Australia’s rookie spinner might not be the only man named Todd hoping curator Adam Lewis finds a low setting on his lawn mower before he runs it over his SCG pitch, which remains a healthy shade of green three days out from the fifth Ashes Test.
Fresh off their two-day defeat to England, the Australians were greeted by an equally grassy surface in the harbour city to the recent MCG track that was the subject of a minor inquisition.
It is certainly not unusual for a Test surface to be a sporting a strong tinge of emerald 72 hours out from the first ball. Lewis’ final snip could come as late as Sunday morning, which might yet turn the surface to a more traditional Sydney straw colour.
But after Cricket Australia chief executive Todd Greenberg admitted following the second two-day Test of the summer that “short Tests are bad for business”, the interest in the hue of Lewis’ deck is a main sub-plot ahead of a contest in which there is little at stake for the home side outside of World Test Championship points.
Last summer’s SCG Test against India only went three days and favoured fast bowlers throughout. That surface was the only one the ICC rated below “very good”, deeming it only “satisfactory”, one above the “unsatisfactory” rating earnt by the MCG last week.
Todd Murphy, eager to pull on the Baggy Green for the first time on home soil this week after playing seven Tests abroad, could reasonably have trotted out the same ‘bad for business’ line as his namesake after his spin craft was dealt a blow when he was overlooked for the MCG Test.
“I’ve only seen it from afar – and my eyes obviously aren’t amazing – so it’s hard to pick out exactly where it’ll be,” the bespectacled 25-year-old, hoping to become the first spinner in 15 years outside Nathan Lyon to be Australia’s sole spinner in a home Test, told reporters on Thursday.
“But I suppose we’re three days out. It looks like there’s a bit of grass on it at the moment.
“I always have a look and see what sort of information you can take in from it. But I don’t try and read into it too much. I suppose across the course of five days, it will keep evolving.”
The practice wickets behind the Member’s Pavilion certainly proved nippy during the Aussies’ afternoon training session after earlier drizzle.
Usman Khawaja had a long hit against coach Andrew McDonald’s dog flinger, with an emphasis on ducking the short ball that had undone him during the Aussies’ second innings in Melbourne. Marnus Labuschagne had an even longer net focusing on technical issues.
Jake Weatherald was the only Australian game enough to face seam bowlers.
Murphy meanwhile had a short bowl ahead of Friday’s main session as he pushes to play in the Ashes finale and buck the series’ seam focus.
Simply getting one’s name onto the team sheet this summer has been a battle for spinners, no matter how credentialled. Lyon, Australia’s second all-time leading wicket-taker, was overlooked for the Brisbane Test having bowled just two overs in Perth’s series opener. He then injured his hamstring in Adelaide.
With England neglecting to play their squad’s only frontline spinner, Shoaib Bashir, all series and showing no signs of deviating from selecting bits-and-parts allrounder Will Jacks instead, this Australian Test season is on track to have seen the fewest overs of spin bowled on a per Test basis this century.
This series is also certain to have the lowest number of spin overs sent down in a five-Test Ashes series.
The SCG’s reputation as a spin haven has become somewhat antiquated, although its percentage of wickets falling to spin since 2022-23 – just shy of one in five – has it on par with Perth Stadium as the most slow-bowler friendly pitch in the country.
The Bulli soil that underpins Sydney’s premier cricket venue has typically produced turning wickets. But the pitch cracks born out of those drier conditions can equally favour seam bowlers, as seen in Murphy’s most recent first-class outing at the SCG.
The Victorian sent down just 12 overs for the match with his pace-bowling teammates instead doing the bulk of the damage in exploiting a snaking crevice on a threatening line down the pitch to roll a strong NSW side for 128 and 125.
“For the first day and a half, it was pretty good batting conditions … then the cracks sort of came in after that, and the game sped up,” said Murphy, who plays for the SCG-based Sydney Sixers in the KFC BBL.
“I think it definitely can spin. We’ve played on some BBL wickets here where it has taken spin. I’ve only played a couple of Shield games and don’t think it’s ever done anything extraordinary out there.
“But I don’t think recently it’s been massive spin out here.”
2025-26 NRMA Insurance Men’s Ashes
First Test: Australia won by eight wickets
Second Test: Australia won by eight wickets
Third Test: Australia won by 82 runs
Fourth Test: England won by four wickets
Fifth Test: January 4-8: SCG, Sydney, 10:30am AEDT
Australia squad (fifth Test): Steve Smith (c), Scott Boland, Alex Carey, Brendan Doggett, Cameron Green, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Todd Murphy, Michael Neser, Jhye Richardson, Mitchell Starc, Jake Weatherald, Beau Webster
England squad: Ben Stokes (c), Harry Brook (vc), Shoaib Bashir, Jacob Bethell, Brydon Carse, Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Matthew Fisher, Will Jacks, Ollie Pope, Matthew Potts, Joe Root, Jamie Smith (wk), Josh Tongue