Alex, Clapham

Cummins goes short and Cook swivels, knocking it out to the man on the fence for one.

So Cummins will have another go at Curran - he greets him with the inevitable short ball, but Curran sees it early and easily ducks under.

Another short one and Curran again ducks under. That should be two for the over - will it be enforced?

Runs follow - Cummins pitches it up and Curran has his first runs in Test cricket, edging along the ground through a gap in the slips and to the fence.

Last ball of the over - it's short and Curran ducks under. So that's three for the over. Hmm.

Cook knocks away Bird to point for one.

Curran slightly dangles his bat at one outside off but then finds the middle on the last, defending nicely.

Saqlain A Choudry: Woakes gone. Poor shot selection. If we knew Cummins is steaming in to bowl a bouncer, surely he did too...

Here is Tom Curran, batting for the first time in Test cricket. He has a first class average of 17.70, with five fifties.

The first ball is a bouncer (what else?) and Curran ducks under it.

Cummins has a word, then a shout, desperately trying to get Curran's attention. The debutant ignores him.

Watch out for Warner too - he said he was going to have a chirp when Curran batted.

Stephan Shemilt
BBC Sport in Melbourne

Image source, EPA

All of England's batsman have made it to 14. Only two have gone past 26. Wasted starts.

Ebony Rainford-Brent
Ex-England batter on BBC Test Match Special

Woakes was through the shot early and tried to readjust. He just ended up getting in a tangle.

Andrew Samson
BBC Test Match Special statistician

Wally Hammond has the most double hundreds for England with seven. Cook is second with Len Hutton on four.

Ben Wire: I've been a vocal critic of Cook but, waking to do the night time feed for our newborn, I suffered an involuntary and massive grin when I saw his current total. Well done, Cookie.

Bird lobs it up towards Cook's pads, the customary tuck away and that's two more for the total.

And again - similar ball, same result.

Bird adjusts outside off but Cook follows it and drives away for a single before Woakes calmly plays out the rest of the over.

I'll leave you to mull over those views on Moeen Ali.

For now, Alastair Cook, Chris Woakes and the Aussies are back out on the field.

Bird to Cook to start...

Michael Vaughan
Ex-England captain on BBC Test Match Special

It's interesting to see where England go with Moeen Ali - for the future they have to get a spinner into the team.

An option would be to put any spinner at number 11 but then Moeen will have to bat in the top six if he's going to get into this Test team. Batting eight, he looks great and it's daunting for an opposing team - but can he do it at five or six?

For England to get better and better they have to find a spinner.

Moeen's bowling record is so poor overseas. I don't think he likes being the main spinner. England really need to find the next one.

But will Moeen Ali be dropped for Sydney? Will Mason Crane replace him as the lead spinner?

Trouble is, dropping Moeen really disrupts the balance of this side. Who do they bat at seven? That's a place too high for Chris Woakes, surely.

So do they put another batsman in, perhaps Ben Foakes? But then you lose a bowling option.

Ed Smith
Ex-England batsman on BBC Test Match Special

Image source, Getty Images

Moeen Ali's innings has to be assessed in relation to how bad his form really is.

If we think he's batting OK, then it's a poor innings. If we think he's batting badly, then it's OK.

So yes, Moeen Ali. Safe to say his ultra-attacking yet short-lived innings of 20 off 14 balls before he was caught in the covers didn't go down well with many people.

Though, given the rotten form he's been in with the bat this series - getting out meekly and often to Nathan Lyon - was the counter-attack perhaps not the right approach to take?

Whatever you think, his lack of menace with the ball is a big worry. Here are the stats from his series so far...

Image source, BBC Sport

Cheers Matt, excellent work. During the tea break, we're going to have a chat about Moeen Ali.

But first things first - I know the reason the fine for entering the field at the MCG is $9,514.20 and not a round $10k...

The Victoria State Government set the amount a person is fined for one penalty unit for an offence according to the cost of living each year.

The current value of one penalty unit is $158.57

Entering the field of play amounts to 60 penalty units and 60 x 158.57 = 9,514.20

So that's 96 runs for the loss of two wickets in that session by England. There was plenty of concern when they lost Jonny Bairstow and Moeen Ali, the latter playing an eventful but short-lived innings, but Chris Woakes has ably supported Alastair Cook since drinks.

Cook meanwhile just keeps on batting.

That's me done for a little bit. Jack Skelton is refreshed after more Christmas leftovers and will take you though the next period.

Michael Vaughan
Ex-England captain on BBC Test Match Special

It has been an intriguing session. When Moeen Ali fell you had a feeling that England would get blown away again. But Steve Smith dropped Alastair Cook and England started to find some rhythm.

This is a great opportunity to get a 100-run lead and put Warner and co under pressure.

The England fans are going through their full set of songs now. They've waited three-and-a-half matches for their team to be on top.

The flags wave as Chris Woakes blocks out the final ball before tea. He and Alastair Cook trudge off.

After a difficult start to the session that ended up being pretty good for England.