 England now had to win the final three Tests if they wanted to regain the Ashes, for which the only precedent was when Don Bradman made three big centuries in the 1936–37 Ashes series to win 3–2 after being 2–0 down to Gubby Allen's England side.Sydney is a famous spinning wicket, though the three tour matches the MCC had seen lots of runs for few wickets.In the New South Wales game immediately before the Third Test they had made 553/8 with Len Hutton making 150 and Reg Simpson 259 and the fast-medium bowler John Warr took 4/67.