Former Test skipper Mark Taylor says the SCG transportation has "lost its fearfulness factor" and believes captains indispensable beryllium much "proactive" if they are to implicit a final-day charge.
Taylor's appraisal of the SCG wicket and captaincy comes aft Australia failed to vessel England retired successful the 4th Ashes Test, the tourists surviving 102 overs to contradict the hosts' propulsion for a 4-0 bid lead.
Sunday's effect followed Australia's failed bid to clinch a fifth-day triumph implicit India astatine the SCG past year, erstwhile Ajinkya Rahane's men stonewalled done 131 overs.
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Such was the quality of day-five SCG pitches successful bygone years that Australia would sometimes play 2 specializer spinners, specified arsenic Shane Warne and Stuart MacGill successful the 1990s and 2000s, and Nathan Lyon and Stephen O'Keefe successful much caller times.
Vivid successful the minds of cricket fans are besides the gaping cracks that rippled done the SCG transportation connected time 5 of the 2009 edition, arsenic Australia's Mitchell Johnson charged successful relentlessly and South Africa's Graeme Smith showed singular courageousness successful batting with a breached hand.
The SCG groundstaff person curated SCG wickets of a much docile benignant successful caller years, frustrating teams arsenic they hunt a final-day win.
"Australia battled connected reasonably manfully," Taylor told Wide World of Sports.
"The happening astir the SCG transportation is it's not similar it was successful yesteryear; it's not breaking up similar it utilized to. It utilized to beryllium a batch harder to bat connected time 5 than it is these days. Because there's much writer aboriginal connected it's not breaking up anyplace adjacent arsenic much, truthful it's not turning arsenic overmuch and it's not getting the uneven bounce that it utilized to get. It's becoming harder to vessel sides retired connected time five. It's not a rager immoderate more.
"The information that Pat Cummins declared truthful late, and I deliberation a small excessively late, suggests the SCG has mislaid its fearfulness origin with batting connected time five.
"Australia's bowling was beauteous good. They dropped a mates of chances but not many, and they didn't outgo them much.
"So it's conscionable not the nightmare wicket to bat connected past arsenic it was successful yesteryear."
Taylor's statement that captains indispensable beryllium much proactive astatine the SCG is subtle feedback for Cummins, who's attracted disapproval from respective greats of the crippled implicit his fourth-day declaration call.
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Cummins didn't state until Australia had reached 8-416, giving his bowlers conscionable 11 overs astatine England's batsmen earlier stumps.
England's openers, Zak Crawley and Haseeb Hameed, saw the visitors done to the day's close.
"Captains are going to request to beryllium proactive and much alert of that fact. Rocking up and expecting to vessel a broadside retired connected time 5 – it's not needfully going to happen," Taylor said.
"So you're going to person to beryllium a small much proactive connected time 4 ... I deliberation that's wherever Australia fell successful the job. I deliberation they could person been much proactive connected time 4 – scored their runs a small spot quicker and fixed themselves a fewer much overs to vessel England out."
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