England may have been swimming against the Ashes tide in this series, but this was a day their lengths paid off.

Having surrendered the urn in South Australia, England’s pacemen will have collectively pondered, fretted and chewed the festive bowling fat on their journey from Adelaide to the Melbourne Cricket Ground this week.

And somewhere between common sense and desperation, they settled on a formula: bowl a little fuller.

In the first three Tests of this Ashes series in Australia, the average length of England’s bowlers was 7.85m and, for the majority of that time, Australia’s batters made hay as the hosts raced into a 3-0 lead in the five-match contest.

On day one in Melbourne, in front of 94,199 raucous and excitable fans, England hit an average of 6.89m and Australia endured a Boxing Day batting breakdown as they were toppled for 152.

Those small margins made the difference at ‘the G’ – England’s attack visited the areas where wickets actually live.

Australian hands were drawn into playing, edges started to be found and it was an England attack with purpose rather than just hope.

“England just bowled better, and they put it in good areas,” former England spinner Phil Tufnell said on Test Match Special.

“It is not rocket science. The pitch wasn’t seaming everywhere, it was just holding a little bit – that’s why England won the toss and had a bowl.”

According to CricViz, England’s average length of 6.89m was the second-fullest they have bowled in any Test innings since Brendon McCullum was appointed coach.