It was the sort of frustrating day that has, in recent years, become all-too-familiar at the SCG.
After all the sunshine that baked the pitch in the days leading up to the Pink Test, most of day one was marred by bands of showers that passed by just frequently enough and were just heavy enough to ensure infrequent start-stop play and constant checking of the radar.
The 22,000 fans enjoyed what they could, but the biggest cheer of the day was not for any of boundaries scored by Australia’s top order, nor was it there for any of the three wickets England snaffled.
The greatest applause erupted when a scorecard appeared on the big screen, summing up Bangladesh’s historic victory over New Zealand in Mount Maunganui, their first in 15 attempts, ending the Kiwis’ longest unbeaten run at home of 17 consecutive wins.
It was heartening to hear the crowd’s appreciation of Bangladesh’s achievement, a team which most, if any, of those present haven't witnessed play cricket in the flesh.
With grim skies above and covers beneath, the events across the Tasman provided the only buzz in the press box, too, as Ebadot Hossain’s flurry of wickets brought Bangladesh’s maiden Test win over the Blackcaps within reach.
It provided a stark contrast to an Ashes series that is always hyped but is now limping along through dead rubbers.
It was also a reminder of how poorly Australian cricket has treated Bangladesh in almost two decades.
The two sides have played just six Tests in three series, each consisting of two matches.
The first series in 2003 was the only one hosted in Australia, played in Darwin and Cairns - with no disrespect to the northern cities, they are hardly Australia’s premium cricket venues.
The other two took place in Bangladesh in 2006 and 2017, the latter tour providing Bangladesh with their only success, a 20-run victory in Dhaka.
In between times there have been promises made and promises broken; tours cancelled for whatever reason was most convenient at the time, although the series disrupted by the pandemic in 2020 is officially only postponed.
This disrespect isn’t exclusive to Bangladesh; Australia deservedly have the reputation as the most risk averse tourists and can hardly claim to have been good global citizens when the money on offer from any series against India or England is on offer.
There are signs that the will is there to remedy this; Cricket Australia’s advance security team recently returned from Pakistan and the feedback ahead of the March tour has reportedly been positive.
But until the first ball is bowled in Karachi there will be those who treat the visit’s likelihood with caution and CA, along with the players, will have to walk the walk to convince the cricket world their outlook has changed.
Even New Zealand, the current World Test Champions, have cause to be miffed; since Australia’s 2003 series in Bangladesh they have crossed the ditch just three times to play six Tests, the last of which was in 2016.
England’s obsession with the Ashes above all other series has been dissected and criticised during this anticlimactic tour as one of the many possible reasons for their dismal year in Test cricket.
It could equally be argued that by placing the Ashes on such a high pedestal, Australia is also contributing to the uneven distribution of eyeballs and wealth in the global landscape, although the Border-Gavaskar Trophy has muscled its way up the pecking order over recent years.
The official triumvirate that makes up ‘the big three’ may no longer officially exist at an ICC level, but no one is fooled.
The WTC will hopefully play a part in forcing countries like Australia to share the love around but it will take action to convince other Test playing nations.
A whole generation of Bangladesh stars - Tamim Iqbal, Shakib Al Hasan, Mahmudullah, to name but a few - have or will go through their entire careers without playing a Test in front of appreciative fans at the SCG.
Instead those fans are left with a scorecard to admire from underneath their umbrellas, names and numbers that can never equal the real thing.
