More Ashes pain for Moeen as England toil

Moeen Ali's horror Ashes series has taken another demoralising turn, with Joe Root freezing him out of England's attack in Melbourne.

The allrounder bowled just six overs for figures of 0-35 on the opening day of the fourth Test before being replaced by part-time legspinner Dawid Malan.

Moeen had been in doubt to play at the MCG but passed a fitness test after hurting his hand in the nets.

His offspin never looked close to threatening Australia's batsmen - a fact underscored by David Warner belting him over long on for six in the final over before lunch.

Malan was comparatively solid, helping to restrict the hosts with 0-20 off seven overs.

With Australia 3-244 at stumps and already holding an unassailable 3-0 lead in the five-match series, England's decision to make just one forced change to their XI is bound to be questioned.

Moeen has now taken just three wickets for the series at an average of 117.

He has also struggled with the bat, scoring 116 runs at 19.33 and being dropped to No.7 after the second Test in favour of Jonny Bairstow.

Adding insult to injury, Moeen has been dismissed by rival finger spinner Nathan Lyon in five of his six innings.

The 30-year-old did not play in the tourists' initial two tour games because of a side strain.

He then suffered a cut finger on his bowling hand during the first Test.

It's unclear whether Moeen is still battling an injury after spending the bulk of Tuesday's final session fielding in the deep.

But while he has generally performed strongly outside Australia, Moeen is sure to come under pressure to hold his spot for the fifth Test in Sydney.

England skipper Root has hinted that uncapped legspinner Mason Crane will be in contention to play at the spin-friendly SCG.