England's bittersweet taste of what might have been

For two-and-a-half hours across the middle of today's fifth Ashes Test in Sydney, the world's top two ranked Test batters dominated the stage. Joe Root and Harry Brook. England's ultimate middle-order one-two punch, that ideal combination of control and chaos, rollicking along at a run rate of 4.81 for an unbroken stand of 154 as the SCG pitch baked, Australia's bowlers began to tire, and Steve Smith gnawed at his fingernails.

Watching on, the visitors' supporter base must have felt trapped somewhere between pleasure and pain. For this is how it was supposed to be.

"The one for me that is the danger man who can do some serious damage … is Harry Brook," former Australia opener Simon Katich said in the lead-up to the Ashes. "To be that Kevin Pietersen-style player for England and really put that pressure on – he can be that man."

Back in those innocent pre-summer November days, Katich's take echoed those of many. Brook landed in Australia with a Test average of 57.55 and as the clear x-factor in this England side. On day one of the series, he stroked a sublime 52 from 61 balls and looked set to live up to the hype. But with a couple of errant shots – ones in Perth and Brisbane even he conceded were "shocking" – the cautionary words of former England captain Graham Gooch were ringing in the ears.

"I just hope he learns that when he has his foot on the opposition throat, he keeps it there," Gooch said. "You are (judged) by the number of games you win, not by … scoring 300, or 150. It is when your contribution makes a difference in the game."

Or the series. It will doubtless frustrate England fans that the key contributions from their 26-year-old superstar in this campaign have arrived in Melbourne and Sydney, with Australia already in possession of the urn.

Brook was billed as the difference maker for a side chasing an away Ashes triumph for the first time in a generation. A quick comparison with Pietersen underlines the point; the former England maverick scored four Ashes hundreds, three in winnings series, and all of them when the series was still to be decided.

Brook's 78 not out today was neatly representative of his Test career more broadly. An attempted drive from his second ball caught the inside edge and rolled away to fine leg. From his 10th ball, his pull shot from Scott Boland flew over the slips cordon and down to the rope for four. But then came the exquisite stroke-play, particularly through the offside, as he moved through the gears and seemed to effortlessly – and quickly – accumulate.

With Brook on 45, Smith looked to play on his ego. Soon enough the right-hander fell for a transparent bouncer ploy and was lucky to survive, his mistimed pull shot from Mitchell Starc landing perfectly between three running Australian outfielders. He moved past 50 with a thumping cover drive, then dispatched a shortish ball from Cameron Green over wide fine leg for six.

Here was the Brook everyone had expected to see. Thrilling, daring, "dumb" (per Justin Langer for Seven) and – potentially – decisive.

"It's been a frustrating series – I've been in double figures in every innings bar one," Brook said after play. "That's what I've done so well in my career, I've managed to go on and get big scores. It just hasn't happened this series … it's been a good trip to be a part of, and obviously we've ended up on the wrong side of it, but hopefully there'll be plenty more times we come over here."

At the other end, Root looked to have drawn a line in the sand. Gone was the indecision that seemed to plague him through much of this series. Here was a man playing with purpose.

He might have been out first ball when he threw the kitchen sink at a cover drive off Michael Neser, but thereafter he barely put a foot wrong, keeping pace with Brook and outdoing him for stroke-play with a catalogue of classical cover drives. The dab to third man that has brought about his dismissal all too often in Australia was employed frequently, and while there was some life in the pitch for the quicks, Root seemed to be in control of that shot as well as he ever has been on these shores

The first seven of his eight boundaries came through the offside, largely through those two regions. In terms of fluency, this was Root's best innings of the series, a clear contrast to his grittier hundred in Brisbane.

Maybe the lack of jeopardy in this dead rubber contest has freed up these two Englishmen to play with more clarity. Maybe Australia's strike bowlers – Starc and Boland – are tiring in their fifth Test of the summer. Or maybe they were simply due for a match-defining partnership.

As with Brook, before a ball had been bowled in this series, Root's influence on this series was predicted by many to be significant.

"The last couple of years … (he's) gone to the next level," said England assistant coach Marcus Trescothick. "You would be very surprised if he doesn't carry on in that same sort of vein."

It hasn't quite happened. In the first Test in Perth, after a first-innings duck, Root's rash shot made him one of England's guilty batting party, his rash slash at a fuller, wider one from Starc seeing him bowled for eight. 

His hundred in Brisbane broke a personal drought but the more meaningful one – England without a Test win in Australia since 2011 – persisted. And in Adelaide, with the series still on the line, he was twice bettered by Pat Cummins in the only 24 balls the Australian skipper bowled to him all series.

Root's annoyance at the last of those dismissals was evident as he punched the back of his bat immediately afterward; he was well set on 39, a record run chase was in the offing, and the gravity of the moment was clear.

Today in Sydney, as England's superstars flourished with the pressure off and the Ashes long since sealed, it was less so.

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, 10am 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