Captain proud of England's MCG heroics after torrid series

Ben Stokes has described England's successful Ashes run-chase as one of the best of his career following a drought-breaking four-wicket win in the Boxing Day Test.

England arrived at the MCG under a mountain of pressure, unable to regain the Ashes following defeats in the opening three matches of the series.

The emergence of a video featuring a slurring Ben Duckett, filmed during the team's Noosa break, dominated the build-up.

Making matters worse, strike bowler Jofra Archer was ruled out with a side strain injury, joining fellow quick Mark Wood (knee) on the sidelines.

But the tourists stayed true to their "Bazball" style and ended an 18-Test winless streak against Australia in a match that will live long in the memory - mostly because of a treacherous pitch that severely impacted the contest.

For England captain Stokes, a veteran of 119 Tests, it was his first victory in 13 attempts on Australian soil.

He described England's performance as "brave and courageous" in the face of adversity.

"The couple of days building up to the Test match was obviously a difficult one for us," Stokes said.

"The way in which the leadership group were able to try and keep the focus as much as possible on the cricket that was coming was very important.

"Once you do cross that line on to the field you sort of do put everything else to one side and your focus switches over to what you need to do.

"There's moments where you're not on the field where things can start fluttering around in your head.

"So I think the way we were able to keep our focus as much as possible on the cricket was very important as to why we ended up on the right side of the result."

With the series lost before they arrived in Melbourne, England were bowled out for 110 on a day-one pitch that offered plenty for both sides' fast bowlers.

They were set 175 to win on day two and attacked the chase, posting the highest innings of a remarkable fourth Test.

It was England's first victory in Australia since January 2011, following 16 losses and two draws over the past 15 years.

"It's an awesome feeling," Stokes said.

"I've been over a couple of tours before where it's not gone too well, so to end up on the right side of the result after a long period of time is a pretty special feeling."

Stokes said his feedback for the ICC on the MCG pitch "won't be the best" and undersold it as a "pretty niggly wicket".

He was the last man out in the run-chase - caught behind for two off Mitchell Starc - as England slipped nervously to 6-165.

"Ten runs have never felt so far away as when I got out," Stokes said.

"I didn't want to come back into the dressing room and watch the TV on the delay."

Stokes paid tribute to Duckett and Zak Crawley, who combined for a crucial 51-run partnership to lay the platform for the successful chase.

"There was only one way of going about chasing that tally down, which was to go out there and try to put the pressure on from ball one," Stokes said.

"That opening partnership was very, very impressive and was a huge reason as to why we were able to chase a pretty tricky run-chase down."

England will head to Sydney for the fifth and final Test with renewed confidence, but have likely lost another fast bowler, with Gus Atkinson sustaining a left hamstring injury.

If Atkinson can't play at the SCG, Matthew Potts would likely receive a recall for his first Test since December 2024.

2025-26 NRMA Insurance Men's Ashes

First Test: Australia won by eight wickets

Second Test: Australia won by eight wickets

Third Test: Australia won by 82 runs

Fourth Test: December 26-30: MCG, Melbourne, 10:30am AEDT

Fifth Test: January 4-8: SCG, Sydney, 10:30am AEDT

Australia squad (fourth Test only): Steve Smith (c), Scott Boland, Alex Carey, Brendan Doggett, Cameron Green, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Todd Murphy, Michael Neser, Jhye Richardson, Mitchell Starc, Jake Weatherald, Beau Webster

England squad: Ben Stokes (c), Harry Brook (vc), Jofra Archer, Gus Atkinson, Shoaib Bashir, Jacob Bethell, Brydon Carse, Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Matthew Fisher, Will Jacks, Ollie Pope, Matthew Potts, Joe Root, Jamie Smith (wk), Josh Tongue