Australia keeping options open for Sydney Test

Spinner Todd Murphy’s inclusion will be decided just before the start of play

SYDNEY:

Spinner Todd Murphy will have to wait to find out if he will get his first taste of test cricket on home soil on Sunday after captain Steve Smith said Australia were keeping options open for the fifth Ashes clash with England.

Murphy was called into the squad for the fourth test when Nathan Lyon was ruled out for the rest of the series by injury but he missed out on a spot in the team as Australia went with four pacemen in Melbourne.

England claimed a consolation victory inside two chaotic days in Melbourne but Australia had already secured series honours with wins in the first three tests.

Australia usually name their team on the eve of the match but, perhaps wary after Melbourne, Smith said they would not be rushing into a decision.

"We haven't picked a team. There's 13 or 14 guys on the table and we want to see the wicket and see how we match up against that," Smith, who is standing in as skipper for Pat Cummins, told reporters at the SCG on Saturday.

"All options are on the table currently. The wicket obviously hasn't had a great deal of sunlight so we need to check it out. It still looked pretty green yesterday.

"We could play a couple of all-rounders. Could play a spinner. Could play no spinner. We'll figure it out."

Off spinner Murphy's hopes of playing an eighth test might also have rested on the Sydney Cricket Ground's reputation as the most spin-friendly of the traditional Australian Ashes venues.

Smith, though, said that reputation pre-dated even his own first class debut at the ground 18 years ago, when he was a spin-bowling all-rounder for New South Wales.

"I've always said when we come back here, I'd love the old school SCG," he added.

"Flat for two days, foot marks starting to come in, cracks opening, reverse swing, spin late in the game, tricky to bat, slow, low wicket, field is in front of the wicket.

"That's the ideal when you come here, when you think about the SCG in the past. But I don't think it's been that for as long as I've been playing, unfortunately."

Top order batsman Usman Khawaja announced on Friday that the Sydney test would be his last.

Smith hailed his teammate's "wonderful career" and mourned the fact that, at 36, he would now be the oldest player in the team.

He said, however, that he had no immediate plans to follow Khawaja into retirement.

"I don't know what I'm doing at the end of this week," he joked.

"But yeah, I've said it for a while, I'm taking it day-by-day, series-by-series and we'll see where things land.

"I feel like I'm doing alright at the moment. I'm enjoying it, I'm contributing and having fun. So there's no real end date for me I suppose."

Australia's 3-1 series lead has already ensured that they will retain the urn until they next travel to England, but Khawaja's announcement on Friday was a reminder that they might have a very different team by 2027.

Khawaja suggested that Pat Cummins, who will miss the test to manage his injured back, Steve Smith, who will again stand in as captain, as well as pace demon Mitchell Starc might not be too far behind him in bringing an end to their careers.

Local cricket fans, though, might be dwelling less on the long-term prospects of a team shorn of its thirtysomethings than the Sydney weather, which has disrupted more than its fair share of tests in recent years.

Storms are forecast for Sunday and some rain is expected on Monday, suggesting that the final test might go into day five - the only match in what has been a frenetic series to do so.

That, and the fact that the SCG is traditionally expected to offer something for the spinners late in the test, will be music to the ears of Australia's Todd Murphy.