Warner, Smith put Australia in command

Smith continued his red-hot Ashes form and notched up another 50+ score © Getty

A hundred from David Warner and an unbeaten half-century from Australia's captain Steven Smith on Tuesday (December 26) have put the home side firmly in charge after the opening day of the Boxing Day Test at the MCG.

After a fast start, Australia finished the day on 244-3 as England bowled with much effort and discipline to restrict the run scoring in the afternoon and evening sessions. But once again the tourists' bowlers struggled for potency on an extremely flat drop-in pitch under clear blue skies.

Warner, who has had a quiet series by his own high standards, dominated the opening skirmishes after Smith had won his first toss of the series and decided to bat. Warner raced to 83 by lunch as England struggled to contain his run scoring and then reached his 21st Test hundred midway through the afternoon session although he very nearly gave it away on 99.

The ball before he reached three figures, Warner was caught by Stuart Broad at mid-on off the bowling of England debutant Tom Curran attempting a short-arm pull into the leg-side, a shot that has got him into trouble before in this series. As the Australian was walking off the field, a replay on the big screen showed that Curran had overstepped and Warner was reprieved. His hundred came the very next ball when he tucked a single off his hip.

Looking busy and focused from the first ball, it took Warner just 130 deliveries to reach his century. He drove powerfully down the ground early on and cut well when width was on offer. He bunted Moeen Ali over his head for six just before lunch and ran excellently with fellow opener Cameron Bancroft in a partnership of 122 of which Bancroft contributed 26. Only when he moved into the 90s did Warner look at any stage tied down.

Although there were a few shots which went in the air between point and gully during the opener's innings, it was chanceless until the wicket off the no-ball and it took a fine piece of bowling from James Anderson to finally remove him on 103. England's senior bowler found some movement off the pitch to take Warner's edge from a flat footed waft and Jonny Bairstow did the rest.

Where Warner was fluent, Bancroft was anything but. He was discomforted early by a number of short balls which he fended away from under his armpit and he never seemed to get himself going on what was an extremely good, if slightly slow, surface for batting. At least Bancroft battled through the opening session, during which Australia scored 102 runs from 28 overs, but it was often ungainly.

Chris Woakes eventually put Bancroft out of his misery during the middle session of the day, LBW for 26 off a painstaking 95 balls. After beginning his Test career well in Brisbane, scoring a second innings half-century, Bancroft has struggled since and looks to have a number of technical issues which need addressing. He needs a score or two during the rest of the series to seal his spot on the tour of South Africa.

Woakes began the middle session well for England and Anderson and Curran followed suit in an absorbing spell of attritional play. England bowled excellently and picked up two wickets for just 43 runs in 26 overs between lunch and tea. There was some reverse swing on offer which made things tough for the batsmen and the tourists stuck to their task well, bowling consistently around off-stump.

Like Bancroft, Usman Khawaja struggled for timing and fluency and even Smith took his time to get going before tea. Shortly afterwards, Khawaja was gone, flirting at a full ball outside off-stump from Stuart Broad to be caught behind for 17 from 65 balls. It was Broad's first wicket for 415 deliveries after his barren time in Perth and the relief on his face was obvious.

With that wicket, Australia were 160-3 and the very next ball, Broad rapped Shaun Marsh on the pads. It looked mighty close at first glance but was turned down by umpire S Ravi. England reviewed only for the original decision to be upheld by umpire's call. It was the slightest of margins and was the sort of luck that England have been missing on this tour.

After that, it was Australia's captain, aided by Shaun Marsh, who once again turned a precarious position for his side into a very good one by the close as he did in the matches in Brisbane and Perth. Smith played and missed occasionally early on and struggled for timing as the ball got softer but looked generally untroubled as he has for most of this series.

Typically, he was harsh on anything slightly off line or length and scored six boundaries in all while Marsh, dogged, compact and increasingly assertive, provided good support to finish on 31 not out.

England's attack worked hard but there was little in the way of sideways movement apart from some minimal reverse swing and there was no real pace or bounce in the pitch with which to work. Broad and Anderson bowled well with the new ball although they couldn't find any swing and Curran, impressive on his first day of Test cricket, unfurled a number of slower deliveries as the day wore on to try and mix things up.

As has been said many times during this tour, though, England's attack of fast-medium bowlers has little in the way of variety or x-factor pace which can blast teams out on flat surfaces such as this so they must rely on control, skill and discipline. That got them so far today but against a player of Smith's class, teams must try and grab the initiative. It was a surprise, then, that England didn't choose to take the second new ball until three overs before the close.

Aside from the seamers, Moeen Ali's struggles with the ball continued. He bowled just six overs for 35 runs on a day when a frontline spinner would usually have bowled 15 to 20 overs to give the fast-men a rest. Moeen struggled to offer Joe Root any semblance of control and England's captain turned to Dawid Malan's leg-spin for seven overs in the final session. That shows how far Moeen's stock has fallen after a tremendous home summer with the ball.

By finishing on 244-3, Australia have clearly had the better of the opening day and with Smith still there, unbeaten on 65, England face another tough day at the office tomorrow. As has been the way during this series, the tourists did not lack for effort in Melbourne's sporting coliseum today but the home side's extra class saw them through.

Brief Scores: Australia 244/3 (David Warner 103, Steven Smith 65*, Stuart Broad 1-41) vs England.