England shine before weather halts Sydney Test

Australia's first spinless attack in Sydney since before Federation was punished following a promising opening hour as Joe Root and Harry Brook speed-ran England onto solid footing in the final Ashes Test.

Root (72no from 103 balls) and Brook (78no from 92) zoomed past their side's previous highest partnership of the series to have the visitors 3-211 after 45 overs when bad light, and then thunderstorms, limited day one to just 45 overs. 

After days of speculation over how a green SCG pitch would play in the aftermath of Melbourne's two-day Test, Ben Stokes deemed the strip unthreatening enough to bat first for the third time this series after winning the toss.

And after a shaky start that saw his side slump to 3-57, England's two leading batters put underwhelming tours behind them to play their side into a strong position by the time booming thunder and windy showers paused their 154-run partnership.

There was hardly enough time to make a firm judgement on the wisdom or otherwise of Australia's decision to not play a frontline spinner in the harbour city for the first time in 138 years.

But the snub for Todd Murphy, in the hosts' squad as a replacement for the injured Nathan Lyon, does follow a pattern of the Aussies needing little encouragement to go full seam. Four times now in their past six Tests have they overlooked a spinner, losing just once; in Melbourne last week.

The Test had begun in bright sunshine with a moving tribute to the first responders of the recent Bondi Beach terror attack. Ahmed al-Ahmed, who wrestled a weapon off one of the shooters, among those given a standing ovation by an SCG crowd that would swell to 49,574, the largest in Sydney for 50 years, since the West Indies visited in the 1975-76 summer.

In that gleaming morning light, the prospect of England squandering the batting conditions Stokes had fancied looked set to manifest again as an initial burst of runs – 35 from the first 40 balls of the match – was curtailed by their top three subsequently all departing before the first drinks break. 

Ben Duckett's increasingly haphazard approach to the new ball, as compared with Zak Crawley's clear improvement through this series, was again laid bare as Mitchell Starc again found the leftie's outside edge during an otherwise wayward opening spell.

Crawley's more convincing start was halted by a zipping Michael Neser ball that slammed into his pad. Like a mate convincing him to stay for one last drink before the bar closes, Jacob Bethell persuaded the opener to burn a review.

When Scott Boland cleverly shifted from around the wicket to over and found Bethell's outside edge, Root and Brook were in the familiar spot of beginning their innings with Australia's quicks still wielding a hard Kookaburra.

Where Brook's heart-in-mouth batting has become de rigeur over recent weeks, the sight of Root wildly attempting to cover drive his first ball (off Neser) required a double take. As if to reinforce the point, England's greatest run scorer then practiced an even more vicious swing.

It proved a rare blemish for the right-hander who has endured an underwhelming tour outside his Gabba ton under lights. Here, he raced to a 65-ball fifty as he showed masterful control of the late cut while also using better judgement with his driving.

If Root looked like a classical pianist whose instrument initially required some tuning, Brook was playing experimental jazz on a kazoo. Twice in his first eight balls did he French-cut Boland balls past his stumps, while the most egregious of several miscued hooks fortuitously landed between three of five leg-side fielders awaiting that exact outcome.

England's number five, dismissed five times in this series for scores between 30 and 52, nonetheless sustained his mad-cap brilliance and infuriated the Aussies by evading a short-ball trap they increasingly relied on as the pitch flattened through the afternoon.

Dark skies encircled as tea approached with umpires ruling the seamers' offerings had become too difficult for Brook and Root to sight. With no frontline spinner to bowl, captain Steve Smith had little option but to take his team off with the game firmly in England's control.

2025-26 NRMA Insurance Men's Ashes

First Test: Australia won by eight wickets

Second Test: Australia won by eight wickets

Third Test: Australia won by 82 runs

Fourth Test: England won by four wickets

Fifth Test: January 4-8: SCG, Sydney, 10:30am AEDT

Australia squad (fifth Test): Steve Smith (c), Scott Boland, Alex Carey, Brendan Doggett, Cameron Green, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Todd Murphy, Michael Neser, Jhye Richardson, Mitchell Starc, Jake Weatherald, Beau Webster

England squad: Ben Stokes (c), Harry Brook (vc), Shoaib Bashir, Jacob Bethell, Brydon Carse, Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Matthew Fisher, Will Jacks, Ollie Pope, Matthew Potts, Joe Root, Jamie Smith (wk), Josh Tongue