As it happened - Australia vs England, 4th Test, Sydney, 1st day

Australia’s quest for another Ashes whitewash could well be washed away by Sydney’s weather after just 46.5 overs were bowled on the opening day at the SCG with rain interrupting play four times and ultimately ending the day prematurely.

In between times, England put in an improved bowling performance on a good batting surface with Australia’s top three all squandering starts. James Anderson, Mark Wood and Stuart Broad all picked up important scalps with Anderson and Wood producing a superb spell with a changed ball late in the afternoon to shift the momentum of the day.

More rain is forecast to fall over the coming days in Sydney.

Back-to-back overs bring back-to-back wickets for England. Jimmy Anderson nicks off Marcus Harris who had hardly looked troubled in his 109-ball stay but he walked off for yet another frustrating start. Wood then blasted out Marnus Labuschagne for the second successive innings. Too much pace, a little bit of nip, and Labuschagne was squared up again like he was in Melbourne to edge behind for 28.

Andrew McGlashan: Marcus Harris has looked very good in this innings. Since the resumption, he has played two superb drives – one an on drive against Mark Wood who bowled with pace and then a cover drive against James Anderson. His footwork looks confident and the hard yards he put in at the MCG, when batting was difficult, could come with more rewards here in somewhat more docile conditions – although when England have found the right length there has still been some movement. The ball is now more than 30 overs old and there are ominous signs for the England attack. It’s a chance Harris won’t want to miss out on

Marnus Labuschagne's record at his home ground the Gabba was well documented earlier in the series and he has two Test hundreds in Adelaide. But he has an even better record in terms of Test average at the SCG. He made his highest Test score here in January 2020, 215 against New Zealand. He also has three other half-centuries including two last year against India. England will want to take any early chance he offers before he settles in.

Good news in Sydney that the covers are off and play will resume at 4.20pm. There are 35.2 overs to be bowled in the remainder of the day which can run until 7pm local time. Good news for Australia as well with batter Travis Head set to rejoin the squad on Saturday provided he returns negative rapid antigen tests from today. Head is currently in isolation in Melbourne following a positive test to Covid-19 but his seven-day isolation ends tomorrow. He will be subject to another RAT test tomorrow. If it is negative, as anticipated, he will fly to Sydney. He will then have one final RAT on Friday which, if negative, will allow him to rejoin the team.

Tea has been taken at 3.40pm. The umpires and the curator Adam Lewis held discussions out on the ground as the rain had cleared. Play is set to resume at 4pm provided no more rain comes through.

While we watch the rain at the SCG, Australia can quite rightly be very satisfied about the series to-date. They have been able to shore up a few areas within the team after questions arose following their loss to India the previous summer. Which do you think has been the biggest gain for Australia this summer? Have your say below.

Stuart Broad does it again from around the wicket. David Warner, who had looked very sharp today, got lured into a drive from around the wicket. It wasn't quite a half-volley and it shaped late as Warner pushed hard trying to drive on the up. The nick was well held at second slip by Zak Crawley. Broad celebrates getting Warner for a 13th time. Warner has been one of the most influential players in this series. Even his 38 in Melbourne was very valuable in the context of the match. Begs the question why Broad has only played two of the four Tests?

Andrew McGlashan: Back-to-back half-century opening stands between David Warner and Marcus Harris. Warner has been the dominant hand, as so often, although he did have some fortune when an edge flew through second slip. However, he’s looked in good touch. It would be a big tick for Australia if this pair could gel as an opening duo – it’s been a revolving door of first-wicket pairs for a variety of reasons in recent years ranging from bans to form to injury. Harris will be desperate to build on his hard work at the MCG when his 76 was worth significantly more on a tough surface. There remains some doubt as to whether he’s the long-term option at the top, but a strong finish to the Ashes would secure him a spot for the upcoming tours. Warner, meanwhile, may not have too many more home SCG Tests left in his career – although he has spoken of playing until the 2023 Ashes in England – and would savour another big score after twice falling in the 90s this series.

David Warner started beautifully after lunch with a dismissive cover drive off Mark Wood. Their match-up in this series has been intriguing. Wood has appeared to hurry Warner on occasions this series but in reality Warner loves the match-up. He has scored 45 runs from 66 balls off Wood in the series to-date without being dismissed. Warner's strike-rate against Wood is better than against any other England bowler. His former opening partner Chris Rogers told ESPNCricinfo pre-series that even as far back as 2015 Warner preferred the Wood match-up to any of the other England seamers.

An early lunch has been called. Play will resume at 1.30pm weather permitting. Ricky Ponting gave his assessment of the session on Channel Seven.

“It looks like a good pitch this," Ponting said. "England have been OK, it has to be said, they’ve bowled a reasonable length and looked challenging at times. It’s just starting to look now like Harris and Warner are just starting to feel the pace and starting to feel the bounce of this SCG surface. There was some extra bounce earlier on, it looks like already that’s starting to deteriorate slightly out of this surface. You see that one there was nice carry through to Buttler again, taking the ball above shoulder height, looks like there’s good pace in it. These Australian batters are biding their time, they’re just waiting for the ball to come to them, allowing England to bowl to them. Not trying to bite off too much just yet, it’s good Test match batting so far. Getting themselves set and getting used to the conditions.”

The covers come on for the second time since play started at 11am. Australia are 30 without loss but this is very frustrating. The toss was delayed by 30 minutes and the start was delayed as well due to rain. We had a stoppage after 4.3 overs and now another after 12.3. An early lunch might be taken. Lunch is currently scheduled for 1pm local time. This is a decent shower.

Stuart Broad has owned Marcus Harris from around the wicket in Test cricket and got him twice in Adelaide. It makes it even more surprising that Broad didn't play in Melbourne where Harris made a match-winning contribution of 76 in a low-scoring game. Harris has handled the attack from around the wicket which is his kryptonite in Test match cricket. He played a superb pull shot of Broad behind square. England have made a change with Ben Stokes replacing Broad.