Jan. 2: The fate of the Ashes was decided last week in Melbourne but with the series and a huge amount of pride still on the line, neither Australia or England are calling this week’s fifth Test in Sydney a dead rubber.
For England, with the Ashes already checked in for the journey home for the first time in 24 years, it is a chance to show their ruthlessness as they continue on a path they hope will take them to the very top of the world game.
For an Australian team under the temporary captaincy of Michael Clarke, it is an opportunity to put behind them the annus horribilis of 2010 and make a new start in a new year with a morale-boosting victory to level the series at 2-2.
Clarke will start as Australia Test captain for the first time, replacing Ricky Ponting who has a broken finger.
While teammates have rallied around Clarke and pledged their support, newspaper polls have shown only eight percent of Australians support his promotion to the captaincy. Ponting is not a universally popular captain, but is admired for his past successes and embodying the qualities of doggedness, grit and fortitude associated with the captaincy since the days of Allan Border and Steve Waugh.
Clarke, 29, is more of a flamboyant character with his bleached hair and very public breakup with his former model fiance. England has been able to enjoy a relatively untroubled preparation for the final Test, its players showing every sign of delight at Australia’s discomfort.
But, the memory of the humbling defeat in Perth sandwiched between the innings triumphs in Adelaide and Melbourne was fresh enough for England captain Andrew Strauss to reissue his anti-complacency edict on Sunday, and warn against a backlash. “Sometimes it can be a bit of a release knowing that you’ve got nothing to lose anymore,” he said.
“So I think we’re quite conscious of Australia coming back at us pretty hard this week and if there are any weaknesses to be exposed, it’s important we do that.” England were the last visitors to win a Test at the Sydney Cricket Ground at the end of the 2002-03 Ashes tour — they lost the series 4-1 — and Australia have since won nine of the 10 matches at the ground.
Ponting played in all nine and his absence from the Australian team for the first time since 2004 because of a fractured finger gives Khawaja a chance to become the first Muslim to wear the baggy green cap. The debut of the freescoring Pakistan-born lefthander gives a fresh look to an Australian team which Clarke hopes can draw a line under the humiliation of failing to regain the Ashes.