Ben Stokes' England Look To End 14-Year-Old Drought As Scrutiny Around MCG Pitch Intensifies During Fourth Ashes Test

AUS vs ENG: Four sessions and thirty wickets, but this is not a Test match that is being played in Asian conditions. A total of thirty wickets tumbled before the completion of five sessions in the ongoing Boxing Day Test match. Australia are very comfortably placed, they have won The Ashes convincingly and they have nothing to lose in the series, but twenty wickets falling on the first day of the Boxing Day Test match is not something that is ideal for the endorsement of the purest format of the game.

The MCG pitch has been under immense scrutiny from ex-players of both sides, but part of the blame also shifts towards how reckless the Australian and English batters have been at times during the Boxing Day Test.

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England Look To End The 'Down Under' Drought

Ben Stokes' team was considered to be the strongest English side that could beat the Aussies on their home soil, but the hosts had some other ideas in their mind. The Aussies defeated England 3-0 and reclaimed The Ashes within 11 odd days. Australia having the upper hand over England in their own home conditions is nothing new. Since the 2010-11 Ashes series, Australia haven't let England win a Test match, let alone a series.

England's last win against Australia 'Down Under' came in 2011, when they convincingly won The Ashes 3-1. Since then England have struggled to win a Test match on Australian soil. With a low-scoring target in sight, if England manage to finally give Australia a glimpse of 'Bazball' and seal the 'Boxing Day' Test, it will be their first Test win against the Aussies in Australia since Ashes 2010-11.

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England Eye Crucial World Test Championship Points

The ongoing World Test Championship (WTC) cycle hasn't quite gone England's way. They have played eight Test matches so far and have managed to win only two of them. The Ben Stokes-led side will want to win the last two Ashes Test matches to bring their campaign back on track.