Ashes cricket lands in ratings top 10

Cricket may be a TV summer staple but it also bowled a few shows over in the ratings.

The opening session of the second Ashes Test between Australia and England at Lord's, which screened on Gem, landed in ninth spot on OzTAM's overnight ratings with 782,000 viewers.

It had more sets of eyes than Home And Away (681,000), which was 10th.

Viewers, though, still feasted on reality cooking series MasterChef (1.186 million), which was the number-one show.

Most watched shows on Thursday.

1. MasterChef (Ten) - 1.186 million

2. Nine News (Nine) - 1.072 million

3. Nine News 6.30pm (Nine) - 1.040 million.

4. MasterChef Masterclass (Ten) - 989,000

5. Seven News (Seven) - 956,000

6. A Current Affair (Nine) - 929,000

7. Seven News/Today Tonight (Seven) - 892,000

8. ABC News (ABC1) - 862,000

9. Ashes: Second Test Eng v Aus, Day one, Session one (Gem) - 782,000

10. Home And Away (Seven) - 681,000

*Source OzTAM