The Ashes / Andy Morris / 04 January 2011 / Leave a comment Bet Now View Market

Although the Aussies didn't disgrace themselves at the SCG yesterday as they did in the first innings of the Boxing Day test, Andy Morris still wasn't too impressed with the form of our top-order batsmen.

A rain-shortened first day's play in the fifth and the final Ashes Test match saw Australia flounder after a good start to end the day with 134/4.

Only 59 overs were possible and the going was slow for Australia against some solid bowling by the English pace bowlers.

Australia went into the Test match with the Ashes already lost yet still with a chance to save a series loss by winning at the SCG.

They won the toss and decided to bat first given that the track looked enough for the willow-wielders and was expected to turn on the fourth and fifth day. With specialist spinner Michael Beer replacing injured pace-bowler Ryan Harris, it looks likely he will come into play later.

The other big news leading up to the Test match was the changing of the guard - Michael Clarke led the Australian team in place of injured captain Ricky Ponting. Ponting's injured finger kept him out of the game and in his place came Usman Khwaja.

The passing on of the captaincy did not do Clarke much good as he scored only 4 before cutting one from Tim Bresnan to the gully fielder. But even before that, Phil Hughes and Shane Watson had both gotten off to good starts that they then frittered away, out for 45 and 31 respectively.

Making 37 in his test debut and looking good enough to get even more, next to go was Khwaja when he swept one from Graeme Swann to Jonathon Trott at square-leg. Possibly disappointing for the debutant to go out so seemingly easily, but Australian selectors would surely be seeing this first up effort as signs of better things to come.

So, after a reasonable start, the Aussies had suddenly lost three wickets for 29 runs. What will add to the Aussie worries is that Steven Smith hasn't exhibited much in the way of batting form and the rest of the tail has shown tendencies to fall away. This will mean that the pair of Michael Hussey and wicket-keeper Brad Haddin will need to bat long and hard into the day to put up a competitive score in the first innings.

At this stage, the track seems to be offering nothing for the spinners but the wear and tear will make it interesting on the fourth and the fifth day. For now, England are still favourites with the odds of 2.42 as compared to 4.5 for an Aussie win, but a first innings score of more than 300 could be challenging.

The odds of a draw are at 2.72, which could be a possibility given the weather.