Australia head coach Andrew McDonald has suggested next week\u2019s New Year Test in Sydney feels a diminished occasion, stating: \u201cThe Ashes were done at 3-0\u201d.<\/p>\n
The Baggy Greens wrapped up a series win inside 11 days after wins in Perth, Brisbane and Adelaide but saw their hopes of a 5-0 whitewash disappear when the tourists finally hit back in a two-day finish in Melbourne.<\/p>\n
The teams reconvene for the final time at the SCG on Sunday with the hosts seeking an emphatic 4-1 win, while their opponents look to limit the damage by making it 3-2.<\/p>\n
But McDonald feels there was less at stake as soon as his side laid claim to the urn, pointing to World Test Championship (WTC) points as the main goal rather than any bragging rights over the old enemy.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Ashes is secure, that\u2019s done. The Ashes are done,\u201d he said at a net session laid on for his side\u2019s batters following their loss at the MCG.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere is a Test match against England that contributes to the World Test Championship and that\u2019s what we\u2019re hungry for, to bank more points around that.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe scoreline will just mean either more WTC points or less; I know that sounds simplistic and it\u2019s probably not what people want to hear. It\u2019s England and Australia, it\u2019s an Ashes Test, but the Ashes were done at 3-0.\u201d<\/p>\n
Speculation continues to mount that the fifth Test will act as a farewell for veteran batter Usman Khawaja, who turned 39 earlier this month.<\/p>\n
He was dropped from the side mid-series, only to earn a late reprieve when Steve Smith withdrew on the morning of the third Test, and has since shuffled down from opener into the middle order.<\/p>\n
With Australia not playing red-ball cricket again until they face Bangladesh in August, Khawaja is likely to be saying goodbye at his home ground.<\/p>\n
McDonald expects the New South Wales faithful to act that way even if no formal announcement comes before the start of the game.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf we use Davey Warner as a test case, I think he got clapped off at the SCG three years in a row because everyone thought it was going to be his last Test match,\u201d he joked.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m pretty sure if he makes no statement on his future before the Test, the crowd will still be very supportive of him and clap and cheer him.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s no indication at my end that he\u2019s calling it in Sydney. We\u2019ve got eight months until the next one so we\u2019ve got a lot of time as a selection group to make that decision\u2026we\u2019ve got a lot of time to think about that should Us push forward.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Australia head coach Andrew McDonald has suggested next week\u2019s New Year Test in Sydney feels a diminished occasion, stating: \u201cThe Ashes were done at 3-0\u201d. The Baggy Greens wrapped up a series win inside 11 days after wins in Perth, Brisbane and Adelaide but saw their hopes of a 5-0 whitewash disappear when the tourists […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5236,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[173],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5235","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\n