Given how parlous England’s batting has been, there was the strong chance that 152 for the home team in Melbourne presaged worse to come. So it turned out. For a while, Boxing Day 2025 felt like a re-enactment of Boxing Day 2010. We’re talking an amateur historical re-enactment, given the lower intensity and higher number of participants with private lives under investigation, but still, the broad shape of the thing was much the same. You had England choosing to bowl on a cloudy morning and finishing off the hosts in time for an early tea. The original instance lasted 42.5 overs, this repeat lasted 45.2, only 15 deliveries between them. Yet this year’s edition felt different for more reasons than just a higher scoring rate that yielded 152 all out versus 98 all out last time around. In 2010, England owned the day, a James Anderson swing masterclass ripping out a paralysed middle order, Chris Tremlett lopping off top and tail like a legumier preparing string beans. The rehash was a less complete bowling effort that drew a strangely faltering batting response: chop-ons and leg-side nicks and run outs, occasionally the bowling team via Josh Tongue remembering to pitch the ball up before rocketing through someone’s defences. Continue reading...