Stuart Broad slams MCG pitch after wickets tumble on first day of Boxing Day Test

The two seam attacks took advantage of a surface offering plenty of movement as 20 wickets fell in Melbourne

Both teams were all out inside three sessions as wickets tumbled in Melbourne (AFP via Getty Images)

Former England bowler Stuart Broad was among those to slam the surface for the Boxing Day Ashes Test after 20 wickets fell on the opening day in Melbourne.

Australia closed day one with a lead of 46 runs one over into their second innings after both sides were all out inside three sessions at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG).

Both seam attacks extracted lavish seam movement on a relatively cool day, with England’s Josh Tongue finishing with a five-for as Australia were bowled out for just 152 at tea.

Steve Smith’s middle stump was removed byJosh Tongue (PA Wire)

But England could muster only 110 in reply, failing to make it to the 30-over mark as their beleaguered batting unit struggled to either absorb or transfer pressure.

After a two-day Test in Perth to open the series, another curtailed affair beckons with it entirely possible that the encounter finishes on Saturday.

The MCG pitch curator, Matt Page, had said ahead of the fourth Test that he hoped to replicate the surface used for Australia’s thrilling Test against India last year, which was decided late on day five, but the decision to leave about 10mm of grass appears to have backfired.

“The pitch is doing too much if I’m brutally honest,” said Broad on SEN radio in Australia as the wickets continued to fall. “Test match bowlers don’t need this amount of movement to look threatening.”

Former opening batter Alastair Cook agreed, stressing that it was much too tough for batters to either survive or score.

"This is not a great Test wicket,” he said on TNT Sports. "Unless this flattens out on days two, three and four, if we get there, then that was too heavily weighted in the bowlers' favour.

"The bowlers didn't have to work that hard for wickets. Could both sides have batted slightly better? Yes, but if you put the ball in the right area, it was going to nip either way. It was a bit of an unfair contest."

Fellow former England captain Michael Vaughan was more succinct in his analysis on Fox Sports: “This first day wicket is a shocker. It really is.”

Not since 1909 had two innings previously been completed on the first day of an Ashes Test.