There we have it. “Hopefully we can put a good score on the board,” says England captain Ben Stokes on Fox Cricket.
Meanwhile, we have confirmation from Steve Smith that Todd Murphy will not play – so for the fourth time in six Tests, Australia will not play with a frontline spinner. Beau Webster is in for Jhye Richardson. For England, Matthew Potts is in for the injured seamer Gus Atkinson.
No Australian spinner for the first time in almost 140 years is one thing. But a few more troubling high (low) water marks for the craft too.
The MCG Test was the first time in history for an Australian Test not to feature a single ball of spin bowled.
I imagine we’ll see Travis Head at some point here in Sydney, a bit of Will Jacks for the tourists as well, maybe even some Beau Webster off-spin along with those medium pacers of his. But as it stands, we’ve had just nine wickets fall to spin this Ashes – the equal fewest for a series (longer than two Tests) in this country.
And we’re easily going to have the fewest balls bowled by tweakers for an Australian summer since the start of the century. Tough times for turn indeed.