England reeling after 20 wickets fall on opening day of Melbourne Test

The drop in pitch has 10mm of grass, two more than the one in Perth which yielded 19 wickets on the first day of the series, so it was always going to be tough for batting especially with a nip in the air as strong as that off the pitch.

The bounce was true and it was not dangerous, just tricky, and neither team has a batting line-up capable of surviving for long in those conditions if the bowlers find the right length.

Certainly not those England batsmen out of nick and drained of confidence. They fell prodding, uncertain of how to play the situation. The ones that had the most success were Brook and Atkinson, who were willing to give it a go and commit to a counterattack. Most of the rest were out poking around to seaming balls.

Duckett looks totally lost. He is embarrassed by the video footage of him drunk in Noosa and with Stokes urging his team to play a different style that does not suit Duckett’s game when he is playing well, let alone struggling, he does not seem to know which way to turn.

He was out lollipopping a catch to mid on, tamely going at a ball on his pads that he would normally whip away with ease. Jacob Bethell, in for Ollie Pope, had no chance. Walking out in front of more than 90,000 on his Ashes debut at No 3 with barely any cricket behind him to face Starc and Boland was a sacrificial offering in a coliseum.

Neser, round the wicket, angled one into Bethell who was leg before to his fifth ball. Joe Root made a 15-ball duck, playing and missing and going nowhere as Australia hammered length outside his off stump until he nibbled Neser behind.