The action begins ahead of schedule again, as a lengthy two-and-a-half-hour morning stint to compensate for some of the play washed out on the first day. The cricketers are preparing to take the field.
Pink Tributes and Batting Might
Australia knows how to host an event. On the first day of this fifth Test came a appropriate remembrance to the victims and first responders of the Bondi incident, and on the third day the Sydney Cricket Ground was transformed into a sea of pink to once again collect money for the McGrath Foundation.
Out in the middle, however, Australian benevolence was in far more limited availability. Across three sessions their batters wore down the English attack, dispelling any doubts about their drive since securing the Ashes and posing a few more concerning their defeated rivals.
Visibly weary from the effort, Ben Stokes and his team trudged off at stumps exhausted and overwhelmed. Steve Smith’s 37th hundred in Tests, 129 not out from 205 balls, had succeeded the second half of Travis Head’s explosive 163 from 166, and with it Australia had achieved 518 for seven from 124 overs. The lead sat at 134 runs overnight and looked an ominous one.
Legendary Critique
The famed Neil Harvey, 97, shared his thoughts in a charming interview.
I've been disappointed in England. I think the way they approach the batting side of things, they get too careless, nobody seems to want to play a long innings, like a Cowdrey or a Boycott.
It might work against average opponents but when you get a quality outfit like Australia it's a different ballgame. I used to score runs at a fair pace, and everyone gets a lot of satisfaction out of it, but when you try to play this aggressive approach it lessens the probability of winning an important Test. I'd like to see them pull their hooves in.
A Baptism of Fire
Shortly after the start of a gloomy morning at the Sydney Cricket Ground, Matt Potts came into the England attack from the Randwick End, and immediately began utilizing his change-ups.
His first ball was wide and smashed through cover by Travis Head. His second ball was both short outside off stump and cut over gully by Travis Head. His third ball was back of a length and smashed past midwicket by Travis Head. His fourth ball was defended with a show of studious defense, to jeering shouts from a crowd that had begun to tuck into the day. A tough initiation, Pottsy. And yes, it's always like this around here.
A Historic Achievement
There was a time, while Steve Smith was at the pinnacle of his batting skill, when “best since Bradman” was used with assurance. The thing about that description is that even when the recipient has excelled for years, it gets bestowed too quickly, given the point of comparison is a career spanning twenty years. Lots of players attain greatness for a time, no other has remained there.
The amalgamation of those phases, though, took him to a rare position on the third day. In the record books of the game there are landmarks, then there are summits. For a long time in Smith's Ashes-focused career there have been two peaks drawing gradually closer in the mist. Donald Bradman's 5,028 runs against England is one that even Smith will never climb. Jack Hobbs's 3,636 runs against Australia is the one he overtook on Tuesday.
Preamble: An Anticlimactic Finale
The latest Ashes series, arguably the most disappointing series in the 144 years since Fred Spofforth caused havoc at The Oval, is heading for a fitting conclusion. Australia are poised to overwhelm England at Sydney and win the series 4-1, a scoreline not even the most partisan Pom could contest.
It's been a victory of experience, composure, application, ability and Travis Head. His audacious 123 at Perth hurt England that have yet to mend; four Tests later he is happily compounding their misery. Head's seemingly relentless 163 helped Australia to 518 for 7 at the end of day three, a lead of 134. Steve Smith will start again on 129 after making a century that looked unavoidable even before he faced his first ball.
Australia, despite a number of faultlines in their team, have won the series with an simplicity that is hard to comprehend. Maybe that's an English perspective. It's not Australia's fault that England failed to turn up – even if, on some level, they probably wanted a greater challenge.
The concluding chapter will be delivered either this evening or tomorrow. There's a chance of a complete blowout when England bat, just as there was in the last knock of 2013-14 and 2021-22. Their bodies are exhausted, their confidence shot, their spirit broken. It's nearly time for everyone to go home.
