Once you make it through the media access point of the SCG, squeezed by the Members' Entrance, you are greeted by a statue of Steve Waugh.Bat in his right hand, baggy green in his left, the moment immortalized in bronze is of his 29th Test hundred, completed on this ground in 2003, off the final ball of the second day's play against England. It is an iconic shot of an Australian legend, and on Sunday, it was a reminder of how few memorable moments there have been in this 2025-26 Ashes.

This one, which came 23 years ago at a very different time in the game's rich history, actually encapsulates Waugh quite well. Waugh, famously, took shots out of his repertoire to become a better Test cricketer. The most noteworthy one he ditched was the pull, having realised his problems against the short ball were essentially down to him trying to play it with his bat. It was hardly a crime, but, heck, not playing shots used to be the sign of a player who suited this format. That still remains the case. Sort of. 

Across the first four Tests of this series, 18 batters on either side have fallen on the pull or hook (the pejorative of the pull) - close to 13 per cent of dismissals. England have been responsible for 11 of those. And Harry Brook came close to making it 12 on day one of this fifth and final Test.A top-edge over the slips off Scott Boland came early on, to his 10th delivery (at which point he was on 8). When Australia returned after lunch to pepper him consistently, Brook - now on 45 - scuffed Mitchell Starc back towards the Paddington End when aiming for the flags in the old Pavilion.

Three balls later (46), he skied towards deep fine leg but somehow landed the ball between the two fielders stationed in that region, as well as the man back-pedalling from a relatively orthodox square leg. When tested on 58 by Cameron Green from the Randwick End, another cross-batted attempt landed just short of sub fielder Josh Inglis on the fine-leg fence. Two deliveries later, he reprised the same effort, with contorted torso and upwardly-breaking wrists, straight into the stands beneath the big screen. Brook remained unbeaten at the early stumps, and not just on a thrilling 78 out of England's 211 for 3.

The 14 runs he picked up from his seven goes on the pull/hook had taken his series tally with the shot to 50 from 27 attempts. There is an argument that Australia should have kept going at him. Assistant coach Daniel Vettori admitted it was a conversation in the home dressing room as to how long they should keep digging it into the Yorkshireman.The early juice in the wicket had contributed to three wickets in 13 overs, but with that long gone, Vettori acknowledged the few false shots that his bowlers had generated had largely come from Brook's aggression against the short ball.

However, they were wary of "burning" resources, with Starc and Green being the quickest in this all-pace attack. The shorter boundary - where Brook struck that angled six - and the assistance of wind, ultimately persuaded them to abort and resort to holding patterns. "Any time you go to the short-ball strategy you're prepared for the scoreboard to tick over a bit quicker, and particularly with Harry who is so aggressive and takes it on," Vettori said. "Our planning is probably the most extensive for him because of the array of shots he has, not only behind the wicket but in front of the wicket when he charges.

So when we go to that short ball, we have a number of fielders we hope are in a catching position."It's a difficult art to master, continually hooking, but he's proven today, there were some opportunities, but he scores runs which puts pressure back on the team and that makes it a lot harder for us. "It's a hard line - how long you go for to get the reward. We didn't get it today but it's certainly in our minds." None of that is news to anyone even remotely familiar with Brook's Test career. The 26-year old even acknowledged that, in almost all of his 34 caps to date, he has had to manage periods where the ball is at his throat. 

"I thought I played it alright," he reflected at stumps. "I could have played it better at times. And yeah, it didn't feel amazing today, but on another day it will feel a hell of a lot better." As for his remedy, well, it was not very Waugh. Rather than pack it away, he decided to go harder: "I just didn't feel like I was getting on top of the ball, so that's why I tried to start hitting it for six every ball." To many, that is a frustrating realisation. Vettori's comments are familiar to opposition bowling attacks the world over; Brook will always be willing to go at you and, in turn, will always give you a chance.

He, ultimately, lost England a series-winning chase he was leading at The Kia Oval against India last summer, and has thrown his wicket away plenty in the first three Ashes Test, when it mattered. That his knock came alongside a stand of 154 with Joe Root, also unbeaten, on 72, offers a less cavalier but still fruitful divergent path. Root certainly did not object to playing the pull, doing so five times, but he did so with a roll of the wrists. A boundary off Green between both deep fine legs, during the extended bumper stanza, spoke of the abundant riches that Test cricket's second-highest run-scorer has found along the floor. 

At the same time, there was method to Brook's seemingly bravado-triggered madness. Having realised he could not stifle the bounce, he figured he'd go with it. A happy hooker over the shoulder in white-ball cricket, he decided to put the colour of this Kookaburra ball - and arguably the match situation, with England set fair on a flat deck for the first time in two months - out of his mind. As much for the eventual good of the team as the immediate benefit he'd experience. 

Credit: Independent News Pakistan (INP)