The Ashes: England quick Josh Tongue rips through Australian top-order on day one of Boxing Day Test

England has waited until the Ashes are lost to land their first major blow of the series, tearing through Australian on the first day of the Boxing Day Test.

Australia were cleaned up for 152 more than 15 minutes before tea on the opening day and will have to bowl their way back into the contest at the MCG on Friday evening.

Wildcard England quick Josh Tongue was the chief destroyer with five wickets. He took three of the scalps in a blistering first-session spell of 3-24 which included bowling Steve Smith with a rocket that hooped back through his gate.

He finished with 5-45 after also bowling Michael Neser and snicking off Scott Boland and will be on a hat-trick in the second innings.

Australia’s middle-session rot included the nightmare run-out of Cam Green, who will now face mounting scrutiny over his place in the side after a poor batting return of 93 runs in the series.

Neser provided the best resistance at No.8 but was dismissed for 35 off 49 balls.

In front of a heaving MCG and under grey skies, Australia’s batters were sent in by Stokes and were 4-72 by lunch.

Both England’s call to bowl first and Australia’s to pick four frontline pacemen were justified by a seaming track that proved tough to face the new ball on.

Tongue induced the rare sight of Smith being beaten between bat and pad. The stand-in Aussie captain — who has scored five Test centuries at this ground — fell for nine off 22 balls. He showed signs of being antsy and uncomfortable at the crease, despite carving away a stunning cover drive and a lusty pull shot in his brief stay.

Returning after missing the Adelaide Test with a vertigo-like illness, Smith was gesticulative towards his batting partners and was annoyed by distractions behind the bowler’s arm.

Tongue has now dismissed the Aussie great five times, including once playing county cricket and once in The Hundred.

Travis Head, Jake Weatherald and Marnus Labuschagne all fell inside the first hour of play.

Head chopped a ball back onto his stumps off the bowling of Gus Atkinson, who was England’s best in the first session.

Atkinson took his wicket and conceded just seven runs from his first seven-over spell after replacing injured quick Jofra Archer in the side.

Head had struggled to adjust to balls jumping up off a good length and took 22 deliveries to make his 12.

But Atkinson’s hard work was mitigated at the other end by a wayward and rattled Brydon Carse. The misfiring England quick coughed up five extras in his first over — the second of the match — and conceded 15 runs, including three boundaries, in his third.

While Atkinson’s nip and bounce showed why Stokes elected to bowl first, Carse couldn’t control the new ball and fired a series of deliveries down leg side in a woeful start.

He was replaced at the Shane Warne Stand end by Tongue, who had Weatherald feathering a ball — ironically down the leg side — to wicketkeeper Jamie Smith for 10.

Labuschagne’s uninspiring series continued when he was caught behind launching into a full-blooded drive off Tongue on six.

Stokes made the eyebrow-raising call to swing Carse to the member’s end rather than injecting himself into the game with the ball, but was able to trouble Khawaja for pace in a better spell.

Then Stokes brought himself on after the lunch break and took the prized scalp of the in-form Alex Carey for 20, moments after Atkinson had removed Usman Khawaja for 29.

Khawaja was left frustrated by a wafer-thin outside edge that was initially given not-out but overturned on review, with only the faintest spike showing on the heavily-scrutinised Snicko technology.

In a Boxing Day nightmare, Green was dismissed trying to drop-and-run on the off-side. Bowler Carse collected the ball and threw down the stumps before the all-rounder could scamper through for a single that was never really on offer.

Green lost his wicket for 17 and given he is a notoriously nervous starter, threw away a golden opportunity to leave his stamp on a match in this series.

The final three batters combined for just one run and they lost 4-9 to finish the innings.