Border and Vaughan's player ratings

Former Ashes-winning captains Allan Border and Michael Vaughan give their verdicts of the players’ performances in the fourth Commonwealth Bank Ashes Test in Melbourne.

AUSTRALIA by Allan Border

CHRIS ROGERS 9/10

An outstanding performance from one of the good guys. He held Australia together in the first innings and scored a brilliant second-innings hundred to get us over the line. A really pleasing performance.

DAVID WARNER 4.5/10

His worst game of the series. In the first innings he looked like he was still in Twenty20 mode. He got a good start in the second innings which helped set things up, and he gets a half-point extra for his high-quality fielding.

SHANE WATSON 8/10

I was disappointed with his first-innings dismissal but he came back with a vengeance in the second innings. He does such a good job with the ball, but how we can keep him close to 100% fit and is the million-dollar question.

MICHAEL CLARKE 3.5/10

A low score but on a personal performance rating he didn't have much of a say in the game. He made 10 in the first innings, six not out in the second. But like in Perth, it's pleasing to see Australia win without his contribution. He's been such an important factor in us doing well whereas now it seems if he misses out we can still find a way to win. Still Australia's best player.

STEVEN SMITH 3.5/10

Not much to do in the match. He'll learn from his first-innings dismissal. There's no harm in grinding out a score against good bowling. We have this mindset that we need to attack all the time but sometimes you need to respect the conditions and you can't always counterattack. He's still learning how to be more consistent.

GEORGE BAILEY 3/10

His contribution around the team is good but his personal performance in this Test match was below par. He got a duck in his only dig and is under enormous pressure at the moment. He really needs to get some runs in Sydney. Fingers crossed he does, because he's a better player than we've seen and we want him to be a fixture in the team for the next few years.

BRAD HADDIN 9/10

Saved our bacon yet again. We could have been conceding a 120-run lead on the first innings which makes the game a very different scenario. It was on the back of his batting we got close on the first innings. He's in a tight race with Mitchell Johnson for man of the series. I wonder where we'd be without Hads. His input over the four Tests has been quite telling.

MITCHELL JOHNSON 9.5/10

Melbourne was a good batting track and he's ruffling feathers. He's causing people to get out at the other end as well. He comes on and there's things happening. It might not necessarily be him taking wickets, guys at the other end are benefiting too. But he had eight wickets in the match, and the run-out of Root is the extra half-point. That was a pretty key moment. Another brilliant performance.

RYAN HARRIS 6.5/10

He didn't have a lot of luck in the first innings with a few dropped catches, but another excellent performance. He seems to have some sore spots which kept him out of the action a little bit in the second innings where he bowled less overs than you would normally expect.

PETER SIDDLE 5/10

Another workmanlike performance as usual. He seems a bit down on pace but got some important wickets and does the hard yards. A deserved pass mark.

NATHAN LYON 8.5/10

What a great spinner's performance, particularly in the second innings. I thought he was outstanding. Mixed it up very well, used the conditions very well and forced bad shots. Plus some very handy first-innings runs to keep the Aussies in touch. He hasn't been dismissed yet, so whoever is batting with him could give him a bit more respect.

ENGLAND by Michael Vaughan

ALASTAIR COOK 5/10

I thought this game was the best he’s batted in terms of movement at the crease, throughout the whole series. But his captaincy in this game was poor. Tactically, he got quite a few things wrong.

MICHAEL CARBERRY 4/10

He’s occupying the crease and playing in a defensive fashion, but I thought it was his innings in the second innings that started the momentum shift Australia’s way. 11 off 80-odd balls just wasn’t good enough

JOE ROOT 2/10

He’s had a poor game. He looked all at sea in that first innings, then running himself out in the second innings.

KEVIN PIETERSEN 8/10

He was outstanding in this Test match. I thought this was the best, in terms of movement and batting for the situation of the team, that I’ve seen him play for a long, long time.

IAN BELL 2/10

He had a stinker. That second-innings dismissal just isn’t good enough for someone that is highly regarded. We saw how well he can play in the series back home and how badly here.

BEN STOKES 7/10

I think he’s the one positive from the whole tour. I think he’s a young player of immense talent. The way that he bowls is with good gas and energy and he fields well. His batting looks like it’s going to score consistent and dangerous runs throughout the world.

JONNY BAIRSTOW 4/10

He looked alright. In the first innings I thought he was pretty good behind the stumps, but his second innings and the pressure of the last day his technique just didn’t stand up to the occasion. Again, his batting looks dangerous and it looks like he could be dangerous as an aggressor, but his technique is all over the place against the left-arm of Mitchell Johnson.

TIM BRESNAN 4/10

He had a quiet game. You have to do more than just restrict runs at this level. You’ve got to be more of a wicket-taking option rather than a dot-ball bowler. His batting’s just not scoring consistent enough runs to warrant the No.8 spot and that is one of the reasons why he is in the side.

STUART BROAD 7/10

He’s the one bowler throughout the summer that you thought could go through the Australian team and really put them under a huge amount of pressure. I thought he bowled pretty well during the match.

JAMES ANDERSON 6/10

He bowled well in the first innings. I thought it was his best in terms of the stats and figures, but for rhythm he says that it was his worst. But I go on the stats and figures!

MONTY PANESAR 6/10

He wasn’t used! He might as well have not played for the amount of overs that they bowled him. I have a worry about Monty that this England setup don’t see him as a part of their furniture. For what he did and what he bowled he didn’t bowl badly, they just didn’t bowl him enough.