Australia ended day one on 4/0 in second innings with a lead of 46 runs.
Ben Stokes won the toss and chose to bowl first on an MCG wicket on which Curator Matt Page left 10 mm of grass on the pitch, creating sharply seaming conditions that made batting incredibly tough.
His decision was proven correct as England's bowlers wreaked havoc on Australia. Josh Tongue took three wickets to rout Australia's top order, including Travis Head (12), Jake Weatherald (10), Marnus Labuschagne (6), and captain Steve Smith (9).
Usman Khawaja (29), Alex Carey (20), and Michael Neser (35) were Australia's leading run scorers as their first innings was bundled for 152 runs. Josh Tongue got 5/45, while Gus Atkinson claimed two wickets.
Mitchell Starc and Michael Neser had other ideas for England if they believed their innings would be simple. Ben Duckett, Jacob Bethell, Joe Root, and Zak Crawley—the top four of the England lineup—were also dismissed for single-digit scores, with Root scoring a duck.
England was dismissed for 110 runs in their opening innings, with Harry Brook scoring 41 and Gus Atkinson scoring 28. Starc grabbed two wickets, Scott Boland took three, and Michael Neser took 4/45 for Australia.
England was unable to take advantage of a position of strength, falling behind by 42 runs in the first innings—a relatively significant deficit considering the bowler-friendly conditions. Australia ended day one on 4/0 in their second innings.
A record crowd of 94,119, surpassing the 2015 World Cup final for the biggest attendance, saw an astonishing 20 wickets fall—the most on an opening day at an Ashes MCG Test since 1901-02.
See here: