The whispers had been growing louder with every cool and overcast Sydney day, and so were the groans from traditionalists.
As spectators poured through the SCG turnstiles on Sunday morning, odds were shortening that Victorian-based off spinner Todd Murphy would once again be the unlucky man to miss selection in the Australian XI for the fifth and final Ashes Test, having already been overlooked in Melbourne.
Australian captain Steve Smith confirmed the news after losing his fourth toss this series, meaning it will be the first time since the late 19th Century that Australia has started an SCG Test match without a frontline spinner.
“There’s a bit of moisture in it,” Smith said of the pitch, admitting it was a hard decision to leave out Todd Murphy and instead opt for a second all-rounder Beau Webster, before pointing the finger of blame squarely at the pitches being prepared.
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“We hate doing it (leaving out spinners), but we keep producing wickets that we don’t think are going to spin, so you kind of get pushed into a corner,” Smith explained.
According to Fox Sports and Cricket New South Wales statistician Adam Morehouse, the last time Australia didn’t play a spinner at the SCG was way back in 1887-88—almost 140 years ago.
In yet more bad news for tweakers on a pitch that, not so long ago, often saw Test teams play two frontline spinners, England has also left out its lanky off spinner Shoaib Bashir, opting to stick with the added batting punch of part-time spinner Will Jacks and seamer Matthew Potts who replaces the injured Gus Atkinson.
Commenting on statistics that show just 132 overs of spin have been bowled across the first four Ashes Tests in the current series—barely a third of what was seen on the previous Ashes Tour in 2021-22 (323 overs)—former England captain Michael Vaughan summed things up succinctly on Fox Cricket.
“R.I.P spin bowling,” he said.