Why the Sydney Test has dead rubber written all over it
By the time the caravan gets to Sydney and the competitive climax to the Ashes has passed, the air is festive: the Sydney Test match is cricket’s festivus for the rest of us.
Opinion
January 4, 2026 — 6.25pm
January 4, 2026 — 6.25pm
The participants can deny it till they’re blue in the face, but there are telltale signs of a dead rubber at the end of a Test series.
The players still want very much to win, of course; and a Test match is a Test match; and there are World Test Championship points on the line; and 3-2 looks a lot better to English eyes; and there’s professionalism and pride and all the rest.
But there has been a difference between the super-intensity of Perth, Brisbane and Adelaide, and what has followed. Trust me, Sydneysiders have some experience here.
Picture what would be different on day one if Australia were trailing 2-1 in this series and needed to win at the SCG to retain the Ashes. Would Usman Khawaja’s retirement have been staged before the match, and been allowed to turn into the spectacle of contention that it has been?
As it is, we have had the chance to celebrate or debate Khawaja’s career in a pre-match mini-jubilee. He got to bring his kids onto the field for the anthems. It was nice. But if this were a must-win Test match for Australia, there would be questions about risking the slightest distraction.
The single-minded aggression that typified the first 11 days of this series would no doubt have been maintained and Khawaja – whose return in Adelaide was instrumental to Australia’s success – might have saved his announcement for after this game.
If this were a must-win Test match for Australia, would Usman Khawaja have had a big farewell before the game?Credit: Getty Images
If Australia had to win this Test match, I’d wager that they would have chosen a spin bowler. As it is, they’ve chosen a long batting order with Mitchell Starc at No.10; that’s a selection that indicates contentment, if not quite ecstasy, in walking away with a draw.
Of course, Australia have picked a team to win, but they have also picked a team to lessen the risk of losing.
Worn away by years of suboptimal intensity, the off-field atmosphere in Sydney has developed into a new year reunion. The SCG Test match is an enjoyable social occasion, sort of a rich person’s Adelaide (ha).
Followers of Australia and England want their team to win, of course, but they don’t have to suffer the white-knuckled fear of losing. By the time the caravan gets to Sydney and the competitive climax to the Ashes has passed, the air is festive, but also a bit supplementary: the Sydney Test match is cricket’s festivus for the rest of us.
