Alastair Cook recorded his fifth double century (244*) as he batted through the whole day to carry England to 491 for nine, 164 ahead of Australia's first innings total of 327. After losing overnight partner Joe Root for 61 earlier in the day, he found an able ally in Stuart Broad (56) with whom he put together a 100-run stand in just 110 deliveries. He was dropped twice by Steve Smith during the innings. For Australia, Josh Hazlewood, Pat Cummins and Nathan Lyon picked up three wickets each.
Stats highlights from Cook's marathon knock:
5 Batsmen with more runs in Test cricket than Cook's 11956. He started the Test as the ninth-highest run-getter and sneaked past Mahela Jayawardene (11814), Shivnarine Chanderpaul (11867) and Brian Lara (11953) to move to the sixth position.
Highest run getters in Test cricket
| Player | Mat | Inngs | Runs | Highest | Avg | 100s | 50s |
| S Tendulkar | 200 | 329 | 15921 | 248* | 53.78 | 51 | 68 |
| R Ponting | 168 | 287 | 13378 | 257 | 51.85 | 41 | 62 |
| J Kallis | 166 | 280 | 13289 | 224 | 55.37 | 45 | 58 |
| R Dravid | 164 | 286 | 13288 | 270 | 52.31 | 36 | 63 |
| K Sangakkara | 134 | 233 | 12400 | 319 | 57.4 | 38 | 52 |
| A Cook | 151 | 273 | 11956 | 294 | 46.52 | 32 | 55 |
| Brain Lara | 131 | 232 | 11953 | 400* | 52.88 | 34 | 48 |
| S Chanderpaul | 164 | 280 | 11867 | 203* | 51.37 | 30 | 66 |
| M Jayawardene | 149 | 252 | 11814 | 374 | 49.84 | 34 | 50 |
| A Border | 156 | 265 | 11174 | 205 | 50.56 | 27 | 63 |
3 Cook became the third batsman to score multiple double hundreds in Australia after Wally Hammond (3) and Brian Lara (2). He also became the second England batsman to score multiple double hundreds in Ashes contests after Hammond's four. This was his second double hundred this year after 243 against West Indies in Edgbaston, making him the second Englishman to score more than two double centuries in a year after Wally Hammond, who did it in three calendar years - 1928, 1933 and 1936.
248* by Cook is the fourth highest by an opening batsman in Australia and the highest by a visiting opener, surpassing the unbeaten 235 he made at the Gabba in 2010. It was his fifth double hundred as an opener bringing him at par with Graeme Smith. Only Virender Sehwag and Marvan Atapattu have more double centuries opening the batting - six each.
144 Runs scored by Cook in the five Tests (10 innings) between his last two fifty-plus knocks - the longest such barren run for him in his career. Incidentally, the last fifty-plus score for him was also a double hundred - 243 against Windies in Edgbaston
0 Individual scores higher than Cook's 248 by a visiting player at the MCG. He went past Viv Richards' 208 in 1984 as he became the fifth player to score a double hundred against Australia at the MCG. The previous highest for England at the venue was 200 by Hammond in 1928/29.
Highest scores against Aus at the MCG
| Player | Runs | Balls | Position | For | Start Date | Result |
| Alastair Cook | 244* | 409 | Open | Eng | 26-Dec-17 | In progress |
| Viv Richards | 208 | 245 | 5 | WI | 22-Dec-84 | Draw |
| Azhar Ali | 205* | 364 | Open | Pak | 26-Dec-16 | Lost |
| Aubrey Faulkner | 204 | 320 | 3 | SA | 31-Dec-10 | Lost |
| Wally Hammond | 200 | 472 | 3 | Eng | 29-Dec-28 | Won |
632 minutes batted by Cook so far is the second most by any player against Australia in Australia. The only player to bat longer in an innings was Mark Greatbatch, who batted for 655 minutes during his back-to-the-wall match-saving knock of 146* at the WACA in 1989.
2 Cook became the second visiting player to score hundreds in each of the five major Test venues in Australia (Gabba, Adelaide, WACA, MCG and SCG) after Sunil Gavaskar. He has the highest scores among visiting players in two of those venues - 235* at the Gabba and 244* at the MCG.
100-run stand between Cook and Broad is the second highest ninth-wicket stand in Tests at the MCG after 180 by JP Duminy and Dale Steyn in 2008. It is the joint highest in an Ashes contest here equalling the 100 between Bert Oldfield and Albert Hartkopf for Australia in 1925. Interestingly, this was only the second time in 113 Tests that Cook and Broad batted together.
56 by Broad is the highest by an England number ten in Tests in Australia. The previous highest was 50* each by Tich Freeman and David Allen, both at the SCG, in 1924 and 1966 respectively. It was Broad's first fifty in 16 innings in Australia and second away from home after 58* against Pakistan in Abu Dhabi in 2012.
6 Instances of Moeen Ali getting dismissed by his opposite number Nathan Lyon in seven innings so far this series. He has scored 80 runs off Lyon from 176 balls so far this series for his six dismissals. Interestingly, he scored 89 runs at a strike rate of 74.17 off Lyon without getting dismissed during the last Ashes series in England.
163 The highest first innings lead for England in a Test in Australia where they went on to lose - at the SCG in 1892. Their current lead is 164 with one wicket left. The only other time England lost a Test in Australia after gaining a 100-plus run first innings lead was way back in 1908 at the SCG.
