The Ashes 2025-26: Glenn McGrath on the importance of Sydney Ashes Test

Australia’s unbeaten run at home in Ashes Tests was always going to end one day.

That it concluded at 18 matches with England’s win in Melbourne was obviously disappointing for us Australians in the commentary boxes but not devastating.

That run had gone on for almost 15 years and I still cannot work out how England have managed to lose 16 out of 18 before this.

They have had good players across that period – Joe Root, Ben Stokes, James Anderson, Stuart Broad and others – so it has to be the mental and tactical side of the game, as I suggested last week.

Having come through that, we will see if that is the curse broken or if England slip back into their old ways in Sydney where hopefully there will be a pitch that allows for a more even contest between bat and ball.

When we first heard the surface would have 10mm of grass we wondered how it would play, especially given last year’s Boxing Day Test against India had 3mm less and went down to the final session on the fifth day.

The result was a pitch too far in favour of the bowlers but I would still question the application and methods of some of the batters on both sides.

How much did they really apply themselves and try to come up with different plans to counter the moving ball?

Not enough, in my opinion. It did set the game up perfectly for England, however.

So much has been said about Bazball over recent weeks, months and years but one thing England’s aggressive batting approach is suited to is batting in the fourth innings.

They are a great chasing team.

Their attacking style helps them get after targets, like in their pursuits of 378 and 371 against India in 2022 and 2025 respectively. This time there were only 175 runs to get but with that ball moving around it was still tricky.

That England won does leave me wondering why in the first two Tests of this series Stokes won the toss and decided to bat, especially in Perth on a pitch similar to the one in Melbourne.

Hindsight is great but I wonder if Stokes would do the same again if given the chance.

With the monkey off his back, Stokes will travel to Sydney for the fifth Test desperate for another win.

It is going to be a significant week for both teams.

While a 3-2 defeat would clearly read a lot better for England than 4-1, it would be even more frustrating in many ways because it would only add to a feeling of what could have been.

England could have won this series given the Australia XIs they have been up against and the situations they have been in, had they been stronger mentally and better tactically.

They cannot think like that going into the next Test, of course.

Even if a 3-2 scoreline would frustrate, it may save jobs when the review does come after this series with a win even more important for the coaching staff than the players.

These players are good – the likes of Harry Brook, whose talent is exceptional, or Zak Crawley, whose innings in the second innings in Adelaide should give him a template for the future.

I would hate for them to be thrown out in an upheaval.

England showing they have adapted and learned from the mistakes made in Perth and Brisbane would reflect the work done by the coaching staff.

That is important going forward.

In contrast, I hope Australia are hurting after defeat in Melbourne and use that to spur them on.

They have played so well to get to this point, coping impressively with captain Pat Cummins, fellow frontline bowler Josh Hazlewood, spinner Nathan Lyon and Steve Smith all missing at times.

They have done the important bit in winning the series but you do not want to take your foot off the gas.

Was Cummins rested for Melbourne because there are genuine fitness concerns? If so, that is fine but this is still an Ashes series. You have to put a high price on every Test match.

Jake Weatherald needs a score to secure his future, having failed to pass 20 in any of his past four innings.

All-rounder Cameron Green will come under pressure for his place from Beau Webster after his poor run, though I still think he will have an amazing career when he settles back into Test cricket following his injury absence, and I am surprised Usman Khawaja has not already announced this will be his final Test aged 39.

I retired after the Sydney Test of the 2006-07 series, along with Shane Warne and Justin Langer. Damien Martyn also called time on his career earlier in the series.

Warney and I spoke about the prospect of retiring before the Perth Test, at which point we were 2-0 up. The last thing we wanted to do was make an announcement while the series was still live.

Our win in Perth, when Adam Gilchirst scored an incredible hundred, allowed us to announce our decisions but that only placed even more importance on the next two Tests.

The fact we finished in such a dominant fashion is something I am really proud of.

There was never any talk about dead rubbers and there should not be now.

As ever, the Sydney Test will be a special occasion for me and my family.

This will be the 18th ‘Pink Test’ where we raise money in the name of my late wife Jane and last year we broadened the reach of the foundation to cover all types of cancer as well as breast cancer.

It can be emotional but is an occasion unique in sport given the scale – one that I view as a celebration of life.

I just hope we have more than two days of play this time…