Ashes: England's batting crumbles again as Australia dominate day one of Boxing Day Test

The first day of the third Test is in Melbourne.

Bairstow and Cummins both had 35 in England.

Warner 38, Harris 20, Anderson 1-14.

The trail was running by 124 runs.

The scorecard is a summary of what happened.

Australia's dominance of the series continued on the first day of the crucial third Test as England's batting capitulated again.

After being put into bat in the Boxing Day Test, England were dismissed for a measly 185.

The tourists were 19-2 after another top-order failure - Haseeb Hameed out for a 10-ball duck and fellow opener Zak Crawley, one of four England changes from defeat in Australia, making just 12 on his return.

Joe Root was caught behind playing a careless waft off the bowling of Mitchell Starc, who had just dismissed him for 50.

The first of three dismissals in the afternoon session was the one where Ben Stokes cut Green to point for 25 and then Buttler hit Nathan Lyon for three.

Even more humiliation was prevented by only 35 and 22 from the recalled Jonny Bairstow and the last man out, Ollie Robinson.

David Warner smashed an energetic 38 from 42 balls before he was caught by James Anderson off James Anderson with 10 minutes left to play. Australia was trailing by 125.

Australia will win the series with two Tests to spare and retain the urn if they draw.

In a must-win game, England have shown little evidence that they will turn around the series in which they have been outclassed.

Reaction to the first day of the game.

England sink further.

England's efforts in Australia were not good. They sunk further towards disarray after they talked of brutally honest team meetings.

There were worries for England's chances when Pat Cummins asked them to bat on a green pitch after the morning rain.

The conditions were not as difficult as anticipated. England offered a meek surrender.

Cummins was exceptional in the morning session, removing Hameed,Crawley, and Malan, but otherwise Mitchell Starc was careless, Scott Boland was unthreatening on debut, and Nathan Lyon played a holding role on the day one pitch.

It was not acceptable from the three most senior batters. They gave their wickets with bad shots as partnerships grew.

England are trying to win the series by coming back from 2-0 down.

They have given Australia the upper hand at the earliest opportunity on a pitch where a score of 350 looked par.

Different England has the same problems.

England's 50th duck of the year was the second in a row for the right-handed Hameed, who had previously been dismissed for a duck. He nicked Cummins to Alex Carey.

Even though he averaged 11.14 in 2021, Crawley was recalled in place of Burns. He played a couple of good strokes, but was squared up by Cummins and caught in the gully.

The left-handed Malan tried to calm the proceedings, but he was undone by a Cummins ball in the final over before lunch, a crucial blow.

Despite looking close to his best, Root failed to record his maiden Test hundred in Australia.

The England captain left the field after he was dismissed for a duck, angry at the fact that he had been out between 50 and 90 in the past eight Tests in Australia.

There were stunned faces when Buttler skied a catch to deep square leg.

Warner and Marcus Harris were able to cut and pull as England was short rather than full.

Cummins leads the way back.

Seamer Cummins missed the Test after being deemed a close contact of someone with Covid-19 while dining in a restaurant.

He was able to end his isolation period after three days on his return to his home in Australia, but his performance was still remarkable for a bowler short of match practice.

Wood was trapped by the heavy length of the bowler and he claimed his first Test wicket.

Despite the pitch being more helpful to the bowler than it was to Cook, Australia will look to build a match-defining lead on the second day.

Reaction to an air of similarity.

The all out pitch is not 185. There is a bit in it, but not real demons. It could've been a pitch that you would bat first on.

Steven Finn said it was disappointing. There was an air of similarity after all the noise was made.

"They seemed confused and unsure of where to sit between being aggressive and trying to impose yourself on the game, but also having defensive resilience at the same time."

Mitchell Starc, Australia's fast bowler, said that it was tacky under foot, but he thought that his team did a good job. I think 185 was a good day for us.