Root keeps door ajar for Ashes return

England's most prolific batter Joe Root concedes it's possible his heroic century at the SCG will come in his final Ashes appearance on Australian soil.

It must be noted, though, that while the next Ashes Test in Australia is scheduled for the summer of 2029-30, Root may return down under sooner, given the two teams are set to meet in the 150th Anniversary Test at the MCG in March 2027.

Root's Monday was spent batting in his customary No.4 position, helping the tourists to their largest innings total of the series.

With 160 from 242 balls, Root powered England to 384 in their first dig and was only dismissed by a freakish caught-and-bowled effort from Michael Neser (4-60) late in day two's second session.

Root shrugged to the crowd in celebrating his heroic century, after playing Neser down the ground for two runs to raise triple figures.

He'd performed the same celebration when he broke through for a long-awaited first ton in Australia at the Gabba last month.

"I just felt like we've had some amazing support throughout this series and we've not been able to achieve what we set out to as a group, but at no point has that (support) ever wavered," he said.

"It (the celebration) is a way of saying thank you, really."

Only a matter of weeks ago, Root had carried the weight of expectation on those same shoulders, winless in his first 17 Tests in Australia and failing to score a century in his first 29 innings here.

He will leave Australia with two tons and a Test match win at the MCG, though not the Ashes urn as hoped.

No other man has yet scored a century for the visitors this summer, with Root's latest triple-figure score lifting him to equal-third on the all-time standings alongside Ricky Ponting, with 41 tons apiece.

It's conceivable Root could score 1,985 more runs and pass Sachin Tendulkar to become the greatest run-scorer in Test history should he play on until England's next Ashes tour.

Second on the standings, the former England captain is unsure if he'll have retired by that 2029/30 summer, during which he will turn 39.

"Who knows? We'll see. I'd love to (play until then), but we'll see how things unfold in time," Root said.

While fielding later on, Root stumbled into the pavilion with back soreness around 4:15pm and did not return but is expected to return to the action on Tuesday.

"It was a bit embarrassing; it just cramped," he said.

"But calmed things down and thankfully now, with a lot more fluids on board, I feel fine."

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