M Labuschagne was dismissed for one in Australia’s first innings in this test to provide the first occasion of his being dismissed for one in his test career spanning 21 tests and 36 innings. It also provides the fifth occasion of his being dismissed for a single digit score in his test career. All such occasions are tabulated below.

No	Runs	I	Opposition	Ground	Start Date
1	6	1	v Sri Lanka	Canberra	01 Feb 2019
2	6	4	v India	Adelaide	17 Dec 2020
3	4	3	v Sri Lanka	Canberra	01 Feb 2019
4	1	2	v England	Melbourne	26 Dec 2021
5	0	2	v Pakistan	Dub-DSC	07 Oct 2018

JE Root took three catches in Australia’s innings which fetched him 80 catches while leading England. He became the first England captain to pouch 80 catches and also became the seventh captain to pouch 80 plus catches in the annals of test cricket. Others are – GC Smith {155}, SP Fleming {132}, RT Ponting {90}, AR Border {89}, MA Taylor {84} and SPD Smith {82}

MS Harris scored 76 in Australia’s first innings to provide the 207^th occasion of Australian opening batsman scoring a half century against England. It also provides the 111th occasion of Australian opening batsman scoring a half century against England on home soil. It also provides the 35th occasion of Australian opening batsman scoring a half century against England at Melbourne.

JE Root’s aggregate of runs in the calendar year as at the end of second day’s play in this test read 1692. He now stands third in the list of batsmen who have scored most runs in a calendar year. Mohd Yusuf of Pakistan with 1788 runs in the year 2006 and IVA Richards of West Indies with 1710 runs in the year 1976 occupy the first two places. JE Root needs eight more runs for his 1700 runs to become the third batsman to aggregate 1700 plus runs in a calendar year.

JE Root has scored ten fifties in the calendar year 2021. His feat of scoring ten fifties provides the 50^th occasion of a batsman scoring ten or more fifties in a calendar year in the annals of test cricket.

JE Root’s aggregate of 1692 runs in the calendar year 2021 represent the most runs scored by a captain in a calendar year. Previous record was with GC Smith of South Africa who had an aggregate of 1656 in the calendar year 2008.

JE Root and GC Smith are the only two captains in the annals of test cricket to aggregate 1600 plus runs in a calendar year.

JE Root has scored ten fifties in the calendar year 2021 as captain. His feat of scoring ten fifties provides the eleventh occasion of a captain scoring ten or more fifties in a calendar year in the annals of test cricket. All such occasions are tabulated below.

No	Player	Team	Mat	I	NO	Runs	C	HC	0	50+	Year
1	RT Ponting	Aus	15	28	5	1544	6	6	1	12	2005
2	GC Smith	SAF	15	25	2	1656	6	6	1	12	2008
3	RT Ponting	Aus	10	18	3	1333	7	4	0	11	2006
4	AN Cook	Eng	14	26	1	1364	3	8	1	11	2015
5	RB Simpson	Aus	14	26	3	1381	3	7	2	10	1964
6	WJ Cronje	SAF	14	24	2	1040	1	9	1	10	1998
7	BC Lara	Win	10	19	1	1344	5	5	0	10	2003
8	R Dravid	Ind	12	22	4	1095	3	7	0	10	2006
9	AD Mathews	Srl	11	20	5	1160	2	8	0	10	2014
10	V Kohli	Ind	13	24	0	1322	5	5	2	10	2018
11	JE Root	Eng	15	29	2	1692	6	4	1	10	2021

DJ Malan was dismissed for a first ball duck in England’s second innings to provide the 131st occasion of an England batsman dismissed for a first ball duck in an innings against Australia. It also provides the 83rd occasion of an England batsman dismissed for a first ball duck in an innings against Australia in Australia. It also provides the 25th occasion of an England batsman dismissed for a first ball duck in an innings against Australia at Melbourne.

MJ Leach was dismissed for a second ball duck in England’s second innings to provide the 80th occasion of an England batsman dismissed for a second ball duck in an innings against Australia. It also provides the 40th occasion of an England batsman dismissed for a second ball duck in an innings against Australia in Australia. It also provides the 12th occasion of an England batsman dismissed for a second ball duck in an innings against Australia at Melbourne.

DJ Malan was dismissed for a first ball duck in England’s second innings to provide the tenth occasion of an England batsman batting at number three dismissed for a first ball duck in an innings against Australia. It also provides the fourth occasion of an England batsman batting at number three dismissed for a first ball duck in an innings against Australia in Australia.

It also provides the second occasion of an England batsman batting at number three dismissed for a first ball duck in an innings against Australia at Melbourne. EG Arnold batting at number three had collected the first ball duck in Mar 1904 at Melbourne.

Thus DJ Malan’s dismissal for a first ball duck for a batsman batting at number three at Melbourne has come after 107 years nine months after EG Arnold’s dismissal.