The teams are out in the middle of a blustery but dry SCG for the anthems and Welcome To Country. Colum Farrelly takes aim at the players: “The current batch of players are not anywhere near as good as they have been talked up to be and a little more realism and modesty from press and players wouldn’t go amiss.” The question, of course, is why are the best not good enough? Andy Robinson is looking higher up for scapegoats. “Tom Harrison has to go along with the ludicrous Hundred. And some test matches have to be on terrestrial telly. Sacking Giles is just rearranging deckchairs.” It’s safe to say Ashley Giles hasn’t endeared himself to some of you. Here’s Seth Levine’s take: “Just listened to the Ashley Giles interview on TMS. I cannot imagine any other leadership position where you get to burnish your credentials by referencing how poor your predecessors were (seriously - using 90s England as your benchmark?). He came across as chippy, self-serving and fatalistic. Harrison should be first to go. Then Giles.” Joe Root admits he would have batted first too, given the option, but he likes the grass coverage on the pitch and hopes there’s some early movement. “We don’t need much change now,” Root adds, when asked about the one switch to the XI. Australia win the toss and bat Joe Root called incorrectly, Pat Cummins had no hesitation. Not the worst toss to lose given the rain and humidity around the SCG. Just the one change expected to both XIs with Usman Khawaja replacing Travis Head (Covid) for Australia and Stuart Broad coming in for Ollie Robinson (shoulder). Trevor Kingston is thrilled. “England bowled out for under 70 and the only change is the return of Broad in place of Robinson, lengthening the tail. But I suppose when the tail extends to the two openers...” “Picking over the carcass of English cricket is unseemly and unhealthy. May I suggest an aquamation?” asks Scott Poynting, referencing a word I had not encountered until this week. And here’s Andrew Benton with the first email of the day, enraged by the comments below from the King of Spain. “It is remarkable and truly disappointing that Ashley Giles doesn’t feel that anyone’s head needs to roll for the appalling performances of late, especially given that the failures earlier this year were all prep for this series. He needs to take responsibility for the failures, and suffer because of them, to foster the change that is needed. Not do so makes a laughing stock of the ECB. Clearly he’s protecting his bonus. England have lost a supporter in me because of the way this is being handled. The only right thing is two resignations - Giles and Chris Silverwood. Then the changes that are needed can start.” England’s managing director, Ashley Giles, understands the bigger picture. Now, what’s he going to do about it? Unless we look at more systemic change, a collective responsibility and collective solutions, we can make whatever changes we want – you can change me, the head coach, the captain – but we’re only setting up future leaders for failure. That’s all we’re doing. We’re only pushing it down the road. A reminder that the Sydney Test is the annual fundraising centrepiece for the McGrath Foundation. Let’s hope we reach day three and we can see the SCG turn pink again. Meanwhile in New Zealand, the World Test Champions are about to suffer an almighty upset. Toss delayed by 30 minutes Match now scheduled to start at 11am. Ok, let’s tuck into some analysis of where we are in the series with Geoff Lemon and Jonathan Liew. Is it time to revise the Ashes schedule? Is there any appetite to to do so? Is it even feasible? It"s stopped raining This is going to be one of those days full of heavy showers blowing through and the covers coming on and off again. But reports from the ground are that we should have a toss on time. It"s raining Great news! There will be even more time to pick over the carcass of English cricket, because it’s raining in Sydney. Heavy showers are forecast over the next few days, blowing in from the east (the coast), and one of those bands is sweeping through Moore Park at the moment. Preamble Hello everybody and welcome to live over-by-over coverage of the opening day of the fourth Ashes Test. We’re underway at the Sydney Cricket Ground at 10.30am local time (11.30pm UK). With the Ashes done and dusted for another cycle it’s hard to know what to make of the remainder of this series. With both countries in the midst of another wave of the pandemic, sport once again feels detached from reality, especially a match such as this, where the sport itself is shorn of most of its competitive jeopardy. With neither side ringing the changes at the selection table, we’re grasping for narratives like Old Mother Hubbard searching for a bone. “But it’s an Ashes Test!” some of you are probably yelling, “that’s all the bloody narrative you need.” Maybe, but in the current circumstances this Test feels like little more than a couple of dozen content providers fulfilling their production duties for a TV show that reached the apex of its plot arc earlier in the series. Maybe Zak Crawley makes good on his pre-match comments? Maybe a fired up Stuart Broad delivers one of *those* \0/ spells? Maybe Harold Bishop returns from the dead and revives the format? There has been lots written about the moribund state of English cricket since the Boxing Day Test, and some thought provoking pieces about Australia and the health of the rivalry too. So we should wade into that without further ado. If you would like to join in, you can reach me by email or Twitter (@JPHowcroft).