Australia vs England fifth Test day 1 cricket scores, results, start time, wickets, teams, how to watch, Sydney Test, SCG

The Ashes were decided two weeks ago, when Australia sprinted to a 3-0 lead in Adelaide needing only to draw the series to retain the title. The scoreline suggests a gulf between the sides, but that was far from the case: dropped catches and a failure to adjust their strategy cost England dearly.

The fourth Test favoured the better team, but the conditions were such that drawing a form line from a two-day affair is like picking the Eurovision winner by who has the best drum solo.

That brings us to the fifth and final Test in Sydney, where a decider is rarely played. In baseball’s World Series, a best-of-seven affair, the remaining games get canned, tickets binned and television rights ignored once a team sews up the series. The 2025 Los Angeles-Toronto series went deep into game seven: the equivalent of the SCG Test going until the twilight overs of day five.

The glory of the Ashes in particular and Test cricket in general is that it doesn’t need overtime to be meaningful. Every Test has its own identity, its own narrative that makes it unique and hence its own special place in history. Runs, wickets, stumpings, etc have the same value in a player’s career and the same value in the hearts and minds of fans as the accomplishments of “live” Tests.

Read Geoff Lawson’s full column here.