Australia capped SC Boland for this test to provide the 462nd occasion of an cricketer making his test debut for Australia. He also became the 287^th Australian cricketer to make his debut on home soil

Australia capped SC Boland for this test to provide the 247th occasion of an Australian cricketer making his test debut against England. He also became the 169th Australian cricketer to make his debut on home soil against England.

Australia capped SC Boland for this test to provide the 92nd occasion of an Australian cricketer making his test debut at Melbourne. He also became the 61^st Australian cricketer to make his debut against England at Melbourne.

England have made four changes. RJ Burns, OJ Pope, CR Woakes and SCJ Broad have all been left out in favour of Z Crawley, JM Bairstow, MA Wood and MJ Leach.

Of the four, Z Crawley is making his first appearance in a test against Australia, while all the other three have already made their appearance against Australia.

It’s a delayed toss due to rain interruption at Melbourne, the venue of the third test of Ashes series 2021-22.

JE Root will be leading England in his 59^th test in this game. He will share the record for most captaincy assignment for England with AN Cook. AN Cook has also led England on 59 occasions.

JE Root will be leading England in his 28th test on away soil in this game. He will share the record for most captaincy assignment for England on away soil with AN Cook. AN Cook has also led England on 59 occasions on away soil.

Australia won the toss and elected to field first to provide the 85th   occasion of Australia doing so. It also provides the 57th occasion of Australia doing so on home soil

Australia won the toss and elected to field first to provide the 35th occasion of Australia doing so against England. It also provides the 22nd occasion of Australia doing so on home soil against England.

Australia won the toss and elected to field first to provide the 18th occasion of Australia doing so at Melbourne. It also provides the seventh occasion of Australia doing so at Melbourne against England.

This test was JE Root’s 50^th test on away soil. He became the ninth England cricketer to appear in 50 tests on away soil.

No	Player	Mat	Inns	NO	Runs	HS	C	HC	0
1	JM Anderson	67	98	42	430	29	0	0	14
2	AN Cook	66	125	9	5295	244*	17	22	5
3	SCJ Broad	59	91	17	909	56	0	1	17
4	MC Cowdrey	59	100	9	4087	151	13	20	5
5	AJ Stewart	59	109	9	3813	173	7	23	9
6	DI Gower	52	91	9	3777	173*	8	20	3
7	G Boycott	51	93	13	3758	142*	8	27	4
8	GP Thorpe	51	94	17	3401	200*	9	18	5
9	JE Root	50	93	5	4157	228	9	24	3

JM Anderson added one more record to his list of records. He became England’s most capped cricketer on away soil. He was playing his 67^th test on away soil in this test. He went past AN Cook who has played 66 tests on away soil.

No	Player	Mat	Inns	NO	Runs	HS	C	HC	0
1	JM Anderson	67	98	42	430	29	0	0	14
2	AN Cook	66	125	9	5295	244*	17	22	5

JE Root became the 59^th cricketer in the annals of test cricket to appear in 50 plus tests on away soil.

H Hameed was dismissed for a duck in England’s first innings to provide the 264^th occasion of an England opening batsman dismissed for a duck in a test innings. It also provides the 152^nd occasion of an England opening batsman dismissed for a duck in a test innings on away soil

H Hameed was dismissed for a duck in England’s first innings to provide the 97^th occasion of an England opening batsman dismissed for a duck in a test innings against Australia. It also provides the 66^th occasion of an England opening batsman dismissed for a duck in a test innings on away soil against Australia.

H Hameed was dismissed for a duck in England’s first innings to provide the 22^nd occasion of an England opening batsman dismissed for a duck in a test innings against Australia at Melbourne.

H Hammed-Z Crawley opened the innings for England in this test providing the 164th opening pair for England against Australia. They also provide the 97^th England opening pair against Australia on away soil and 53^rd opening pair against Australia at Melbourne.

PJ Cummins captured his 100^th wicket on home soil when he claimed the wicket of England opener H Hameed for a duck caught by A Carey. He earned the distinction of becoming the 20^th Australian bowler to capture 100 plus wickets on home soil.

H Hameed’s dismissal for a duck in England’s first innings provides the 16^th occasion of a batsman dismissed for a duck by PJ Cummins. All such occasions are tabulated below.

No	Batsman	MoD	Fielder	R	I	Opp	Ground	Date
1	MM Ali	c	SPD Smith	0	1	Eng	Perth	14.12.17
2	SCJ Broad	c	TD Paine	0	3	Eng	Perth	14.12.17
3	JM Anderson	c	CT Bancroft	0	2	Eng	Melbourne	26.12.17
4	I Sharma	c	TD Paine	0	4	Ind	Perth	14.12.18
5	JJ Bumrah	c	PJ Cummins	0	4	Ind	Perth	14.12.18
6	CA Pujara	c	MS Harris	0	3	Ind	Melbourne	26.12.18
7	V Kohli	c	MS Harris	0	3	Ind	Melbourne	26.12.18
8	PVD Chameera	c	KR Patterson	0	1	Srl	Brisbane	24.01.19
9	LD Chandimal	c	KR Patterson	0	3	Srl	Brisbane	24.01.19
10	Asad Shafiq	c	SPD Smith	0	3	Pak	Brisbane	21.11.19
11	MJ Santner	c	TM Head	0	4	NZl	Perth	12.12.19
12	HM Nicholls	lbw		0	2	NZl	Melbourne	26.12.19
13	Mohd Shami	c	TM Head	0	1	Ind	Adelaide	17.12.20
14	CA Pujara	c	TD Paine	0	3	Ind	Adelaide	17.12.20
15	OE Robinson	c	AT Carey	0	1	Eng	Brisbane	08.12.21
16	H Hameed	c	AT Carey	0	1	Eng	Melbourne	26.12.21

H Hameed’s dismissal for a duck in England’s first innings provides the fifth occasion of an England batsman dismissed for a duck by PJ Cummins. All such occasions are tabulated below.

No	Batsman	MoD	Fielder	R	I	Opp	Ground	Date
1	MM Ali	c	SPD Smith	0	1	Eng	Perth	14.12.17
2	SCJ Broad	c	TD Paine	0	3	Eng	Perth	14.12.17
3	JM Anderson	c	CT Bancroft	0	2	Eng	Melbourne	26.12.17
4	OE Robinson	c	AT Carey	0	1	Eng	Brisbane	08.12.21
5	H Hameed	c	AT Carey	0	1	Eng	Melbourne	26.12.21

JE Root scored 50 in England’s first innings to provide his 38^th fifty while leading England. It also provides his 19^th fifty on away soil while captaining England

JE Root scored 50 in England’s first innings to provide his twelfth fifty while leading England against Australia. It also provides his eighth fifty on away soil while leading England against Australia.

JE Root was dismissed for 50 in England’s first innings to provide the fourteenth occasion of an England captain dismissed for 50 in an innings. All such occasions are tabulated below.

No	Player	Runs	I	Opp	Ground	Start Date
1	WG Grace	50	2	Aus	Melbourne	01 Jan 1892
2	FL Fane	50	4	Aus	Melbourne	01 Jan 1908
3	JWHT Douglas	50	1	Aus	Melbourne	11 Feb 1921
4	APF Chapman	50	1	Win	Lord’s	23 Jun 1928
5	APF Chapman	50	1	Aus	Brisbane	30 Nov 1928
6	JH Edrich	50	2	Aus	Sydney	04 Jan 1975
7	JM Brearley	50	1	NZl	Nottingham	10 Aug 1978
8	MA Atherton	50	1	Aus	The Oval	19 Aug 1993
9	N Hussain	50	3	Ind	Ahmedabad	11 Dec 2001
10	A Flintoff	50	1	Ind	Mumbai	18 Mar 2006
11	A Flintoff	50	3	Ind	Mumbai	18 Mar 2006
12	AN Cook	50	3	Aus	Nottingham	10 Jul 2013
13	JE Root	50	3	SAF	The Oval	27 Jul 2017
14	JE Root	50	1	Aus	Melbourne	26 Dec 2021

JE Root is one of three England captains who have been dismissed for 50 on two occasions. Others are APF Chapman and A Flintoff. A Flintoff is the only England captain to be dismissed for 50 in both innings of a test. He was dismissed for 50 in both innings against India at Mumbai in Mar 2006.

No	Player	Runs	I	Opp	Ground	Start Date
1	APF Chapman	50	1	Win	Lord’s	23 Jun 1928
2	APF Chapman	50	1	Aus	Brisbane	30 Nov 1928
1	A Flintoff	50	1	Ind	Mumbai	18 Mar 2006
2	A Flintoff	50	3	Ind	Mumbai	18 Mar 2006
1	JE Root	50	3	SAF	The Oval	27 Jul 2017
2	JE Root	50	1	Aus	Melbourne	26 Dec 2021

JE Root was dismissed for 50 in England’s first innings to provide the eighth occasion of an England captain dismissed for 50 in an innings against Australia. All such occasions are tabulated below.

No	Player	Runs	I	Opp	Ground	Start Date
1	WG Grace	50	2	Aus	Melbourne	01 Jan 1892
2	FL Fane	50	4	Aus	Melbourne	01 Jan 1908
3	JWHT Douglas	50	1	Aus	Melbourne	11 Feb 1921
4	APF Chapman	50	1	Aus	Brisbane	30 Nov 1928
5	JH Edrich	50	2	Aus	Sydney	04 Jan 1975
6	MA Atherton	50	1	Aus	The Oval	19 Aug 1993
7	AN Cook	50	3	Aus	Nottingham	10 Jul 2013
8	JE Root	50	1	Aus	Melbourne	26 Dec 2021

JE Root was dismissed for 50 in England’s first innings to provide the sixth occasion of an England captain dismissed for 50 in an innings against Australia in Australia. All such occasions are tabulated below.

No	Player	Runs	I	Opp	Ground	Start Date
1	WG Grace	50	2	Aus	Melbourne	01 Jan 1892
2	FL Fane	50	4	Aus	Melbourne	01 Jan 1908
3	JWHT Douglas	50	1	Aus	Melbourne	11 Feb 1921
4	APF Chapman	50	1	Aus	Brisbane	30 Nov 1928
5	JH Edrich	50	2	Aus	Sydney	04 Jan 1975
6	JE Root	50	1	Aus	Melbourne	26 Dec 2021

JE Root was dismissed for 50 in England’s first innings to provide the fourth occasion of an England captain dismissed for 50 in an innings against Australia in Australia at Melbourne. All such occasions are tabulated below.

No	Player	Runs	I	Opp	Ground	Start Date
1	WG Grace	50	2	Aus	Melbourne	01 Jan 1892
2	FL Fane	50	4	Aus	Melbourne	01 Jan 1908
3	JWHT Douglas	50	1	Aus	Melbourne	11 Feb 1921
4	JE Root	50	1	Aus	Melbourne	26 Dec 2021

JE Root was dismissed for 50 in England’s first innings to provide the 71st occasion of an England batsman dismissed for 50 in an innings. It also provides the 37^th occasion of an England batsman dismissed for 50 in an innings on away soil.

JE Root was dismissed for 50 in England’s first innings to provide the 27th occasion of an England batsman dismissed for 50 in an innings against Australia. It also provides the 16^th occasion of an England batsman dismissed for 50 in an innings against Australia on away soil and tenth such occasion at Melbourne.

It is an exact 50 for JE Root on his 50^th test on away soil.

MA Starc’s two wickets in this game fetched him an aggregate of 172 wickets which represents the most wickets by a left arm Australian bowler on home soil He went past MJ Johnson who had a tally of 171 wickets on home soil. MA Starc’s 172 wickets is also a record for an Australian left arm pace bowler on home soil.

Most wickets by a left arm bowler on home soil is credited to HMRKB Herath of Sri Lanka who has an aggregate of 278 wickets. Most wickets by a left arm pace bowler on home soil is credited to WPUJC Vaas of Sri Lanka who has an aggregate of 180 wickets.

SPD Smith’s lone catch in England’s innings fetched him an aggregate of 132 catches. It also fetched him an aggregate of 76 catches on home soil.

SPD Smith’s lone catch in England’s innings fetched him an aggregate of 44 catches against England. It also fetched him an aggregate of 28 catches on home soil against England.

England was dismissed all out for 185 after being inserted to provide the  57^th occasion of England dismissed all out for a total of less than 200 when it was inserted by the opposition. It also provides the 24th occasion of England dismissed all out for a total of less than 200 when it was inserted by the opposition – Australia.

DA Warner’s aggregate runs as an Australian opening batsman read 7512 at the end of his first innings in this test in which he made 38. He reached the landmark of 7500 runs when he was on 26 during the course of his knock of 38.  He became the third Australian opening batsman to aggregate 7500 plus runs. Others are ML Hayden {8625} and MA Taylor {7525}. By a strange coincidence, all these three opening batsmen are left handers.

DA Warner’s aggregate runs as an Australian opening batsman read 4780 on home soil at the end of his first innings in this test in which he made 38. Only ML Hayden has scored more runs on home soil than DA Warner. ML Hayden has an aggregate of 5210 runs on home soil while opening the innings.

DA Warner’s aggregate runs as an Australian opening batsman read 1206 on home soil against England at the end of his first innings in this test in which he made 38. He completed 1200 runs when he was on 32 during the course of his knock of 38. He became the second opening batsman to aggregate 1200 plus runs against England on home soil after WM Lawry. WM Lawry has an aggregate of 1226 against England on home soil