Last Updated on 3 months ago by Charbel Coorey
Dead rubber? Tell that to cricket fans in Sydney.
The fifth Ashes Test at the SCG broke the record for total attendance at the ground. For the first time in history, a cumulative crowd of over 200,000 attended a Test. The final figure was 211,032.
As reported by The Canberra Times, the previous record was 195,253 back in December 1946. That was a six-day encounter which Australia won by an innings and 33 runs. The great Sir Donald Bradman hit 234 in Australia’s mammoth total of 659/8 declared.
Total attendance of over 200,000 breaks record for a Test match at the SCG
The SCG Test comes as welcome relief to fans and Cricket Australia (CA). The financial impact of two-day Tests in Perth and Melbourne was widely reported, as was the future of Test cricket given some of the batting quality on display.
However, the fifth Test lasted beyond lunch on the final day. The opening four days were sold out, and the price of admission on day five was $30, with all proceeds going to the McGrath Foundation.
There was some gripping cricket across the five days at the SCG. Joe Root notched up his second Test century on Australian soil before Travis Head and Steve Smith reponded with centuries of their own in Australia’s huge score of 567.
Jacob Bethell then announced himself as a star of the future with a magnificent 154 in the second innings. His knock gave England hope of setting a competitive total on a wearing pitch, but poor batting by his teammates, an injury to Ben Stokes and no specialist spinner means Australia were always favourites to take the series 4-1.
