Australia vs England (Australia men’s cricket team vs England men’s cricket team), 5th Test Day 1 LIVE: Hello and welcome to News18 CricketNext’s live coverage of the opening day in the final Test of the 2025-26
Ashes.
It hasn’t been one of the most high-quality Ashes series, but it surely has been one of the most entertaining. Australia breezed through the first three games and sealed the series, but even then, either England put up a fight on one of the days to keep things interesting, or did something dramatically newsworthy off the field.
The ridiculous pitch at the Melbourne Cricket Ground evened things out between England’s absurdity and Australia’s pragmatism,, and finally BazBall triumphed. The pitch here is said to have some grass, but it’s very unlikely we’ll see similar help for bowlers, and England will have to play some really good cricket to win.
For those who didn’t know, actual jobs are on the line here. If England can’t show that the MCG win against a weakened Aussie side wasn’t a fluke, tough emails await Brendon McCullum and the director of cricket, Rob Key. Also watch out for Usman Khawaja, who’s playing his last Test after an emotional retirement speech!


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