1888, 1895, 2025: Shortest completed Ashes Tests ever | Cricket News

NEW DELHI: England finally exorcised their Australian demons, ending an 18-match winless streak Down Under with a dramatic four-wicket victory in the fourth Ashes Test at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on Saturday. The result not only restored pride after a bruising tour but also rewrote several entries in Ashes history, with the contest finishing inside two days in extraordinary fashion.Go Beyond The Boundary with our YouTube channel. SUBSCRIBE NOW!Having lost the first three Tests at Perth, Brisbane and Adelaide, England had already conceded the Ashes in just 11 days of cricket. Questions over preparation, form and direction surrounded the visitors as they arrived in Melbourne. Yet, against the odds, England produced a defiant performance to halt a barren run that had stretched nearly 15 years.

England’s previous Test win in Australia had come at the Sydney Cricket Ground in January 2011. Since then, they had endured 18 Tests without victory, losing 16 and drawing two. That sequence placed England alongside New Zealand for the most consecutive Tests without a win in Australia, a dubious record that now stands corrected. The victory also carried personal significance for key figures, with Joe Root registering his first Test win in Australia after 18 matches, while Ben Stokes tasted success for the first time in his 13th Test on Australian soil.The Melbourne Test was notable not just for the result, but for its sheer brevity. Completed in 852 balls, it became the fourth-shortest Ashes Test in history. Only three matches from the late 19th century were shorter: Old Trafford (1888), Lord’s (1888), and the Perth Test earlier in this series, which ended in 847 balls. Melbourne 2025 now sits alongside those games as one of the quickest finishes the rivalry has ever seen.It also joined a rare list of Ashes Tests to conclude inside two days. Before this series, the most recent such occurrence had been Nottingham in 1921 (excluding a rest day). Remarkably, the 2025 Ashes has now produced two Tests ending within two days — Perth and Melbourne — underlining the extreme conditions and relentless pace that have defined the contest.From Australia’s perspective, the defeat marked only their third loss in Boxing Day Tests since 2011. Across 15 matches at the MCG during this period, Australia have won 10, drawn two and lost just three — twice to India and now to England. That context makes England’s triumph even more striking.

Shortest completed Ashes Tests (by balls)

Ashes Tests ending inside two days

England’s last Test win in Australia was at the SCG in January 2011. This is the first Test win for Joe Root in 18 Tests in Australia, and the first for Ben Stokes in 13 games.

Most consecutive Tests without a win in Australia

Australia in Boxing Day Tests since 2011