Change of ball brings change of fortune for England

As metaphors go, it's as laboured as it is literal but there's a circumstantial case to be made that England's successful plea to change the ball late on a rain-dusted first day at the SCG might just have brought the shift in fortune they have sought all tour.

It came as no surprise the original Kookaburra ball the tourists began with (after their skipper Joe Root lost the toss) went out of shape inside 30 overs given it spent marginally less time running across the outfield than did the stadium's overworked ground staff.

But at the time Root approached umpire Rod Tucker to point out the problem midway through James Anderson's seventh over, events were starting to take on a familiarity almost as ominous as Sydney's glowering skies.

Despite Stuart Broad's removal of David Warner for the 13th time in Test cricket moments before the third of the day's four eventual rain interventions, England were struggling to make headway in the decidedly British conditions.

Warner's opening partner Marcus Harris had maintained the form renaissance he showed in last week's third Vodafone Test at the MCG where he top-scored (with 76) and appeared increasingly untroubled by England's four-pronged seam attack.

Furthermore, he had been joined by the world's top-ranked Test batter Marnus Labuschagne who entered this Test with an SCG batting average unbeaten by previous Australians to have played five innings or more at the ground (95) and hellbent on avenging his failure at the MCG.

The pair had fashioned a second-wicket partnership of almost 40 in less than 10 overs when Root examined the soft, slightly damp ball Harris had just bunted comfortably to mid-on, and lodged his request for a swap.

Tucker decreed the ball was indeed unfit for purpose by struggling to fit it through the collection of metal gauges umpires carry with them like police officers do handcuffs, and a new box of alternatives duly appeared from which the England bowlers picked their favourite.

It's an entirely legitimate practice, and one that Warner later pointed out helps to explain a far more mysterious element of cricket's voluminous playing conditions – why lunch can be taken in bright sunshine when the previous hour of playing time has been spent with players off the field due to inclement weather.

"I think the most important thing with Test cricket, and with rain delays, is you really want to make sure that the ground's dry as well because you only get one ball," Warner said at day's end, with Australia 3-126 from the 46.5 overs possible before rain ultimately intervened.

"And if that ball gets wet, it's pretty cooked for the rest of that innings."

Not that the new, not-quite-new ball began suddenly misbehaving like a COVID-positive teenager at an Adelaide nightclub.

But the runs that had flowed in the aftermath of Warner's dismissal were gradually squeezed, and uncertainty fermented in the minds of the set Australia batting pair.

In his next over, Broad beat the edge of Labuschagne's bat and not long after Ben Stokes repeated the dose as Harris leant forward hesitantly at a delivery that decked away.

The harder ball even convinced Root to defy his natural conservatism and summon left-arm spinner Jack Leach to the crease, but when Anderson had Harris caught at slip it brought an even bolder gamble from the England skipper who immediately replaced Leach with his fastest bowler, Mark Wood.

"When (Harris's replacement Steve) Smith came in it was just a gut instinct from Rooty to get me on," Wood revealed this evening.

Wood, who had spent the night prior to the Test starting in worse shape than the discarded Kookaburra ball due to a "stomach problem", then noticed the replacement version was starting to offer something to England's quicks.

"We didn't feel with the old ball it was moving laterally that much," Wood said.

"And then I was fielding at square leg for Jimmy (Anderson) and I saw him nip a few back to Steve Smith and I thought 'oh, maybe the ball has just got a bit more of a pronounced seam or something like that'.

"I think it always does make a difference because when you seem to get that newer ball, things just change slightly and the momentum picks up."

That was undeniably true today when the change of ball plus the switch to bring Wood back into the attack brought the wickets of Harris (38) and Labuschagne (28) in consecutive overs before the day's final rain dump saw play called off.

But the fact the replacement ball was not subjected to a similar number of overs skating across the damp outfield as had its predecessor earlier in the day means England begin day two with a more potent weapon.

And a genuine shot at reducing Australia to their lowest first innings total of this Ashes series, currently the 267 they posted last week in Melbourne – which admittedly proved sufficient to forge victory by an innings inside two and half days.

"I felt like with a stop-starting sort of day, to get the couple of wickets at the end and to change the perspective of the game was a big deal," Wood said of England's late strikes on the first day.

"If I come into this (media conference) room at 100 for 1, you're probably thinking have England bowled that well?

"But because we managed to get a couple at the end of the day, it's changed the whole perception of the day."

However, Warner noted that beneath the healthy cover of grass on the SCG pitch he had seen early signs of cracks which could make batting a far more problematic pastime as the match progresses, and if the sun comes out.

"Given the weather that was around, I think the wicket was probably a day harder than what it normally would have been," Warner said.

"I think it would normally have been a little bit softer so that's probably why you saw the ball sort of 'kiss' (the surface) a little bit more.

"I can see some cracks that are underneath that grass surface ... but definitely batting first here, you need to maximise the first innings and I think day four and five are going to be very interesting.

"It's going to be awesome to play."

Vodafone Men's Ashes

Squads

Australia: Pat Cummins (c), Steve Smith (vc), Scott Boland, Alex Carey, Cameron Green, Josh Hazlewood, Marcus Harris, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Mitch Marsh, Nic Maddinson, Michael Neser, Jhye Richardson, Mitchell Starc, Mitchell Swepson, David Warner

England: Joe Root (c), James Anderson, Jonathan Bairstow, Dom Bess, Stuart Broad, Rory Burns, Jos Buttler, Zak Crawley, Haseeb Hameed, Dan Lawrence, Jack Leach, Dawid Malan, Craig Overton, Ollie Pope, Ollie Robinson, Ben Stokes, Chris Woakes, Mark Wood

Schedule

First Test: Australia won by nine wickets

Second Test: Australia won by 275 runs

Third Test: Australia won by an innings and 14 runs

Fourth Test: January 5-9, SCG

Fifth Test: January 14-18, Blundstone Arena