The Ashes were decided two weeks ago, when Australia sprinted to a 3-0 lead in Adelaide needing only to draw the series to retain the title. The scoreline suggests a gulf between the sides, but that was far from the case: dropped catches and a failure to adjust their strategy cost England dearly.

The fourth Test favoured the better team, but the conditions were such that drawing a form line from a two-day affair is like picking the Eurovision winner by who has the best drum solo.

That brings us to the fifth and final Test in Sydney, where a decider is rarely played. In baseball’s World Series, a best-of-seven affair, the remaining games get canned, tickets binned and television rights ignored once a team sews up the series. The 2025 Los Angeles-Toronto series went deep into game seven: the equivalent of the SCG Test going until the twilight overs of day five.

The glory of the Ashes in particular and Test cricket in general is that it doesn’t need overtime to be meaningful. Every Test has its own identity, its own narrative that makes it unique and hence its own special place in history. Runs, wickets, stumpings, etc have the same value in a player’s career and the same value in the hearts and minds of fans as the accomplishments of “live” Tests.

If the Ashes are still on the table by the time the series gets to Sydney – as they were in the Centenary of the Ashes series in 1982-83 – then there is an added dollop of tension. Australia only needed to draw the SCG match to regain the Ashes 43 years ago, as they led 2-1. But England could have retained the urn with a win to square the series after they had won in Melbourne by just three runs: Jeff Thomson still reckons he should have pasted the final delivery past point for the winner.

The fall of each wicket pushes the needle toward a result either way, and the real drama........

© The Age