Weather curtails England’s strong start in Sydney

Sydney Cricket Ground, day one of the fifth Ashes Test.

England 211-3: Brook 78*, Root 72*

Australia: Not yet batting

The toss was won by England.

On the opening day of the fifth Ashes Test against Australia, bad light and rain prevented England’s promising start.

When the weather finally ended the evening game at the Sydney Cricket Ground, Joe Root and Harry Brook had taken the visitors to a score of 211-3.

England’s highest partnership of a series with a 3-1 lead added an unbroken 154 for the fourth-wicket duo.

England were in danger of wasting some shady batting conditions when they fell to 57-3 after captain Ben Stokes had won the toss for the fourth time on the tour.

Ben Duckett was caught behind Mitchell Starc for a breezy 27 while Jacob Bethell made a pointless poke at Scott Boland on 10 with Jacob Bethell.

Root and Brook were both on no gain, with only England’s top two batters coming in to take the loss.

Root had a wonderful 72 not out, and he now has a chance to reach this nation.

In his 10th Test match against Australia, Brook, age 78, is on pace to surpass his first Ashes 100.

The hosts were sloppy with the ball up until the opening burst, when they took three wickets in the opening 13 overs. Australia made the first decision to skip out on off-spinner Todd Murphy since 1888 by avoiding the use of a specialist spinner in a Sydney Test.

Australia coach Andrew McDonald drained some of the anticipation from the final test by saying “the Ashes are done” and pointing out that these teams are now only competing for points in the World Test Championship following England’s two-day victory in Melbourne’s fourth test.

There is a certain level of jeopardy in the Sydney contest. England avoided the ignobley of a 5-0 clean sweep in the Ashes after only three Tests.

However, this competition has a potential to significantly influence how England’s hierarchy will develop in the future. Head coach Brendon McCullum and cricket director Rob Key would be under more pressure if they lost. If they can’t come to terms with a solution, even victory might not save them.

In a spine-tingling moment, both teams received standing ovations from a crowd that grew to 49 and 574, the largest for a Test at this location in 50 years, and pre-play, heroes and first responders to the terror attack in Bondi Beach last month.

The batting of Root and Brook perhaps only adds to the disappointment of earlier subpar Ashes tours for England, which came to an end in recent memory. Too little, too late.

There was no denying that England were once again peering over the precipice, despite the uncertainty over how the pitch might play (each side had to choose a specialist spinner).

Root and Brook exceled from that point forward, finding the ideal tempo for Test batting that had long been elusive for England.

Root had a faster scoring at first. England’s number four tucked into cuts, deft glides, and cover drives because the Australian attack was frequently too wide.

Brook has consistently engineered his own demise while on this tour. He managed to survive Australian attempts to play on his patience on this occasion, albeit with a little luck.

Boland’s first boundary was a top-notch pull-off that crossed the slips. After lunch, Starc put up six fielders on the boundary, and Brook, who was 45, was fortunate when a miscue fell between three men.

Slow bowlers account for three of the four top Test wicket-takers at this venue, which has historically been the SCG’s most favorable ground for spinners.

The series will end as the Ashes with the fewest wickets ever taken by tweakers because Sydney has gradually lost its reputation for helping spinners in recent years.

Stand-in Australia captain Smith said, “I hate doing it,” but the circumstances “backed him into a corner” about Murphy’s omission. The hosts have at least had an off-break option when they chose Beau Webster over seamer Jhye Richardson.

This was the day Australia’s bowlers finally gave up on their accuracy, despite the series’ relentlessness. Green and Webster bowled a total of 10 overs for 68 runs back behind the three front-searing players.

Starc swung the new ball, but the surface offered little when that lost its shine. Later in the match, variable bounce might be possible, which would benefit England’s last game.