A superb 160 from Joe Root lifted England to 384 on the second day of the fifth and final Ashes Test at the SCG – their highest total in Australia since making 491 at Melbourne on Boxing Day 2017, as many as 21 innings ago.
His 41st Test hundred, drawing him level in third place on the all-time list with Ricky Ponting, showed his team-mates the way, after Harry Brook added only six to his overnight 78 before nibbling carelessly at Scott Boland. There was a duck for Ben Stokes, who fell to Mitchell Starc for the 14th time in Tests, while Jamie Smith rode his luck to make 46 before falling to a dreadful shot (see below).
England then served up some woeful fare with the new ball as Australia’s openers raced to 50 in 10 overs. In his first Test for over a year, Matthew Potts conceded 25 runs in three overs of dross, while Brydon Carse struggled with his length at the other end.
Ben Duckett then dropped Jake Weatherald low down at square leg off Carse on 14, but Stokes ensured the miss wasn’t costly, pinning Weatherald lbw for 21 with a full-length delivery that would have hit leg stump. Moments later, Root left the field clutching his bac0
Joe Root’s greatness reaching new heights
When Root reached 144, he moved to within 2,000 runs of Sachin Tendulkar’s Test-record tally of 15,921. By the time he popped back a return catch to Michael Neser, he had made 160, taking his average haul per Test to 85 runs over his 163-match career.
If he continues at that rate, it will take him another 23-and-a-bit games to pass Tendulkar, of which another nine will take place in 2026. It would be a brave punter who bets against him toppling Tendulkar.
Joe Root looks set to topple Sachin Tendulkar Test-record tally of 15,921 in the next few years
Jamie Smith with ‘one of the dumbest shots you’ll ever see in Test cricket’
There have been some bad shots in this series. Harry Brook at Perth, Cameron Green at Brisbane, Ollie Pope and Labuschagne at Adelaide. But Jamie Smith’s thrash to deep cover off Labuschagne’s gentle seamers shortly before lunch may have outranked them all.
Up in the commentary box, the former Australia opener and coach Justin Langer did not hold back: ‘Not for the first time this series, Jamie Smith has played one of the dumbest shots you’ll ever see in Test cricket.’ And there weren’t many who disagreed.
Jamie Smith (left) has been lambasted by Justin Langer for his ‘dumb’ first-innings dismissal
Maybe Harry Brook was right?
The dismissal cast a different light on a throwaway line by Brook after play on the first evening, when he was asked whether he was surprised he had faced so little spin during the series.
Brook sidestepped the question by praising Australia’s quicks: ‘You can see why they’ve gone with five seamers this week. Or six – however many they’ve got.’ To laughter, he added: ‘Labuschagne as well.’
As Smith trudged off, one cricketer in particular was enjoying the last laugh.
End of an era to a cricketing legend
It was the end of an era at the SCG, where the fabled ‘Richies’ – Australian fans who dress up as the legendary former commentator Richie Benaud, grey wigs, beige suits and all – are appearing for the last time after 16 years of homage.
Hundreds of cricket fans paid homage to the late Richie Benaud on the second day at the SCG
The idea of schoolfriends Michael Hennessy and Steve Blacker, it began with a group of 10, but has mushroomed to around 650, who on the second day here were sitting in the lower tier of the Clive Churchill Stand, within chanting distance of the Barmy Army in the Bill O’Reilly Stand.
When the clock reached 2.22 (imagine the number expressed by Benaud), they all waved their fake mikes. ‘Nothing lasts for ever,’ said Hennessy last year when explaining the decision to retire the Richies.
‘What better way to finish than with an Ashes summer?’
