A record 94,199 spectators turned up to the MCG on Boxing Day and none will forget what they witnessed. An extraordinary 20 wickets fell on a pitch offering lavish movement and it left Cricket Australia fearing a second multimillion-dollar loss in this Ashes series.
The first of these came in Perth, when a two-day bunfight triggered mass refunds and had visiting fans scrambling to book sightseeing trips. This fourth Test always had the ingredients for a repeat, not just a surface with 10mm of grass but also a touring side in England who, having lost the Ashes and with criticism flying, looked broken before the coin even went up.
