Ashes 2017/18, 4th Test, Day 3: 5 things we learnt from the day

Alastair Cook continued in the same vein of new-found form and raced to a rousing double-hundred and his century stand with Stuart Broad swelled England's lead in the first innings of day 3 of the fourth Test at MCG. The former England skipper was in outstanding touch after his hundred and effortlessly notched up his double ton while Broad and Woakes gave him company.

Earlier, Australia had stormed back into the match by dismissing England's middle-order cheaply with Joe Root once again failing to convert his half-century. As Bairstow and Ali departed cheaply, the hosts could smell another collapse. But that was not to be as Broad redeemed himself with the bat to give Cook some much-needed company.

#5 Joe Root can't convert his fifties

Joe Root fell to Pat Cummins for the fourth time in the series

Joe Root might have been England's best bet to retain the Ashes before the series. But the boyish, elegant, Fab Four member has an issue in converting his half-centuries to hundreds and that is quickly making him the worst of the four most touted batsmen in World cricket today.

Since Jan 2016, Root has gone past the half-century mark a whopping 42 times across formats, the most for any batsman. But he has converted only 9 of those to hundreds. On the other hand, Virat Kohli has converted 18 of his 41 such scores into tons. It shows the kind of bridge that is being created between Root and the other three.

#4 Malan has a brain-fade

Malan was gone two balls after Australia had taken the new ball

Dawid Malan was England's hero at Perth. He stood up to the intimidating Aussie pacers and smashed a valiant maiden Test hundred. By the time the fourth Test was about to get underway, he was the top-scorer for England in the series. The gritty left-hander had justified his selection and impressively so.

But at the MCG, it all came down to another brain-fade from an England batsman. Hazlewood, hurling the new red ball, swung the ball back into Malan who was trapped plumb in front. He referred with Cook, who must have said, "if you didn't nick it, you are wasting my time". Malan promptly walked off but replays showed that he had a big fat inside edge.

#3 Moeen Ali's counter-attacking approach fades off

Ali came out and started to go for his shots

The defensive way was clearly not working for Moeen Ali. He hadn't made more than 40 in the series and had fallen to Nathan Lyon countless times, averaging less than 20 with the bat in the whole tour. The southpaw decided to throw caution to the wind despite the situation England were in at MCG on day 3 and started to bring out his shots.

The hooks - one off Cummins and one off Hazlewood - were both very unconvincing though both went for boundaries and a lofted six off Nathan Lyon just about cleared the long-on fielder. Having raced away to 20 in 13 balls, Ali once again fell to his nemesis, Lyon. He slapped a shortish ball on off-stump straight to short cover to end his stay at the crease and make the likelihood of Mason Crane getting a debut in the final Test pretty high.

#2 Stuart Broad finally gets over his jitters with the bat

Broad came back to form with the bat

Ever since Varun Aaron stormed in and hit him flush on the face with a bouncer, Stuart Broad hasn't been the same kind of batsman he once was. He waited on the back-foot way too often and struggled to get going with the bat. England's once intimidating lower order didn't appear the same with Broad faltering with the bat.

At MCG, though, Broad on the back of a good bowling performance, turned up with the bat and gave his former skipper good company. The tall seamer struck the ball well and made Australia toil with his partnership with Alastair Cook. Broad's return to form with ball and bat augers well for England.

#1 Alastair Cook roars back to form with double-hundred

Alastair Cook made a resounding double-hundred to put Australia in dire straits

It came late in the series but Alastair Cook and England have finally arrived. It appeared as though they would spoil the efforts of day 2 with their bat as they lost too many upfront in the first two sessions, but the lower order - Woakes and Broad in particular - gave Cook ample company as he ex-skipper went on to make his second double hundred in Australia.

The southpaw had appeared much more assured and confident on day 2 but took it a notch further with his outrageous batting. The absence of Mitchell Starc - who had troubled him whole series - helped as Cook unleashed his firefighter self on the hosts. He raced to a double ton in the company of Broad. The century stand took England to a dominant position at the end of the day.