The curator of the Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG) says he hopes for an even contest between bat and ball and a five-day Ashes Test to end the series.

The SCG will conclude the five-Test series and comes after two of the preceding Tests lasted just two days and the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) pitch officially labelled by the International Cricket Council as “unsatisfactory”.

Adam Lewis, SCG curator, will come under scrutiny over how many millimeters of grass he will leave on the surface.

Cricket Australia have lost millions in lost revenue owing to short matches, and Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is saying the match needs to get to a third day to coincide with Jane McGrath Day (a huge fundraiser in aid of the McGrath Foundation).

The pressure is on SCG’s Lewis to produce a pitch worthy of the occasion.

After the MCG had 10mm of grass on the pitch, the SCG will have 6mm (down from 7mm lats year) and Lewis has said the Sydney climate made the situation completely different.

“To be totally honest with you, I don’t listen to media,” Lewis said on Friday, two days ahead of the final Test.

“I try and steer clear of all that. I’m a real positive person. I’ve got to keep my team positive. I’ve got a young team and I’m just trying to make it most enjoyable for the guys as possible. We want it to be a five-day Test.

“We’re gutted for the whole (MCG) team. It’s something we don’t plan for it. We’re trying to prepare a surface that’s great for everyone.”

Rain is currently forecast during days one and two in Sydney, before it gets drier and hotter with temperatures up to 32C on day five.

“It (the weather) is out of our control,” Lewis added.

“When you speak to a cricketer from yesteryear, conditions were totally different. So now we’re seeing more grass on the pitch and we’ve seen sort of a wet season the last six years.

“We really need the climate to come in hot weather, break down, and then bring that spin into play. We’ve noticed this year in our Shield pitches that it’s actually taking spin early. So we’re hoping for that come the Test.

“We’re just trying to prepare a pitch that’s a great balance for bat and ball.”

Pictures which surfaced on social media on Thursday showed a pitch with a heavy green tinge. Lewis, though, says that’ll be irrelevant come start of play on Sunday.

“You want to see green tinge three days out,” he added.

“If you’re not seeing any live grass three days out, then that’s when (it’s a worry)… I’m really comfortable with where we’re sitting.

“We had a little bit of sun this morning. They’re saying a bit more sun tomorrow.

“That will take the greenness out of the pitch. We’re really happy with the pitches at the moment. We’re looking good.

“We took our learnings from last year (against India, with a match which Australia won in two-and-a-half days), there was maybe just a little bit in it on day one, we were preparing for very hot weather for that instance, so we’ve taken a little bit out of this year and we’ve just gone down a mil with grass height.”