It was like every other January 1 evening for the Australian players. Except that it had been a chilly day in Sydney and the canopy at Kirribilli House for the Prime Minister's reception was being used to shield the guests from the constant gusts of wind rather than the summer heat.

And also, that there were more mentions of cricket pitches in the speeches, including the one delivered by Anthony Albanese, than usual. Almost as many as the rivalry of the Ashes, and even the cricket itself. Even Stokes joked about how his speech would be more like the two Tests in Perth and Melbourne.

Whether it's in the form of polite requests for the two sets of players to dish out a Test that lasts long enough for there to be enough time to celebrate Pink Day on Day 3 over the weekend. Or even the fact that the final request made during the formal proceedings of Thursday evening was for a "flat pitch" for the final Test of the Ashes.

Clearly, none of them had been to the SCG earlier in the day or probably caught a glimpse of what the surface looks like three days out from the New Year's Test. For, if they had done so, they'd have been as worried as those who did make the trek to the SCG on the first day of the year.

Considering just how green it looked, even if we were still three days away from the start of the Test. So green that it was a challenge to locate it in the middle of the otherwise lush SCG outfield. Save for the fact that the chief curator was stood next to the roller on one of them. You could dismiss concerns over the extremity of the grass cover this far out from a Test match, but this just feels different.

Firstly, there's the ongoing stigma around grass on a Test pitch this summer after the debacle of the MCG. Where the 10 mm that Matt Page had left on top ended up resulting in so many grassy fits being thrown around the country in response to the two-day finish at the MCG.

There's also the scrutiny that Adam Lewis, chief curator at the SCG, is under anyway after having produced a grassy surface last summer, which resulted in the fifth Test of the Border Gavaskar Trophy lasting only two-and-a-half days. And on Thursday, Lewis was seen having a long chat with the head of Venues New South Wales, David Gallop, by the pitch he is preparing for the first Test of the year. There's also talk that some other bigwigs within Australian cricket will either pay a visit over the next 48 hours or at least put in a suggestion as to what the final product should ideally look like.

No surprises after the endless dialogue and discussions around the surface that we got for the Boxing Day Test last week. And the pressure right now on all stakeholders to produce a Test to finish this Ashes series that either goes the distance or at least results in a competitive contest between bat and ball.

What we haven't seen very often at the SCG in first-class cricket of late. There was of course the Test against India where neither team went past 185 across four innings. And where Scott Boland was a menace to face. The next Shield game to be played there came a month later in February where New South Wales made 238 in their first innings against Victoria, where the subsequent team totals were 182, 174 and 154 with the visitors losing by 76 runs.

Then came the Shield encounter between the same two teams in November where the hosts were skittled out for 128 and 125 in their two innings with Steve Smith top-scoring with half-centuries in both. But like has been the trend since that India Test, the only real runs came for the team who won the toss and batted. Peter Handscomb scoring a century to prop up Victoria's total to 382. Very similar to the way New South Wales smashed Queensland in the first week of December. The hosts, led by a Sam Konstas century, piled on 7/471 declared before Queensland were knocked out for 92 and 181 in their two innings respectively.

Every sign that the fifth Ashes Test could well follow a similar trend unless there's a dramatic twist in what the surface looks like come Saturday morning. It doesn't help Lewis' cause that it's a cool start to the year here in Sydney with temperatures expected to stay in the mid-20s for the next two days before the wet weather arrives, as it does every year, for the start of the Test. And some experts suggest that shaving off too much of the grass will not be a straightforward solution either.

Even poor Todd Murphy had to field multiple questions about the pitch while he waits to see if his quest to play a maiden Test on Australian soil comes to fruition this weekend in Sydney. It looks unlikely to transpire if the grass coverage stays as it is for another couple of days, where every blade of grass is expected to be scrutinised as the multiple pitch heads around the country continue to deliver their pitch takes, waiting for the final cut of the 22 yards at the SCG to be revealed in two days' time.

And everyone, including the Prime Minister, will be watching on, and even having a say.