England’s chances of regaining the Ashes have disappeared with a Day 3 obliteration, losing the Boxing Day Test by an innings inside seven sessions of play.
The tourists will be left to lick their wounds and try to get back up for the fourth and fifth Test for Sydney and Hobart, which are now dead rubbers.
Here are Zero Wicket’s player ratings for the tourists.
1. Haseeb Hameed - 0/10
Hameed simply can’t play when it comes time for the teams to walk onto the Sydney Cricket Ground in a week’s time.
He has failed six times out of six this series, and his failures in Melbourne were the worst of the lot with a ten-ball duck in the first innings, only to be followed up by a scratchy seven off 31 balls in the second.
2. Zak Crawley - 2
Crawley wasn’t a great deal better than Hameed. He showed a handful of nice touches in the first dig on his way to 12 before being dismissed by Pat Cummins, before being the first to go in the second innings with the score on just seven in the fifth over, caught behind playing away from the body to a Mitchell Starc ball.
Both shots to get out were average at best, and while he will get another opportunity, he needs big runs in Sydney.
3. Dawid Malan - 3
Malan has been one of the rare bright spots for the tourists so far in this series, scoring runs in both Brisbane and Adelaide.
That recipe couldn’t be repeated this time around though, scoring an incredibly hard-fought and scratchy 14 in the first innings, before being dismissed first ball in the second dig.
His performance wasn’t good enough, and the second innings particularly hurt England with Joe Root then forced to face a hat-trick ball.
4. Joe Root - 6
As ever, a captain in the face of adversity. His team were failing all around him, but Root refused to let himself be dragged down, top-scoring for England in both innings.
It still wasn’t close to enough though, with a half-century (50 on the dot) in the first innings, followed up by 28 in the second before he became one of Scott Boland’s six scalps.
Impossible to blame him for the loss, but his on-field captaincy continues to be called into question.
5. Ben Stokes - 4
Stokes hasn’t looked anything near himself this series with either bat or ball, and it’s a trend which continued on into Melbourne.
He managed to make 25 in the first innings before perishing to Cameron Green, and made just 11 in the second before Mitchell Starc sent one straight through him.
As if his batting performances weren’t enough on the negative side, his bowling made no real impact going at almost five runs per over.
6. Jonny Bairstow - 4
Bairstow was brought into the side as a specialist batsman to replace Ollie Pope, and his 35 in the first innings seemed to justify the swap.
His five in the second didn’t though as he was trapped LBW to Boland. Without keeping to sustain him, his spot in the side still looks shaky.
7. Jos Buttler - 1
There isn’t a nice word you can say about Buttler’s performance. He was the not out man in the second innings capitulation but scored just three in the first when England desperately needed him to put runs on the board.
His keeping continued to be well below par too.
8. Mark Wood - 6
The bowlers did their job - mostly - on Day 2 of the match, although struggled to finish it off.
Wood was the danger man for England. His extra pace and bounce is something they lack across the rest of the attack, and his delivery to get rid of Boland in particular was a highlight for the tourists.
9. Ollie Robinson - 5
Robinson did his job, but not a great deal more during the Boxing Day Test. He picked up two wickets, being those of Nathan Lyon and Travis Head, but struggled for control during his almost 20 overs.
His economy of well over three runs per over constantly let the pressure off the Aussies, and frustrated his captain at times.
10. James Anderson - 7
He might be rapidly approaching the wrong side of 40, but James Anderson has an attitude which will simply never ever quit.
He was the pitch of the bowlers during the Aussie innings and almost certainly deserved to finish his time playing on the MCG with a five-wicket haul.
He couldn’t get there, but his figures of 4 for 33 paved the way for England to keep themselves in the match.
11. Jack Leach - 3
Recalled to the side for the third Test after England went with an all pace attack for Adelaide, Leach had a statement to make.
Unfortunately, he did anything but. The Aussies couldn’t get on top of him in the same way they did in Brisbane, but Leach bowled 15 overs of rather unconvincing, unthreatening spin and never looked like he was going to turn the tide as Nathan Lyon did during the first day’s play.
