter stay, rapped twice on the glove in a spiteful over from Stokes before nicking Tongue to first slip.
The series’ leading scorer Travis Head quickly established himself as the primary threat, racking up 46 vital runs before Carse found a ball with his name on it. Fittingly, it was a beauty, jagging past the face of the bat before trimming the bails of the off stump.
Australia never quite recovered as they lost their last seven wickets in two swift clusters. Usman Khawaja was bounced out for a duck by Tongue and both Alex Carey and the timid Cameron Green poked softly to second slip.
Carse took out Neser and Starc with successive deliveries and Stokes wrapped the innings by ousting Jhye Richardson.
The door to victory was open and, for the time in a decade-and-a-half, England found their way through.
