Chris Woakes' injury leaves England with the worst of both worlds and spinning against history

Since John Emburey and Phil Edmonds spun England to victory at Melbourne in 1986-87, their record against Australia playing two specialist spinners has been especially poor

England will go with two spinners in Sydney (Getty)

An injury to Chris Woakes leaves England captain Joe Root with a headache ahead of the fifth Ashes Test at Sydney. Woakes has been diagnosed with a minor side injury; in his absence, Mason Crane will make his Test debut, with Moeen Ali receiving a reprieve.

Woakes may not have pulled up too many trees in this series, with 10 wickets at 50 and a batting average of just 16. But it is his overs, as much as his runs and wickets, that England will miss most. The decision to both retain Moeen and give a debut to Crane leaves Root with just three seamers on what is expected to be a superb batting wicket.

One of them - Tom Curran - has played just a single Test, and the other two - James Anderson and Stuart Broad - are at breaking point after a gruelling series. The 35-year-old Anderson admitted in his newspaper column on Tuesday that the crippling pain in his joints from bowling long spells makes it hard even to brush his teeth or put on a T-shirt.

In a sense, however, England’s hands have been tied. Woakes could just about have batted at No 7 if England had decided to replace Moeen with Crane. Alternatively, if England had gone down the two-spinner route - which it is understood was their preferred option - Woakes would have provided ballast to the lower order and an experienced head at first change.

Instead, England are left with the worst of both worlds: a brittle-looking tail with Curran at No8, and a raw-looking bowling attack with a number of potential weak links. Curran and Crane will both need to step up. Moeen simply cannot bowl as poorly as he has in the series so far. And the workloads of Anderson and Broad will have to be managed with the utmost care.

Root acknowledged Broad and Anderson’s fatigue, but insisted both were prepared for one last effort. “That was a conversation that was had with the senior guys,” he admitted. “Making sure they’re fully aware that their overs might go up slightly if things don’t quite go our way, only having three seamers.

“With it being the last game of the tour, there’s no reason why they can’t just leave everything out on the field. They’ve played in five-match series before. They know what it’s like to come into the last game. They’re both up for the challenge, they’re both ready to go.”


 Woakes misses out in Sydney with a side injury 
 (AFP)

The injury to Woakes is not as severe as first feared, despite the fact that it is the same left side that kept him out of the entire South Africa series last summer. He is expected to be fit for the one-day international series and the Test tour of New Zealand, the squad for which will be announced next Tuesday night.

England’s recent record when playing two spinners outside Asia - and in Asia, come to that - is not great. Liam Dawson accompanied Moeen for the first two Tests of the South Africa series last summer, which resulted in one win, one defeat. But they have not beaten Australia playing two spinners in 11 attempts, going back over three decades to the 1986-87 tour. And Australia’s last five first-innings totals against an England attack with two specialist spinners - 570, 492, 674, 408 and 632 - should ring a few alarm bells.

Whether Crane and Moeen can go better than the likes of Graeme Swann, Monty Panesar, Simon Kerrigan, Eddie Hemmings, John Emburey and Nick Cook, then, depends on one question. Will it spin? Sydney pitches have tended to in the past, a combination of the Bulli soil that tends to dry and crack earlier, as well as the legend couch grass they use at the SCG, a thicker grass that dries out and contributes to rougher footholes at either end of the pitch.


 Woakes' injury gives Moeen a stay of execution 
 (Getty)

That said, Sydney pitches in recent years have tended to play pretty well for the first few days, only disintegrating towards the end of the match. The scorching weather forecast may have a say, but the SCG grounds manager Justin Groves said spin would begin to come into play from around day three. Root, on the other hand, insisted that it would spin “a lot throughout the game”.

England’s fate could well hang on which one of them is right.

England’s twin-spin Ashes woes

Since John Emburey and Phil Edmonds spun England to victory at Melbourne in 1986-87, their record against Australia playing two specialist spinners has been poor. They have not won in 11 attempts, losing seven and drawing four. More ominously still, Australia have usually taken the opportunity to pile on a massive first-innings total.

Adelaide 2013-14 (Swann/Panesar), Australia 570-9d - lost

The Oval 2013 (Swann/Kerrigan), Australia 492-9d - drew

Cardiff 2009 (Swann/Panesar), Australia 674-6d - drew

Edgbaston 1993 (Such/Emburey), Australia 408 - lost

Lord’s 1993 (Such/Tufnell), Australia 632-4d - lost

Old Trafford 1993 (Such/Tufnell), Australia 289 - lost

Sydney 1990-91 (Hemmings/Tufnell), Australia 518 - drew

Trent Bridge 1989 (Hemmings/Cook), Australia 602-6 - lost

Old Trafford 1989 (Emburey/Cook), Australia 447 - lost

Sydney 1987-88 (Emburey/Hemmings), Australia 214 - drew

Sydney 1986-87 (Emburey/Edmonds), Australia 343 - lost

Melbourne 1986-87 (Emburey/Edmonds), Australia 141 - won