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The story of Usman Khawaja’s career | 04:47<\/p>\n
\u2018NERVOUS\u2019 CURATORS CONFIDENT OF FAIR CONTEST<\/p>\n
Has a curator ever been under more pressure?<\/p>\n
All eyes were on the SCG pitch this week after the Boxing Day Test wrapped up in less than 32 hours courtesy of some reckless batting and a bowler-friendly deck, which later received an \u2018unsatisfactory\u2019 grade from the ICC.<\/p>\n
MCG head curator Matt Page has confessed he was in a \u201cstate of shock\u201d watching the carnage unfold during this week\u2019s Boxing Day Test. More than 90,000 fans were expected for the sold-out third day in Melbourne, with Cricket Australia expected to lose millions from the shortened contest.<\/p>\n
With two Ashes Tests this summer wrapping up in less than two days, the Sydney curators will be desperate to produce a deck that provides a fair contest between bat and ball. Even Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese declared the match needed to last at least three days during Thursday\u2019s function with the teams at Kirribilli House.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t think a groundsman has ever been under as much pressure as the guy here this week,\u201d England captain Ben Stokes told reporters in Sydney on Saturday afternoon.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe try and act like we know what we\u2019re doing when we\u2019re looking down at the pitch and rubbing it and, you know, knocking it. No one really has a clue. To be honest, you can only just try and give yourself the best chance.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe all play a good game by looking like we know what we\u2019re doing when we\u2019re looking at the wicket.\u201d<\/p>\n
The SCG pitch looked fairly green in the days leading into the New Year\u2019s Test, but head curator Adam Lewis assured reporters there was no cause for concern. He confirmed the pitch would have 6mm of grass, down from 10mm for the Melbourne Test.<\/p>\n
Last summer\u2019s Sydney Test between Australia and India was a low-scoring affair dominated by the bowlers, wrapping up before tea on day three. Lewis confessed he and his team took some learnings from last summer\u2019s result.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe always get nervous this time of year,\u201d Lewis said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is our grand final. We work months leading into our Test preparation.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re just excited to get there. The only thing we can\u2019t control is the weather. We\u2019re just trying to prepare a pitch that\u2019s a great balance for bat and ball.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re really happy with the pitch at the moment \u2026 I\u2019m really comfortable where we\u2019re sitting.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe want it to be a five-day Test.\u201d<\/p>\n
Webster & Murphy firming for SCG test | 02:31<\/p>\n
MURPHY READY FOR BAZBALL TEST<\/p>\n
If selected for the New Year\u2019s Test, spinner Todd Murphy should expect a trial by fire at the SCG this week.<\/p>\n
Nathan Lyon\u2019s hamstring injury opened the door for Murphy\u2019s return to the Test set-up, with the spectacled Victorian missing selection for the Boxing Day Test at the MCG.<\/p>\n
Australian interim captain Steve Smith couldn\u2019t guarantee Murphy\u2019s selection for the Sydney Test while speaking to reporters on Saturday morning, but he remains a live chance of making his maiden international appearance on home soil this week.<\/p>\n
However, the 25-year-old is fully aware that England\u2019s batters will go after him the moment he comes into the attack. <\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s the mantra of our team, to try and put pressure on people,\u201d England opener Zak Crawley told reporters on Friday.<\/p>\n
\u201cTodd\u2019s a very good bowler, but I could envisage us trying to put some pressure on him, as we would all their bowlers.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s going to come with some risks, and if it\u2019s turning, he\u2019s definitely going to be a threat.\u201d<\/p>\n
Murphy played a similar role during the 2023 Ashes campaign in the United Kingdom, replacing the injured Lyon for the second half of the tour. The off-spinner bowled commendably at Headingley and The Oval, but still conceded 4.72 runs per over.<\/p>\n
With an additional two summers of Sheffield Shield cricket under his belt, he feels more prepared for another Bazball challenge.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019d say that\u2019s a guarantee if I played, that they would be attacking against me,\u201d Murphy told reporters at the SCG on Thursday.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think that\u2019s just how they\u2019ve been playing, it\u2019s been positive cricket, and I think they\u2019d be no different if I played and was bowling to them.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019re always a chance when guys are coming after you \u2026 if that presents out there, then no issues.\u201d<\/p>\n
A generation ago, the SCG was a spinner\u2019s paradise, with Australia often picking two tweakers for the Sydney contest, but that\u2019s no longer the case. Since 2018, the SCG has become a tweaker\u2019s graveyard, boasting the highest average for spinners among Australia\u2019s regular Test venues.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019d love the old school SCG,\u201d Smith lamented.<\/p>\n
\u201cFlat for two days. Footmarks starting to come in. Cracks opening. Reverse swing. Spin late in the game, tricky to bat. Slow, low wicket. Fielders in front of the wicket. That\u2019s the ideal when you come here when you think about the SCG in the past.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut I don\u2019t think it\u2019s been that for as long as I\u2019ve been playing unfortunately.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s one of Nathan Lyon\u2019s worst grounds in Australia.\u201d<\/p>\n
Since the start of 2021, spinners have averaged 49.18 in Tests in Sydney compared to 27.72 for the seamers, but Murphy is adamant the SCG deck \u201cdefinitely can spin\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve played on some BBL wickets here where it has taken spin,\u201d Murphy said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve only played a couple of Shield games and don\u2019t think it\u2019s ever done anything extraordinary out there. I don\u2019t think recently it\u2019s been massive spin, but there\u2019s still been a big part of the game that spin played.\u201d<\/p>\n
Stokes faces media ahead of 5th test | 13:12<\/p>\n
\u2018BAZBALL\u2019 FOUNDER\u2019S HIGH STAKES IN SYDNEY<\/p>\n
It\u2019s impossible to know exactly how much Brendan McCullum\u2019s future rides on the result of this fifth and final Ashes Test at the SCG, but it would be a reasonable assumption to suggest he\u2019ll be feeling the pressure regardless.<\/p>\n
After breaking a 15-year Test drought on Australian soil in Melbourne last week, the Poms will be riding tangible momentum into Sydney\u2019s series finale.<\/p>\n
Unfortunately though, the saying \u2018too little, too late\u2019 applies here, having failed to win a Test while the series was still alive. It\u2019s the asterisk that sits next to that victory, for now, and a win that will look far more legitimate with a second one next to it on a less volatile surface.<\/p>\n
McCullum was appointed England\u2019s coach over three and a half years ago, and regardless of what is said to the public from within, there\u2019s not a shred of doubt that this Australian Ashes was his \u2014 as well as England\u2019s \u2014 defining series under his tenure.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s one that has so far failed considerably, but a convincing win in Sydney will leave notable hope in the hearts of fans and pundits that he is still the right man for the job.<\/p>\n
At the other end of the spectrum, a heavy defeat in a similar manner to Tests in Brisbane and Adelaide earlier this series could sound the alarm bells on McCullum, despite the very tight relationship he and skipper Ben Stokes have.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo, I don\u2019t think so. We\u2019ve always been very forth with each other. That\u2019s where the relationship we\u2019ve built in a professional capacity works really well,\u201d Stokes told reporters on the eve of the fifth Test.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve always been two people who have always challenged each other, and that hasn\u2019t changed on this trip … without discussion, I don\u2019t feel like you get anywhere.\u201d<\/p>\n
Beyond the scoreline, it\u2019s the manner of England\u2019s defeats that has done the damage. Three heavy losses, repeated collapses against the new ball, and a bowling attack that has struggled to sustain pressure across long spells have all chipped away at the \u2018Bazball\u2019 philosophy that was so highly touted for Australian conditions.<\/p>\n
There is doubt McCullum is a highly-respected, much-loved figure within the England dressing room \u2014 make no mistake. But a fourth loss on Australian soil this summer will likely leave the New Zealand great on shaky ground heading into next month\u2019s T20 World Cup and England\u2019s home summer.<\/p>\n
Steve Smith pays tribute to Khawaja | 01:40<\/p>\n
NEW YEAR\u2019S CURSE STRIKES YET AGAIN <\/p>\n
It\u2019s almost an inevitability now.<\/p>\n
Rain is predicted to hit Sydney this week, with the first two days of the New Year\u2019s Test expected to be impacted by showers.<\/p>\n
According to AccuWeather, the New South Wales capital will experience \u201ca strong thunderstorm in the afternoon\u201d on Sunday before \u201ca few showers\u201d on Monday. There\u2019s a 55 per cent chance of rain on both days.<\/p>\n
Thankfully, the remaining three days of the New Year\u2019s Test should be dry.<\/p>\n
Sydney Tests have lost 26 days due to washouts since the start of the 1880s, which is 17 more than the next highest figure among Australian venues \u2013 Melbourne with nine \u2013 while about one in three days of Test cricket at the SCG experience some sort of rain delay.<\/p>\n
Weather delays in Sydney are common because the city boasts the highest average yearly rainfall of any of the major capitals in Australia, more than 1200mm every year. The next highest is Brisbane with 1037mm.<\/p>\n
\u201cMelbourne tends to be a bit drier in summer than winter, whereas Sydney is the other way round, partly because Sydney gets a lot of its weather from thunderstorms and those thunderstorms are more likely to be more severe in summer,\u201d Dr Andrew King, a climate scientist from the University of Melbourne, explained to The Guardian last year.<\/p>\n
\u201cSummers in Sydney are a bit wetter than winters. But it might not always feel like that because more of the rain is falling in thunderstorms and less in these long wet days.\u201d<\/p>\n
Fingers crossed.<\/p>\n
Stokes praises Aussie bowling attack | 00:37<\/p>\n
AUSSIE ROOKIE\u2019S ASHES STRUGGLES<\/p>\n
Since migrating to Tasmania in 2023, Jake Weatherald has become one of the most consistent performers in the Sheffield Shield, with his shadow-batting perhaps partly to thank.<\/p>\n
The 2024\/25 summer proved a breakout campaign for the Darwin product, finishing as the competition\u2019s leading run-scorer while maintaining a strike rate of 68.27, comfortably the highest figure among openers in the competition. The majority of his runs came at Bellerive Oval, arguably the most bowler-friendly deck in Australia.<\/p>\n
Weatherald\u2019s timing was impeccable \u2013 Australia was still searching for a long-term replacement for David Warner ahead of this summer\u2019s Ashes campaign, so the 31-year-old received a baggy green in November, making his Test debut during the series opener in Perth.<\/p>\n
In his second Test, he cracked a 78-ball 72 during a pink-ball contest in Brisbane, his maiden fifty in the game\u2019s longest format. After a two-year merry-go-round at the top of the order, it appeared as though Australia had finally unearthed Warner\u2019s successor.<\/p>\n
However, Weatherald posted scores of 18, 1, 10 and 5 in his following two Tests. He opted not to review an LBW dismissal that had pitched outside leg stump in Adelaide, while during the MCG Boxing Day Test he left alone a delivery from rival captain Ben Stokes that thudded into the top of off stump.<\/p>\n
He also has a habit of falling over his front leg, something England speedster Jofra Archer exposed during the first two Tests.<\/p>\n
Having averaged 20.85 this summer, Weatherald has failed to cement his place in the Test starting XI, with the likes of Matthew Renshaw, Sam Konstas and Campbell Kellaway waiting in the wings. Following this week\u2019s New Year\u2019s Ashes contest in Sydney, Australia doesn\u2019t have another Test match scheduled until August, leaving him susceptible to facing the axe if he flops during the second half of the Sheffield Shield campaign.<\/p>\n