Australia set up a final-day battle between England’s fragile batters and their own rampant bowling attack as they looked to take a 4-0 Ashes lead in Sydney.
Usman Khawaja marked his return to Test cricket after two-and-a-half years on the sidelines with his second century of the game – 101 not out to follow his prior 137 – leaving England 387 behind.
That is surely out of their grasp, meaning a day five rearguard is their best hope of stalling home momentum.
Twin hundreds in post-war Ashes cricket
Pick of the pics
England’s opening partnership has been woefully underpowered in the series, with Rory Burns, Haseeb Hameed and Zak Crawley all trying and failing to nail the role. The latter pair emerged with plenty of pressure on in the final hour on day four but dug in to reach 30 without loss at stumps. That is England’s highest first-wicket stand of the tour, but they will need many more on the final day to lay the right foundation.
Great Scott
Bilbo’s epic journey
Just an observation…
Australia is a reallyyyyy big place! ????
— Sam Billings (@sambillings) January 8, 2022
Kent’s Sam Billings has been called up ahead of the final Test in Hobart to cover fitness concerns over fellow wicketkeepers Jos Buttler and Jonny Bairstow, both of whom are awaiting results of X-rays. Covid protocols mean he has to drive rather than fly, meaning an 11-hour road trip from the Gold Coast where he has been with Big Bash side Sydney Thunder.
Smith into top five
Gower’s sartorial statement
You are all welcome. Although I’m not sure @David215Gower is particularly happy with me, the flaming galah that he is. #ashes pic.twitter.com/kDmFo5PSSP
— Melinda Farrell (@melindafarrell) January 8, 2022
There were some striking outfits on show during the McGrath Foundation’s ‘pink day’ at the SCG on Friday. But none more eye-catching than the matching set donned by English cricketing royalty David Gower for Saturday’s play. Gower’s once-in-a-lifetime get-up was captured by Australian reporter Melinda Farrell.
It’s a sell out!
Speaking of the McGrath Foundation, the charity set itself an ambitious target of selling an entire stadium’s worth of ‘virtual seats’ for this match. Towards the end of day four, it was job done and by stumps a colossal total of 4,876,22 Australian dollars for breast cancer support.
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