England had finally been asked to bat after Australia had amassed 442/8 declared, Shaun Marsh starring with an unbeaten 126.

The Australians declared with several hours of the evening remaining, asking England’s openers to negotiate the difficult twilight period against the new pink ball.

And Hazlewood began the investigation, producing a 90mph yorker in the fourth over that Stoneman just about managed to jam his bat down on.

However, the bat itself did not survive the encounter as a huge chunk of his bat was dislodged by the delivery and he was forced to call to the dressing room for a replacement.

But he himself did not last too much longer as Hazlewood’s opening-bowling partner Mitchell Starc also went for the yorker, beating Stoneman’s new bat and cannoning into his pads in front of leg stump.

Chis Gaffney’s decision to give him out was upheld despite Stoneman asking for DRS and the Surrey batsman was forced to trudge back to the pavilion with just 18 runs to his name.

The bat-breaking incident was reminiscent of the 2013/14 series when another left-handed England opener suffered a similar fate.

Michael Carberry, playing in his sixth and to date final Test, played a standard forward defensive to Ryan Harris, only to see his blade snap spectacularly in half.

The remarkable moment was an apt analogy for England’s series, which saw them beaten 5-0 and broken by the pace of both Mitchell Johnson and Harris.

Stoneman will be desperately hoping his own misfortune is not similarly portentous.