Fans want a HUGE change made to Australia’s summer of cricket as they slam the Sydney Ashes Test
Rain fell on the first day of the final Ashes Test, as Joe Root and Harry Brook tamed Australia’s bowlers to take England to 211-3 by stumps.
It was England’s best day of batting so far in this series, but it was cut short.
The light waned quickly over the iconic Sydney Cricket Ground after lunch, with umpires marching the players off the field at 2.50pm, even with the floodlights on.
Dark clouds gathered as a storm swept its way towards Sydney, with an early tea being called.
Grounds staff ran on with the covers, as cracks of thunder were heard in the distance. The rain began to fall and stumps were called early.
‘I could hardly see the ball when I was batting at the end,’ Harry Brook said later that afternoon.
A storm swept its way through Sydney on Sunday afternoon, putting a halt to proceedings in the final Test match at the SCG
Play was suspended at around 2.50pm due to poor light, even after staff turned the floodlights on
The Sydney Test has had 17 more washouts than the next highest venue, Melbourne, which has had nine washouts
‘Me and Rooty just said to them [the umpires] it’s so dark out here, the Aussie boys were saying, “Are we going off?” So, yeah, everybody was pretty much in the same boat.
‘It was dark and then obviously we had that rain, so we were just sat around waiting for it to be called off really.’
The good news is that the thunderstorm is set to hopefully blow over Sydney in the coming days, with no rain and warm temperatures expected for the remainder of the week.
However, since the 1880s, Sydney Tests have lost 26 days due to washouts.
It means that the Sydney Test has had 17 more washouts than the next highest venue, Melbourne, which has had nine washouts.
Sydney is Australia’s second wettest city, behind Darwin, with the east-coast city having endured a particularly wet year in 2025.
With the opening day of the Sydney Test coming to a premature halt, the record 49,574 fans inside the stadium were once again left feeling shortchanged.
The age-old discussion has re-emerged over whether the final Test match of the summer should be hosted in Sydney due to the weather conditions
The iconic ground has locked in the New Year’s Test until 2030, but attempts have been made to change the schedule
‘Death, taxes and the Sydney Test being stopped due to weather every year,’ one wrote on X.
‘Stop the propaganda, Melbourne’s weather is better.’
‘Darkness and inclement weather at Sydney? No. I never,’ another wrote.
‘Light delay at the SCG at 2.50pm. Sydney, what a great city for Test cricket.’
It has thrust the scheduling of the New Year’s Test back into the spotlight.
‘This Test either needs to be the day/night Test or the second or third in a series,’ one wrote. ‘Can’t have a series constantly ending with this garbage.’
‘The greatest rivalry in world cricket is between Sydney and the weather,’ another X user said.
The recurring debate has raged for many years, with cricket fans, year after year, urging Cricket Australia to tinker with the calendar and move the Test to an earlier date in the summer.
Aussie icon Shane Warne was one who agreed, with the Victoria great claiming that the Sydney and Brisbane Tests should be swapped.
‘It’s better weather [at the start of the season] than it is in the first week of January,’ Warne said back in 2022, speaking on Sydney’s climate.
‘It just seems to always rain in the Test match. It’s such a beautiful venue, such a beautiful city. Imagine if the tourists, and any opposition team, came here to Sydney and had 10 days on the harbour and loosening up, getting ready and then play the first Test in Sydney rather than the fourth Test always in the New Year.
‘Maybe it’s time for a change. I know Australia won’t want to lose that first Test match in Brisbane, but it hasn’t been that well attended the Brisbane Test match either. Whereas maybe Brisbane could be the New Year Test match and Sydney could be the first one.’
It looks like Cricket Australia will be unwilling to switch up the calendar any time soon, though, with Cricket NSW having locked in a deal to host the SCG until 2030.
South Australia had made a ploy to swap its December Test for the New Year’s Test, but that was quickly shot down (Pictured L-R: Joe Root, Harry Brook and Travis Head)
Ex-Aussie skipper Michael Clarke shot down any notion that the New Year’s Test should be played anywhere but Sydney
In 2023, the South Australian Cricket Association had attempted to move the New Year’s Test to the Adelaide Oval.
But the idea was quickly shot down, with former New South Wales star Michael Clarke shooting the proposals down.
‘Not happening,’ Clarke said on Big Sports Breakfast.
‘Can’t take Boxing Day from the MCG and you can’t take New Year’s away from the SCG, [an] absolute no-brainer. The day that stops is the day Test cricket is finished in this country.
‘Their (Adelaide) Test match is perfect, when they’ve got it, under lights, it’s perfect, it’s working so well. Why would they want to change that?’
He wasn’t the only one to dismiss plans to move the New Year’s Test away from the SCG.
‘The Pink Test in Sydney in the first week of the New Year is as much a part of Australian cricket, and indeed Australian culture, as the Boxing Day Test is for Melbourne,’ Cricket NSW chief executive Lee Germon said.
‘Some of the greatest moments in Test history have been played at the Sydney Cricket Ground in that first week of January and we see absolutely no reason to break with tradition and custom.
‘The Sydney Test has become synonymous with the McGrath Foundation through the highly successful ‘Pink Test’ initiative.
‘It also drives significant benefits to tourism in Sydney and the state of NSW.
‘Scheduling discussions around a summer are always ongoing between stakeholders but Cricket Australia has not given any indication to Cricket NSW that they are considering a move from tradition.
‘Ultimately, we want what is best for Australian cricket and the fans of our sport, but we strongly believe that is not served by moving a long-standing and successful piece of the calendar.’
