Day one close
England 211 for 3 (Brook 78*, Root 72*) vs Australia
It was a case of too little, too late for England's beleaguered batters, who pieced together their best day of the Ashes series with the urn already well out of reach.
Fiery No.5 Harry Brook and heart-and-soul Joe Root combined for an unbeaten 154-run stand before tea on day one of the series finale at the SCG - the tourists' most prolific partnership of a tough series.
England pieced together a 100-run stand only twice as they fell behind 3-1 in the series, with one of those partnerships featuring No. 10 Jofra Archer.
But when rain forced the covers on just before Sunday's tea break, England were 3-211, making the most of their decision to bat.
Root (72no off 103 balls), meanwhile, targeted the area around third man with aplomb and is flirting with a second century in Australia, having brought up a long-awaited first at the Gabba. The pair complemented each other brilliantly as they batted stably and chancelessly through the second session.
They each brought up their half-century in Beau Webster's first over of the day. Fittingly, steady hand Root reached 50 by tapping a single behind the stumps, and Brook blasted a four over the off-side.
But the partnership - already 37 runs better than England's previous best stand for the series - surely would have left England wondering what might have been. (via AAP)
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Stumps
Play has been abandoned on the first day, a decision which is greeted by boos from the crowd at the SCG. "It looks almost like the sun's out. I don't quite understand it," says Stuart Broad on SEN Radio. Play will resume at 10am local time tomorrow morning. That feels like a premature call given how little rain we have had in the past couple of hours, but there must be more rain incoming.
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Umpires appear... then disappear
Bizarre scenes at the SCG. The umpires finally emerge to sarcastic cheers from the crowd but don't head out into the middle and instead wander up the stairs into the pavilion towards the home dressing room. They then reappear briefly, then march towards the away dressing room. Word is that we have been in a lightning period - which means that play was unable to resume as a result of lightning in the area - but it hasn't been raining for a while and the optics are not great.
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Getting brighter
One of the security guards standing next to the covers had his umbrella turned inside-out about 10 minutes ago and it is still very windy, but the rain appears to have largely stopped and the skies are looking a bit brighter. No sign of the umpires just yet, nor the groundstaff. It remains to be seen if we'll get back on today, but I wouldn't be confident.
Current scenes at the SCG...
— England Cricket (@englandcricket) January 4, 2026
Although it is looking slightly brighter now than when the players left the field pic.twitter.com/BTYzfChoLe
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The current scene
Impressive cloud formations #Ashes pic.twitter.com/kmWF7pG424
— Josh Schönafinger (@joshschon) January 4, 2026
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Still raining...
Nothing to see here. The covers are on and the rain is coming down, with some dark clouds rolling through overhead and the flags on the pavilion roof buffeted by the wind. Host broadcaster Fox has flicked over to Otago Volts against Northern Brave in New Zealand's Super Smash, which you can follow below. No rain in Tauranga this afternoon!
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McCullum caught on camera
Not sure about Brendon McCullum looking up the answers while doing the crossword
— cricket.com.au (@cricketcomau) January 4, 2026
The covers are on at the SCG, but we'll keep you loaded with #Ashes goodness: https://t.co/AwBR8VavLz pic.twitter.com/cW1VpltqbG
There has been plenty of heat on Brendon McCullum over the past few weeks and the England head coach has been caught on Channel 7 looking at the back of his Times Quick Crossword book to check on a few answers. Fill in your own jokes about taking shortcuts after reading Vithushan Ehantharajah's analysis of McCullum's position.
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Full covers on
It's been dark and gloomy for over an hour, and now the rain is arriving at the SCG. The full covers are on and there is some lightning in the surrounding area, which suggests we are in for a substantial delay. The groundstaff are hard at work bringing out extra sheets to cover the bowlers' run-ups, and the crowd have disappeared into the concourses.
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Bad light stops play
Boos ring out from the Barmy Army as the players head off for bad light. It's an understandable frustration that we still have stoppages for this despite the floodlights blaring on full beam, but it has got very dark and murky overhead and the umpires have determined - with help from the light meter - that it is worth taking an early tea.
England have recovered to 211 for 3 after 45 overs after slipping to 57 for 3 after just over an hour's play this morning, and have two set batters at the crease in Root and Brook. Their unbroken 154-run stand is the second-highest partnership of the series for either side.
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Brook living dangerously
Harry Brook continues to live a charmed life. He has been using his feet against Cameron Green's short-ball plan and flat-bats him through the off side, but then plays-and-misses at the final two balls of his over. The first is an attempted upper-cut as he shimmies outside leg stump, and Brook throws his head back in disgust at himself for playing the shot, then flaps an another attempted cut shot and misses it completely.
Brook has not been at his best today and Australia will not feel out of the game when he's out there. But he has almost make his highest score of the series, and is closing in what would be his first hundred in Australia.
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Lights on
It's been a sunny day at the SCG but the clouds have rolled in to the extent that floodlights have come on, with 35 minutes to go until the tea interval. Scott Boland is into the third over of his latest spell with Mitchell Starc briefly off the field, while Cameron Green has been expensive: his first six overs have cost 45 runs, and Harry Brook has hooked him for a 99-metre six, clearing deep backward square leg. Australia are just sitting in and waiting for England's set batters to make a mistake.
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Partnership swells
162 Travis Head and Alex Carey's 162-run partnership in Australia's second innings at Adelaide Oval is the only stand in this series worth more than the unbroken 124 that Joe Root and Harry Brook have added here.
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Labuschagne: Pitch looks slow
Marnus Labuschagne has a brief chat with the Fox commentary team via the Spidercam at the drinks break: "We’re trying to slow the game down a bit… Get a couple of wickets, and put the squeeze back on."
Labuschagne is not in the slip cordon today - he has mainly fielded at point - and adds: "I can’t really see if there’s any movement, swing or seam. It certainly looks like the wicket is a little bit slow. We’ve got to hang in there. We know an opportunity will come, we’ve just got to grab it."
Strong Yorkshire, strong England
5 Harry Brook and Joe Root have shared five 100-plus stands in Tests - the joint-most of any England pair since Brook's debut, along with Zak Crawley and Ben Duckett.
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Brook 50
Four balls after Root's 50, Harry Brook thumps a wide half-volley from Beau Webster away through the off side to reach a half-century of his own. Like Root, it's only his second such score of the tour, but their returns have been very different. Brook has consistently got himself set but his highest score is 52, while Root had one majestic century and not much else.
Brook has largely played within himself today, looking to occupy the crease and bed in for the day, but found himself unable to resist taking on Mitchell Starc's short-ball plan an over ago and was thankful that his miscued pull shot landed in no man's land, with three fielders converging at deep square leg.
"That’s poor batting from Harry Brook, that really is, for a player of his class…" Mark Waugh said on Fox Cricket after the shot. "He’s better than that." This is his chance to prove it.
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Root 50
For only the second time in nine innings in this series, Joe Root has 50. He's played to his strengths in this innings, scoring heavily behind square on the off side with his usual combination of drive, dabs and glides, and reaches a 65-ball half-century with a back cut off Beau Webster's medium pace. That also marks the 100-run partnership between him and Brook - only England's third stand of that size of the series.
Root will be painfully aware of the fact that he has underperformed in this series, despite the fact that he has now overtaken Zak Crawley as England's top-scorer for the tour. He made a brilliant 138 not out in the first innings at the Gabba but his second-highest score across the first four Tests was 39, and England needed more from their best batter to compete in this series.
Root does not have great memories at the SCG, despite a decent record here. He was dropped here in 2013-14 - one of only two Tests that he has missed since his debut in late 2012 - and was hospitalised due to severe dehydration on a baking-hot day in 2017-18, though did also score two half-centuries in the match. In 2021-22, he made 0 and 24 as his team managed to cling on for a draw in what proved to be his penultimate Test series as England captain.
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Martyn 'progressing well' in hospital
Australian cricket great Damien Martyn is "progressing well" in his recovery after being placed into an induced coma amid a battle with meningitis.
The 54-year-old right-hand batter, who played 67 Tests for Australia, fell ill suddenly late last month and was rushed to a Gold Coast hospital, where he remains.
"Damien is progressing well with his medical treatment," Martyn's partner Amanda said in a statement to News Corp. We would like to thank everyone for the incredible outpouring of support our family has received.
"We also want to express our deepest appreciation to the medical team at Gold Coast University Hospital who have been nothing short of amazing throughout this challenging time. This has been a trying time and the family ask that you respect their privacy."
As recently as Christmas Eve, Martyn had been posting on social media about the ongoing Ashes series before falling ill with meningitis - an infection and swelling of fluid and membranes around the brain and spinal cord. (via AAP)
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All-run four
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A rare sight in the first over after lunch: a '4' on a grey background block, rather than a green one, on ESPNcricinfo's ball-by-ball scorecard, as Harry Brook and Joe Root scamper between the wickets. Brook worked the second ball of the afternoon session away off his pads and while Usman Khawaja caught up with it in time to cut it off just before the rope, the two Yorkshiremen were quick enough to sneak back for a fourth.
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Lunch: England 114 for 3
England 114 for 3 (Root 31*, Brook 23*) vs Australia
An even session? England lost three wickets in just over an hour after winning the toss and opting to bat first, but recent history at the SCG suggests that they are tracking fairly well as things stand. Neither team managed to reach 200 when India played here a year ago and while this looks like a more benign surface - with a lighter grass covering on it - England will be reasonably happy with their morning's work.
Harry Brook has reached 20 in the first innings in all five Tests in this series, but his highest score to date is 52 in Perth. He'll know that he needs to kick onto something more substantial later today if he wants to set this game up for England.
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Root, Brook lead recovery
Joe Root and Harry Brook have steadied the ship for England from 57 for 3, and take the score into three figures ahead of the lunch interval. Root hasn't been at his convincing best, fiddling at several balls in the channel outside his off stump, but steers Cameron Green away through the gully on the bounce and moves into the 30s for only the third time in the series, then dabs another ball behind square to bring up the 50-run partnership.
Brook has been uncharacteristically restrained - especially compared to his first-innings 41 at the MCG, when he decided to score as many runs as possible before getting one with his name on it - and has scored almost exclusively through the off side. Australia have been perfectly happy to settle into a length outside off stump to both batters, but their attack does risk looking a little samey in the absence of a spinner.
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Bethell's development
Jacob Bethell gave a revealing interview to Nasser Hussain on the Sky Cricket podcast in the build-up to this fifth Ashes Test, which I'd highly recommend listening to during the lunch break.
He admitted - as he has previously - that he did not benefit from running drinks through England's first four Tests against India in the summer, saying that he "tapered off a little bit" on his return from the IPL: "I just had a little look at myself and thought, 'No, it's not the way to go about it. I need to continue getting better.' That would definitely be a learning going forward."
But Bethell's next nine months already look incredibly busy. After this series, he will have a week at home, then travel to Sri Lanka for six white-ball internationals leading into the T20 World Cup. After that, he will have another short break ahead of his second IPL season with RCB. Straight after that, he will be back in England for a Test series against New Zealand, and eight white-ball games against India. He has signed a lucrative contract worth around £350,000 with Birmingham Phoenix for the Hundred, then starts a Test series against Pakistan a few days later. England then play Sri Lanka in late September.
Bethell may well become an ever-present across formats, and no doubt will continue to develop during that long stretch of games. But it is hard to see how he will play any first-class cricket outside of England's six home Tests, and he will have to find a balance between developing through regular gametime and staying mentally and physically fresh during that long run of games. He may also start the IPL running drinks again, with Phil Salt, Tim David and Romario Shepherd all likely to start the season ahead of him in the pecking order.
Former Aussie PM sledges Brook
John Howard, the former Australian Prime Minster, dipped into the Fox commentary box early in Harry Brook's innings and declared that he "owes his country a big score". Howard served as Prime Minister from 1996 to 2007, and is now 86 years ago.
"I think Harry Brook owes his country a big score. He did very well last year in England. He’s had a pretty ordinary tour so far. It’s pretty good for us [Australia]... If the weather holds, you might keep your fingers crossed for a fourth or fifth day. Sydney weather is becoming more Melburnian by the year."
Brook has not started convincingly: he has twice inside-edged Scott Boland past his leg stump, and his first boundary came thanks to a top edge that flew up and over the slips cordon.
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Bethell nicks off
Jacob Bethell shaped up brilliantly against Mitchell Starc early in his innings, taking 15 balls to get off the mark with a fizzing square drive, but nicks off for just 10 in the first full over after drinks. It's the change of angle that does the trick: Scott Boland decides to go over the wicket for the last ball of his over, and induces a thin edge with a ball that nips away off the seam.
"Note to coaches around the world: don't bowl it into Jacob Bethell. Bowl across him," declares Kerry O'Keeffe on Fox's commentary.
It is a curiosity of Bethell's early Test record that he has been far more successful in the second innings that the first. His first-innings scores read: 10, 16, 12, 6, 1 and 10. In the second, they are: 50*, 96, 76, 5 and 40. In fact, it is almost the opposite trend of the man he replaced at No. 3: Ollie Pope averages 45.22 in the first innings compared to 20.17 in the second.
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Neser gets Crawley
Zak Crawley is England's leading run-scorer in this series despite starting with a pair in Perth, and has batted patiently throughout the first hour. But in the final over before drinks, after cracking a back-of-a-length ball from Michael Neser away through square leg for four, he is trapped on the front pad and given out by umpire Ahsan Raza. He reviews, but ball-tracking projects that it would have hit enough of leg stump to uphold the on-field decision.
Crawley has had a strange old series: he has played pretty well since the start of the second Test, making impressive half-centuries in Brisbane (first innings) and Adelaide (second innings) and setting the tone for England's fast-forward run chase at the MCG with a quick 37. But despite the fact he is England's leading scorer, he only averages a fraction over 30, having scored 272 runs in nine innings, which is the story of his international career.
Neser was hugely impressive on the opening day of his first red-ball Test in Melbourne last week, taking 4 for 45 after top-scoring with the bat, but had a tough second day: he made a duck, then returned figures of 0 for 54 in eight overs as England tucked into him. He has started well this morning, rarely missing his length, and has an early reward as Australia strike twice in the first hour.
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Starc strikes again
Twenty-seven wickets in the series for Mitchell Starc, who dismisses Duckett for the fifth time in nine innings. As below, Duckett had started positively and hit Starc for consecutive boundaries immediately before the wicket ball, flashing through the covers and shovelling into the leg side. But his method of playing at almost every ball he faces just hasn't worked in Australia and he's out playing yet another half-hearted push at a delivery in the channel outside off stump, edging behind to Alex Carey.
It's the fourth time in the series that England's opening partnership has lasted six overs, but they have never made it through to the end of the eighth.
5 Mitchell Starc has dismissed Ben Duckett five times in the series. Duckett has scored 79 runs off the 77 balls he has faced from him.
With that dismissal, Ben Duckett's Test average dips below 40 for the first time since the end of the New Zealand tour a year ago. Too many cameos from him in this series: five scores between 21 and 34.
— Lawrence Booth (@BoothCricket) January 4, 2026
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Duckett's busy start
Ben Duckett has endured a horror series with the bat and was in the spotlight ahead of the Boxing Day Test after a video of him looking worse for wear at the end of a night out in Noosa emerged. But his second-innings cameo of 34 off 26 balls at the MCG was an important innings not only in the context of England's four-wicket win, but in Duckett's career too.
Duckett has not made an international half-century in his last 14 innings across formats, dating back to the final Test of England's home series against India at The Oval, and has looked like a man short on form and confidence throughout this tour. There was a reasonable case at one stage last year that he was among the world's best all-format batters, but he has struggled with his workload and is not due for another break anytime soon: he will head to Sri Lanka a week after this Test for a white-ball tour leading into the T20 World Cup, then only has a short time at home before he is due at the IPL with Delhi Capitals, and England's home international summer starts soon after.
It means that he is unlikely to have any time off to work on his game away from the spotlight of international cricket, so this is an important week for him as he looks to get back on track. He has started nicely at the SCG, racing to 17 off 13 balls with three early boundaries off Mitchell Starc.
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Bondi remembered
A touching tribute for the victims of the Bondi massacre, first responders and community members #Ashes pic.twitter.com/DXaW3xY4LP
— cricket.com.au (@cricketcomau) January 3, 2026
Ahmed al-Ahmed, the man who disarmed one of the Bondi Beach gunmen during the terror attack last month, was part of the pre-match tribute to the victims and first responders before play on the opening day at the SCG.
He was among the last to emerge to a huge ovation from the crowd, alongside 14-year-old Chaya Dadon who during the attack shielded two young children with her own body and was wounded while doing so.
“I don’t feel like I’m a hero, I feel like everyone was a hero in that situation,” she said about her actions in comments provided by the NSW Premier’s Department.
Ahmed al-Ahmed, who suffered multiple gunshot wounds, was pictured shaking hands with - and embracing - Usman Khawaja at the start of his final Test match.
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Spin sidelined
It’s official: spin has been sidelined in Australia, declares Andrew McGlashan. A pink-ball Test you could understand. The MCG, sure, with 10mm of grass on and it was proved the correct decision. But the SCG, even nowadays, that’s a big one. Statistician Adam Morehouse confirmed yesterday that 1887-88 was the last Australia had not played a specialist spinner at the SCG. A penny (or cent) for Todd Murphy’s thoughts right now.
The days of the SCG being a two-spinner venue were already in the past – that had only happened twice in the last 20 years – and even the annual speculation about it had died down in recent years. But to get to this point is quite a remarkable turn of events.
The thing is, the SCG pitches have turned this season, even though pace has dominated. Although a different format, a recent BBL surface had significant purchase. Australia have not made many wrong decisions in this series, and this could prove correct again, but it raises a host of questions.
“I hate doing it,” Smith said at the toss on leaving out Murphy. “But we keep producing wickets we don’t think is going to spin, and seam and cracks are going to play a big part… you get pushed into a corner in a way.”
The signs were there last year with only 10 overs of spin bowled in the India Test which ended on day three. For now, at least, Adelaide appears the last bastion for spin bowling in Australia. That game produced eight of the nine wickets spinners have taken this series.
There is, perhaps, one little twist to this. Beau Webster, who has come into the Australia side, does have offspin as part of his repertoire; in fact, it’s how he started out as a bowler before switching to pace to utilise his height. He has previously admitted he doesn’t practice it hugely these days, but it will be an option for Smith, alongside Travis Head.
"I don't think going into the series there was ever that planning or idea that spin wouldn't play a role," Murphy said before the Test. "I think it's sort of just been how it's eventuated. I think it'll evolve from year to year. Next year it could be completely different."
Will this prove a strange summer, or the start of a trend? Only time will tell.
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Khawaja 'humbled' by SCG ovation
Usman Khawaja has been reflecting on his 15-year Test career with Trent Copeland on Channel 7 this morning. Here's the segment in full:
"I was like, 'oh my god, oh my god, I'm about to play first class cricket for New South Wales at the SCG ... and that feeling has never left me."
— 7Cricket (@7Cricket) January 3, 2026
Usman Khawaja retraces his steps, walking out to the SCG and reminiscing on the journey @copes9 | #Ashes pic.twitter.com/BIn7CuLxMI
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England choose to bat
Ben Stokes wins the toss and chooses to bat first at the SCG. It's the fourth time that he has won the toss in the series, and he confirms that England will make one change with Matthew Potts replacing the hamstrung Gus Atkinson. That means Shoaib Bashir will carry the drinks for the fifth consecutive Test match, after so much backing and investment over the previous 18 months.
Steven Smith says that he would have ideally chosen to bat first, and confirms that Beau Webster will play his first Ashes Test, replacing Jhye Richardson. No specialist spinner for Australia for the third time in the series, and for the second red-ball Test match in a row. Incredibly, it's the first time since 1887-88 that Australia have not picked a frontline spinner for a Test at the SCG.
9 England have won the toss nine times in their last 10 Tests, against India at home and Australia away. This is the fourth time that they have chosen to bat first out of nine.
Australia: 1 Jake Weatherald, 2 Travis Head, 3 Marnus Labuschagne, 4 Steven Smith (capt), 5 Usman Khawaja, 6 Alex Carey (wk), 7 Cameron Green, 8 Beau Webster, 9 Michael Neser, 10 Mitchell Starc, 11 Scott Boland.
England: 1 Zak Crawley, 2 Ben Duckett, 3 Jacob Bethell, 4 Joe Root, 5 Harry Brook, 6 Ben Stokes (capt), 7 Jamie Smith (wk), 8 Will Jacks, 9 Brydon Carse, 10 Matthew Potts, 11 Josh Tongue.
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Head on Khawaja
Travis Head has been speaking to SEN Radio this morning about Usman Khawaja, who announced on Friday that he will retire from international cricket after this Test.
Khawaja was recalled to the Australia team for the Sydney Test during the 2021-22 series after Head contracted Covid-19, and has been a regular ever since - largely opening the batting, before slotting back into the middle order after Head's promotion in this series.
"It’s a huge week for him, growing up around the corner, and he’s had some unbelievable moments here. He didn’t thank me for getting him back in the team all those years ago when I got Covid, which I’m sure he will enjoy over a Coke Zero later in the week. He’s been unbelievable to go through some of the things he’s gone through, to come out the other side of it, to put together the four years that he did to finish his career, I know that he’d be immensely proud of that and his record stacks up pretty well…
"We were here a couple of years ago when Davey [Warner] finished up, so we know the importance of it. We want to send someone out on a good note and in front of his half-home crowd [too]."
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Webster in?
Beau Webster has marked his run-up and looks set to play his first Ashes Test ahead of Todd Murphy as Australia go without a frontline spinner for the third time in five matches in this series. Still time for a late call the other way, but it looks like Webster for Jhye Richardson will be Australia's only change.
Beau Webster has also marked his run up.
— Scott Bailey (@ScottBaileyAAP) January 3, 2026
Todd Murphy did not when he went to the middle this morning.
Looks like Australia will go with two allrounders and no spin. On AAP #Ashes
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Big calls looming
Good morning from the SCG, where the sun is shining and the stands are starting to fill up as we approach the toss. There's an end-of-tour feeling as we approach the final Test of a series that has been played on fast-forward... it would be a very different atmosphere at 2-2, but England blew their chances early in the series.
Neither side has named their team in advance, so there are some intriguing calls to look out for on both sides. England have picked a 12-man squad and it looks like Shoaib Bashir will again miss out, as he has done throughout this series. Matthew Potts has marked his run-up, along with Brydon Carse, Ben Stokes and Josh Tongue and looks set to replace the hamstrung Gus Atkinson, while Will Jacks is having a bowl on the practice pitches and appears likely to keep his place at No. 8.
Australia, meanwhile, are weighing up a couple of decisions: Cameron Green has measured out his run-up so appears likely to retain his spot after backing from Steven Smith in the build-up, but there is a late call on whether or not they will pick a spinner in Todd Murphy or a second allrounder in Beau Webster. Watch this space: the toss is at 10am local time.
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