Australia on top after day full of wickets

Australia 3 for 116 (Clarke 47*, Ponting 44*, Zaheer 3-26) trail India 191 (Dhoni 57*, Pattinson 4-43, Hilfenhaus 3-51, Siddle 3-55) by 75 runs

Scorecard and ball-by-ball details

	James Pattinson picked up the wicket of Gautam Gambhir in the first over of the Test © Getty Images Enlarge
Related Links Preview : India's batsmen hope for SCG magic Players/Officials: MS Dhoni | Ben Hilfenhaus | Zaheer Khan |James Pattinson | Peter Siddle Matches: Australia v India at Sydney Series/Tournaments: India tour of Australia Teams: Australia | India

In the 129 years since the SCG hosted its first Test, batsmen's lives have been made infinitely easier. Pitches are now covered. Boundaries have been shortened by ropes. Helmets have allowed batsmen to hook with impunity, and they do so with heavier bats. It is to the credit of the bowlers that the contest between bat and ball remains gripping. So it was on the first day of this match, as James Pattinson and his Australian colleagues, and then Zaheer Khan for India, dominated proceedings.

By stumps on the opening day of the SCG's hundredth Test, 13 wickets had tumbled - more than the 11 that fell on the first day of Test cricket at the ground back in 1882. India's captain MS Dhoni chose to bat on a pitch that featured some grass, but his batsmen didn't back him up. Dhoni was the only man to score a half-century in India's innings of 191, which ended soon after tea, and it was the wrong way for India to start a Test in which they needed victory to retain a chance of winning the series.

Briefly, and surprisingly, their total appeared competitive, for Australia's inexperienced top order wobbled to 3 for 37 against the swing of Zaheer. But through Michael Clarke and Ricky Ponting, Australia wrested back the advantage. At stumps, their partnership had grown to 79, Australia's score was 3 for 116, and Ponting (44 not out) and Clarke (47 not out) both looked in ominous form.

Things could easily have gone badly wrong for Australia after Zaheer's early strikes. David Warner edged in the first over of the innings, the catch snapped up by Sachin Tendulkar at first slip after it bounced out of the hands of VVS Laxman at second. In Zaheer's next over, his first ball caught the edge of Shaun Marsh's bat and was taken by Laxman, placing Zaheer on a hat-trick.

It continued a disappointing return to Test cricket for Marsh, whose golden duck followed 0 and 3 in the Melbourne Test. This time he played limply at a ball he should have left alone, returning the favour from earlier the day, when Laxman fell to a similarly poor stroke that was edged to Marsh in the cordon. Both men would be happy with their catches, neither with their choice of shot.

Zaheer's hat-trick ball was negotiated by Ponting, but a few overs later the opener Ed Cowan became Zaheer's third wicket, trapped lbw for 16 to a ball that struck him just in line with off stump. It was a fine spell of bowling from Zaheer, but the partnership of Clarke and Ponting, both of whom played some fine pulls late in the day, gave Australia a strong chance of a first-innings lead.

But as India showed in their first innings, good starts from two men don't necessarily mean anything. Dhoni finished unbeaten on 57 and Tendulkar, searching for his hundredth international hundred in the SCG's hundredth Test, made a confident 41 but a distinct lack of support from the rest of the batting order cost India dearly.

Again, they were beaten by an excellent bowling performance from Australia's three fast men, Pattinson, Ben Hilfenhaus and Peter Siddle, who between them collected all ten wickets. Watching the strongly-built Pattinson bound in and attack some of the world's best batsmen, it is easy to forget how inexperienced he is - this was the first time he had played a first-class match at the SCG.

Smart stats This is India's 16th sub-300 total in their last 12 Tests in Australia, England, South Africa, New Zealand and West Indies. They've lost six of the previous 11, and won two. India's average in the first innings of overseas Tests in the last year is 27.29 runs per wicket, which is the lowest among all teams. Of the 24 wickets that James Pattinson has taken in four Tests so far, 17 have been of batsmen in the top five, and four of those 17 have been dismissed for ducks. India's total is the fourth-lowest in the first innings of a Sydney Test since 1990. However, on two of those three earlier instances, the team which was bundled out went on to win the match. Since the beginning of 2009, Zaheer Khan has taken 46 wickets of left-hand batsmen at an average of 17.52; against right-handers he has taken 40 wickets at 31.27. This is the first time in the last five years that Sachin Tendulkar hasn't scored a hundred in his first Test innings of the year.

He betrayed no nerves and struck in the first over of the Test: his third ball pitched on leg and nipped away from Gautam Gambhir, who edged to first slip for a duck that continued his slump. It was tough going early on for India's batsmen and Rahul Dravid departed for 5 off 33 deliveries when he inside-edged onto his leg off Siddle and was taken by Cowan at short leg.

That brought Tendulkar to the crease to a standing ovation, as is the case in every innings he plays these days, and he played some wonderful cover-drives as Siddle bowled full, seeking an edge. But while Tendulkar was calm and classy, his partner Virender Sehwag never looked completely settled.

There were a few typical Sehwag flashes and he was lucky not to be caught at second slip on 23 when he edged Hilfenhaus and Ponting put down a simple chance, and a Siddle offcutter beat the bat and sailed over the stumps. Sehwag's luck ran out on 30 when he got a regulation edge behind off the outswing of Pattinson, who had returned for another spell and bowled full and fast to test the batsmen.

It was precisely that sort of delivery that Pattinson used to get rid of Laxman (2), a man who has tormented Australia over the years, especially at the SCG, where his Test average before today was 96.20. Laxman didn't move his feet and wafted at a drive before he was well set - but it was Pattinson's outswing that ensured the edge behind.

That left India at 4 for 72 at lunch, and although Tendulkar and Virat Kohli steadied and batted solidly in the half hour after the break, the wickets again started to fall. Kohli was done in by Siddle's aggression - two bouncers were followed by a fuller outswinger and the batsman didn't move his feet well enough, edging behind for 23.

Soon afterwards, Pattinson picked up the huge wicket of Tendulkar, who had looked good in his 41 but played on when he tried to drive a fullish ball wide of off stump. A ton of tons would have to wait. R Ashwin and Dhoni steadied the innings with a 54-run stand but in the last over before tea, Ashwin (20) edged to slip and off the next ball Zaheer fended a catch to short leg to put Hilfenhaus on a hat-trick.

After tea, Ishant Sharma survived the hat-trick ball but few more - he also gloved a well-directed Hilfenhaus bouncer to short leg. Siddle finished the innings by having Umesh Yadav caught behind for a duck off a full outswinger - India's last three batsmen all made ducks. Australia's lower order showed in Melbourne how important late runs can be; India may rue their tail's inability to stick around and support Dhoni, who ran out of partners.

His decision to bat was sound, but much of India's batting was not. Their chances might now rest with the bowlers.

Australia v India, 2nd Test, Sydney

Festive Sydney a welcome change for India

The SCG Test has always been a part of the city's New Year's celebrations. Would it be too much to ask the cricket to match up to the fireworks?

	VVS Laxman and Sachin Tendulkar have records to cherish at the SCG, but India haven't won a Test there since 1978© Getty Images Enlarge
Related Links News : Australia start New Year on note of stability Preview : India's batsmen hope for SCG magic Matches: Australia v India at Sydney Teams: Australia | India

Sydney certainly knows how to ring in the New Year. Beaches in Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo reported bigger attendances for New Year's eve fireworks, but it is hard to imagine a more concentrated or more diverse throng than the nearly 1.5 million people - from over a hundred nations, of all religions and races, of all ages and shapes - who poured in to the three-kilometre stretch between Darling Harbour and the Harbour Bridge, to enjoy what must count among the most inclusive and unifying communal celebrations in the world.

The festivities, which began with jets painting messages in the sky and ended with a spectacular cascade of lights from the iconic bridge, are said to have cost A$6.5 million (US$6.64m), which may seem somewhat profligate in recessionary times, but apportion the cost over each smile the display induced and it will hardly look wasteful.

The following day, after lazy and long breakfasts at sidewalk cafés, the young and old of Sydney headed to the smart beaches. Large ferries gorged thousands out onto Manly harbour and every inch of sand on the three-kilometre stretch was taken. Melbourne might be the world's most livable city - it has better public transport, an easily comprehensible layout, cheaper food and lighter traffic, and as Melburnians would gleefully point out, better art, and even a bigger casino - but Sydney is the place to be, never mind the outrageous room rates on NYE.

For India's cricketers, Sydney is the place they'd rather be. They could have hardly waited to get out of Melbourne. They have awful memories of their last five Tests there, and in fact, in his 22-year career Sachin Tendulkar has tasted nothing but defeat there. Two of India's last three matches at the MCG must count as the most bitter, because they squandered strong positions in both to lose in four days. It must be a relief for them to escape to Sydney, where the memories are happier.

Which is an odd thing to say, considering cricket came close to apocalypse when these two teams last met here for a Test. Thankfully, the shame of 2008 now seems like a distant nightmare. Sometimes things need to hit bottom before they get better, and the only good thing to come out of that dark chapter is that everyone who had a part to play remembers it with a mixture of embarrassment, regret and contrition.

Predictably, the players were asked about it, and though you would expect nothing but diplomacy, there was a ring of sincerity too. Michael Hussey and MS Dhoni, who both played in that Test, said that the teams had moved on, and Dhoni said that, if anything, players from both teams were more aware of their behaviour now. Michael Clarke even used the word "respect" several times when asked about Harbhajan Singh.

Of course it has helped that some of the main characters from that drama aren't on this tour. Andrew Symonds and Matthew Hayden have long retired, and Harbhajan wasn't considered for the tour. And Harbhajan and Symonds are now on back-slapping terms as IPL team-mates for Mumbai Indians. The language of money can be the most persuasive, but the role of the IPL in fostering cultural understanding and goodwill cannot be underestimated.

Shane Warne's legend was further burnished for Indian fans after he led the unfancied Rajasthan Royals to a title; Shane Watson is grateful to the tournament for reviving his international career; Hussey and Doug Bollinger are loyal troopers for the Chennai Super Kings, led by Dhoni; and Ricky Ponting, though he played only one season, endeared himself the Kolkata Knight Riders players with his work ethic and generosity. Also, Indian players now understand better than before that none of the colourful language used on the field needs to be taken literally.

And of course a lot more has taken place off the field to ensure that there will be no repeat of Sydneygate. One fallout of a unipolar world is that it minimises the possibility of major conflicts. In 2008, the Indian cricket board was mighty enough to threaten the cancellation of the tour and effect a change of umpires. If anything, the commercial relationships have grown even tighter since. India and Australia have continued to play each other in some form of the game every year, they are co-promoters of the Champions League, and as the Indian economy has continued to grow, so has the dependency on the revenue generated from playing cricket with India. It isn't healthy, but it is the reality.

There have been murmurs in Australia about their team having gone soft and grown out of character in the aftermath of Sydney 2008 and the IPL. The reality, of course, is that bad behaviour has never won a match. The concept of mental disintegration was a fine psychological trick by Steve Waugh, but the truth is that his enforcers had the games to back up their chat. Matthew Hayden might have played the perfect bully on the field, but the real intimidation came from his bat.

Expect the cricket to be tough. Australia have forged a pace bowling combination that not only promises to grow to be a formidable one but, on the evidence of their Melbourne performance, is likely to present Indian batsmen with their toughest challenge in Australia since 1999. The tailenders have had a taste of the short ball, and the pitches in Sydney and Perth are expected to be considerably quicker than the Indians have encountered on the last couple of tours.

Indian batsmen have good memories of this ground. Both Sachin Tendulkar and VVS Laxman have scored three centuries each here, and average 221.33 and 96.20 here, and both were in the all-time World XI picked by the SCG Trust on the eve of the ground's 100th Test. In 2004, when India ran up a score of 705, it moved some of the veterans in the press box to hail them as the greatest batting line-up to have visited Australia ever, and unlike at the MCG, India haven't lost their last five Tests here. But numbers can be interpreted the way you choose. For all the feel-good factor that Sydney generates for Indians, they haven't won a Test heresince 1978, when they beat a second-choice team led by Bob Simpson.

A couple of days ago a mainstream Australian paper carried a headline that read "Sachin Cricket Ground", and inevitably, the pre-match chatter revolved around the 100th hundred. Tendulkar has always been loved in these parts and fans will thrilled to be part of a piece of history, but even if that doesn't happen, this special ground is assured of its own hundred tomorrow.

It would be too much to expect the cricket to match up to the fireworks and the exultant spirt that filled the night on December 31, but the truth is that the Sydney Test is always part of the New Year package. The weather's glorious, the city feels alive, as does Test cricket.

Australia v India, 2nd Test, Sydney

India's batsmen hope for SCG magic

Match facts

Even by Sachin Tendulkar's lofty standards, his record at the SCG is remarkable © Getty Images Enlarge

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Tuesday, January 3
Start time 1030 (2330 GMT)

Big Picture

Australia. India. The SCG. Four years ago, those three elements together sparked one of the most controversial Tests in recent history. It was a match of umpiring blunders, a racism allegation, excessive appealing and ugly behaviour all round. Fortunately for the integrity of this upcoming contest, several of the key protagonists are gone. Andrew Symonds has retired. Harbhajan Singh is no longer considered one of India's two best spinners. Both of the umpires, who struggled to maintain control on the field, have stepped down from international cricket.

It was also a Test that went down to the wire, finishing late on the fifth day, as the shadows grew longer over the Sydney Cricket Ground. The fans will hope for a similarly tight finale this time around, albeit without the argy-bargy and ill feeling between the two teams. A memorable contest would be fitting, for this is the 100th Test to be played at the historic Sydney Cricket Ground. Only Lord's and the MCG have hosted more Tests.

This time, the teams head to Sydney with Australia 1-0 up in the series, having won inside four days in Melbourne. India's batsmen were the major disappointment in the Boxing Day Test. Virender Sehwag, Rahul Dravid and Sachin Tendulkar all made 60s or 70s in the first innings but in the second, Tendulkar's 32 was the best score. Chasing 292, that was vastly inadequate. Australia's strong and consistent pace attack built pressure and the Indians could not show the skills that had earned them more than 53,000 Test runs collectively over their Test careers.

There is more of a chance of India's batsmen enjoying the SCG. Sachin Tendulkar's Test record at the venue makes for imposing reading. In four Sydney Tests, he has made 148*, 45, 4, 241*, 60*, 154* and 12. VVS Laxman's Sydney efforts have been just as impressive: 7, 167, 178, 109, 20. But they and their colleagues will need to show significant improvements after last week if they are to level the series.

Form guide (most recent first)

Australia: WLWWL
India: LDWWL

Players to watch out for...

This time last year, Nathan Lyon had not played for his state in any format. Now he is a veteran of eight Tests. In a year full of impressive debuts by Australian cricketers, his is the most remarkable story. The Adelaide Oval groundsman who was asked by the state coach to bowl in the nets, Lyon has shown every club cricketer that there is hope. All you need is an opportunity. He wasn't a key part of the attack in Melbourne, where the fast men dominated, but at the SCG, particularly later in the Test, he could be asked to bowl a lot of overs of offspin. Incredibly, Lyon has not played a first-class match at the SCG, traditionally the best venue for spin in Australia.

To watch Sachin Tendulkar upper-cut Peter Siddle over the head of the slips for six off the first ball after tea on the second day at the MCG was a sight to behold. Tendulkar played brilliantly in that innings and it was impossible not to anticipate his hundredth international hundred. Siddle ended that dream in the last over of the day by bowling Tendulkar for 73. It would perhaps be even more fitting if Tendulkar were able to reach his milestone in the 100th Sydney Test. He is the master of the SCG, and the only grounds around the world where he has a higher Test average are in Bangladesh.

Team news

Australia included Ryan Harris in the 12-man squad at the expense of Daniel Christian and Mitchell Starc, neither of whom made the starting line-up in Melbourne. However, the selectors chose to use the same XI as at the MCG, with Harris more likely for the third Test in Perth, where Australia might consider a four-man pace attack.

Australia 1 David Warner, 2 Ed Cowan, 3 Shaun Marsh, 4 Ricky Ponting, 5 Michael Clarke (capt), 6 Michael Hussey, 7 Brad Haddin (wk), 8 Peter Siddle, 9 James Pattinson, 10 Nathan Lyon, 11 Ben Hilfenhaus.

India's batting was a problem in Melbourne, so they might consider including Rohit Sharma at the expense of Virat Kohli. Should Rohit play it will be his Test debut but he will bring plenty of international experience - he has played 72 ODIs and 22 Twenty20s for India.

India (probable) 1 Virender Sehwag, 2 Gautam Gambhir, 3 Rahul Dravid, 4 Sachin Tendulkar, 5 VVS Laxman, 6 Virat Kohli / Rohit Sharma, 7 MS Dhoni (capt, wk), 8 R Ashwin, 9 Zaheer Khan, 10 Ishant Sharma, 11 Umesh Yadav.

Pitch and conditions

The SCG pitch has traditionally not bounced as much as other Australian surfaces, perhaps one of the reasons it has been appreciated by India's batsmen. But that character has changed, and the curator Tom Parker expects a similar pitch to that on which England's swing and seam bowlers set up an innings victory last summer. It is worth noting, though, that in that Test England's batsmen scored 644.

"In the last few years I think the Sydney pitch has changed texture from when it used to be a real dust bowl and really helped the spinners," Michael Hussey said on Sunday. "The last few years it has been really seamer friendly and particularly tough for batting, especially early in the match. It definitely looks a lighter colour. Generally that's the way it has gone over the years, it has slowed down a little bit and helped the spinners."

The forecast for the first day is sunny and 28C, while there could be the chance of storms and showers over the next three days of the Test.

Stats and trivia

• Sachin Tendulkar has the highest average of all Test cricketers at the SCG. In four Tests there he averages 221.33
• VVS Laxman averages 96.20 at the SCG, a far cry from the 14.25 he averages at the MCG
• The changes in Australia's team from this time last year have been stark: only five men who played in the SCG Ashes loss are in the side for this Test
• The only team to have beaten Australia in Sydney Tests in the past 15 years was England, who did it in 2003 and 2011

Quotes

"I am a bit nervous because the stars seem to be aligning with Sachin needing one more hundred in the 100th Test match in Sydney. He's made runs here before. It's a bit ominous."
Michael Hussey is wary of the elusive milestone on everyone's mind

"Well, he's always close to a milestone. If you see his career in the last three years, whatever he has done, somehow he has been very close to a milestone, whether he's playing the most number of ODIs or Test matches or the 100th hundred or all the things."

100 Tests at the SCG

The heart of Sydney

The SCG, which clocks its 100th Test this week, has been a cultural hub of the city and a symbol of it like no other

	Arthur Mailey and Bert Oldfield batting at the SCG in 1924© PA Photos Enlarge
Related Links News : Clarke pays respects to his home ground Features : In Sydney they go feet first Features : Ten memorable SCG Tests Features : The view from the other side Teams: Australia Grounds: Sydney Cricket Ground

As an enduring symbol of Sydney, the SCG predates the Harbour Bridge and the Opera House by a good margin. Sydney is a city in which sport, in general, and cricket in particular, have been a large part of the common culture, and for generations of devotees the grand old ground has remained its cultural hub.

There is an aura to it. The Members' Stand clock seems almost to record timelessness. From way back in 1882, when Billy Murdoch's Australians defeated England in the first two Tests played there, until the 100th this week, the ghosts of greatness have been ever-present.

My experience of the Sydney Cricket Ground dates back to the 1950s, though somehow the relationship seems a lot longer than that. For years as a young cricket writer I listened to the tales of the 1930s that Alan McGilvray would tell with relish, often over a bottle of Scotch. I shared the press box with giants like Bill O'Reilly and Jack Fingleton, whose stories of Bodyline and Bradman were irresistible.

At the top of their list of stellar SCG batting performances was the memorable effort of Stan McCabe, whose 187 not out in the first Test of the 1932-33 Ashes series resisted all that Bodyline could throw at him. Many thought it the best innings ever played at the ground. McCabe hit 25 fours in that innings, many of them hooked as the ball rocketed to him at eye level. Many thought McCabe's offensive against such lethal bowling might well have stopped the Bodyline tactic in its tracks. Sadly, it was not to be.

The Bradman era at the SCG must have been a marvellous time, when the word would go out that he was on his way to the crease, and people would flood in from all over town. Sometimes the crowd grew three- and four-fold, such was his appeal. Since then the ground has necessarily changed in its nature as well as its function. The old green-roofed stands have shrunk, as the Bob Stand, the Sheridan Stand and the old Brewongle have been enveloped by modern imperatives.

The Hill has gone, too, and with it a part of Sydney that was unique. Until the Bradman Stand went up in the 1970s there was vast open space at both ends of the ground. It was commonplace for rugs to be spread on the grass, weighed down by an Esky full of beer. When World Series Cricket came upon us in 1978, the light towers went up, to the dismay of many. People appeared in coloured clothing to play a brash new type of night cricket, and thousands flocked to watch. The objectors of 1978 would marvel at the Big Bash League today.

Night and day, the SCG was a social hub for a sporting fraternity of all persuasions. In the Members' and the Noble stands everybody seemed to know everybody. If Keith Miller wasn't holding court, grabbing each of his limitless mates as they entered, somebody else was. You were never short of a beer and a laugh and a story of great days past.

In the outer it was much the same. There was a character to the Hill that was captivating. Shirtless young men would gather in great numbers, downing beers under the benign gaze of policemen who seemed only to envy them. Occasionally they would put together a chain of beer-can ringtops that would stretch from third man to cover point. There was often a record to be chased.

To Englishmen the Hill was a bizarre place that captured the Australian nature. On one tour in the early 1970s, Brian Bearshaw of the Manchester Evening News insisted on savouring the experience, so we went up under the old scoreboard and stripped to the waist like everybody else. Bearshaw started the day a pale and ghostly white and finished it lobster red. He never ventured to the Hill again.

For much of the 20th century the SCG was the home of all of Sydney's major sports. Rugby Tests were played there. Rugby League used it as its home ground. In days when the ground was less well drained it would often be an absolute mud heap.

	Everybody seemed to know everybody. If Keith Miller wasn't holding court, grabbing each of his limitless mates as they entered, somebody else was. You were never short of a beer and a laugh and a story of great days past

The Bulli soil that came from the south coast of NSW to form the SCG pitch was black and fertile, and made for famously hard wickets. But when it churned up late in the football season, as it did for some famous grand finals, there was precious little time to get it ready for the cricket. Somehow they always did.

The memories of great days remain vivid. My first experience covering cricket for the Daily Telegraph as a very young journalist was a NSW Sheffield Shield game against Queensland, when Ian Craig hit 146, Neil Harvey scored 229, and the home side was 424 for 2 at stumps on the first day. O'Neill, Thomas, Benaud, Davidson and Johnny Martin were all to follow.

This was late 1960, when Australia and West Indies were about to lock horns in the most magical Test series of all. A tie in Brisbane and thrilling contests in Melbourne and Adelaide made the series legendary, but Sydney was no less memorable thanks to an innings of 168 by the great Garfield Sobers.

To this day I have in my mind's eye one shot in that innings that remains indelible. Ian Meckiff was hurling them down at great pace from the Paddington end. Sobers went on to the back foot, stood tall with one leg raised, and punched him on to the concourse between the Paddington Hill and the old Sheridan stand for six. I haven't seen better in the 50 years since.

Through the 1960s and into the 1970s, Doug Walters was a perennial SCG favourite, as much for the way he played as for the results he achieved. They named a stand in his honour - at first unofficial, as a measure of the crowd's affection for him, and later official - and the ground lit up whenever he was at the crease.

He scored 242 and 103 in the fifth Test against West Indies in 1969, in his most productive home performance after Australia had been put in to bat. It stood in stark contrast to his captain, Bill Lawry, whose first-innings 151 took over eight hours. Lawry also refused to enforce the follow-on despite a first-innings lead of 340, then pushed the match into a sixth day by leaving West Indies 735 to score in the final innings. Australia won the Test by 382 runs, and thus the series.

One of the more dramatic days at the SCG came during the hastily arranged seventh Test of 1970-71, when the formidable English fast bowler John Snow caught the Australian tailender Terry Jenner on the head with a bouncer. These were days before helmets, and bowling bouncers at tailenders was considered poor form. When Snow was within range of the fence at the Paddington End, a spectator grabbed him in retribution. The England captain, Ray Illingworth, was furious as beer cans rained on to the field; he took his players off and left batsmen Greg Chappell and Jenner standing forlornly at the wicket.

Illingworth had taken his action without the permission of the umpires, technically forfeiting the match as the recently retired No. 1 umpire Colin Egar was happy to tell everybody in the Noble bar. Furious negotiations in the dressing room got them all back on the field and England went on to win a Test that, had people reacted differently, might well have been taken from them.

	The SCG today: on the opening day of the Big Bash League© Getty Images Enlarge

The ground has seen much more high drama over its 100 Tests. Through the eras of Lillee and Marsh, Border and Taylor, Warne and McGrath, Waugh and Ponting, the cavalcade of superstars has continued to leave an indelible mark on a remarkable ground. The great Brian Lara made his first appearance there as a 23-year-old in January 1993, and made 277 runs in classical fashion before being run out. The game was drawn, but a new young champion of extraordinary talent had announced himself.

The football codes, too, have offered plenty down the years. In 1965, nearly 80,000 people somehow got into the ground for a Rugby League grand final. They perched themselves on the roof of the old Bob Stand and anywhere else they could find a spot. It was scary stuff.

The Sydney Cricket Ground will see many more great days. It is a space that has always been central to the character of Sydney. That is not likely to change
.

100 Tests at the SCG

Clarke pays respects to his home ground

	Michael Clarke made a Test century at the SCG against South Africa three years ago © PA Photos Enlarge
Related Links Features : In Sydney they go feet first Features : The heart of Sydney Features : The view from the other side Players/Officials: Michael Clarke Teams: Australia | New South Wales Grounds: Sydney Cricket Ground

Michael Clarke once said he would play cricket every day of the year if he could do so at the SCG. Though he did not make the all-time Australian XI compiled to mark the SCG's 100th Test, Clarke's story and technique are steeped in the history of the ground. His feet dance in accordance with the assistance on offer to the best spin bowlers, and his use of the crease both forward and back was fostered by the variety of fast and slow men who tried their luck on a surface with more subcontinental echoes than any other in Australia.

With this in mind, it is fitting that Clarke will lead Australia in the second Test against India, on a ground where he made his name and then enhanced it with strong showings as both a batsman and an occasional left-arm orthodox bowler. Intriguingly Clarke's record in Tests is curiously muted, having made only one century, against South Africa in 2009. But his love of the place is clear.

"I know we love playing here, I know I love playing here," Clarke said. "It's a great ground, it's my favourite to play and we've had a lot of success here at the SCG, so we're confident walking out onto that ground. It doesn't guarantee anything, but we're playing in front of our home crowd, for a lot of the guys it's their home ground as New South Welshmen and we're excited about this second Test match, it's a great time of year as well obviously to be playing Test cricket.

"It's nice to be playing at my home ground I guess and obviously the chance to captain Australia is very special in the 100th Test match here as well, so I think that will sink in over the next 24 hours. It's been quite a busy period from Melbourne, coming back here we've had a lot of stuff on, a lot of training, but over the next 24 hours I think the nerves will certainly kick in in regards to playing in another Test match at the SCG in front of my family and friends and now having the chance to captain here is certainly an honour and a privilege."

In his time at the SCG, Clarke has witnessed its character change from that of the slow turners of the 1990s into the more rounded, classical surface engineered by the curator Tom Parker in recent seasons. Those characteristics are in line with those loved by players of the 1950s and '60s, offering help to batsmen, quicks and spin bowlers in far more equal measure than when Clarke first visited.

SCG all-time XIs Australia: Victor Trumper (NSW), David Boon (Tas), Don Bradman (NSW/SA), Ricky Ponting (Tas), Greg Chappell (SA/Qld), Keith Miller (NSW/Vic), Adam Gilchrist (WA/NSW), Shane Warne (Vic), Ray Lindwall (NSW/Qld), CTB Turner (NSW), Glenn McGrath (NSW). Fred Spofforth (NSW) 12th man. Coach: Bill O'Reilly. Coach: Richie Benaud. World: Herbert Sutcliffe (Eng), Jack Hobbs (Eng), VVS Laxman (India), Sachin Tendulkar (India), Wally Hammond (Eng), Garfield Sobers (WI), Richard Hadlee (NZ), Alan Knott (Eng), Anil Kumble (India), George Lohmann (Eng), SF Barnes (Eng). Harold Larwood (Eng) 12th man. Coach: WG Grace.

"Conditions have probably changed a little bit over the last few years, no doubt the way I was brought up on this wicket it was spin conducive wasn't it," Clarke said. "I faced a lot of spin as a kid, I'd seen a fair bit of reverse swing at a young age and generally this wicket is a little bit slower than say Perth and Brisbane and what we've just seen in Melbourne.

"It encouraged me to move down the wicket to the spinners, no doubt, mainly because the ball spun so much and I wanted to get as close to it as I could before it spun too much. It's probably helped the way I play spin bowling, I've got to pay credit to the SCG.

"But the last couple of years it's quickened up a bit, there's been enough there for the bowlers, swing and seam and you need to try and adapt to that, but I think it certainly feels like my home ground. The way I play I guess is very similar to the conditions I've faced, from an 18-year-old boy until only until the last couple of years it's probably changed."

A panel comprising Jim Maxwell, Mike Coward, Phil Derriman, Gideon Haigh, Phil Wilkins, Malcolm Conn, Warwick Franks, Andrew Leeming, Malcolm Knox, and the SCG Trust chairman Rodney Cavalier, selected Australia and World teams from those who have graced the ground over its 100 Tests. Three men about to play in this match, Ricky Ponting, Sachin Tendulkar and VVS Laxman, were chosen in the teams.