The action begins ahead of schedule again, featuring an extended morning session of two and a half hours to make up some of the play washed out on the first day. The athletes are getting ready to step onto the ground.
Pink Tributes and Batting Might
Australia knows how to host an event. This fifth Test commenced with a moving homage to the sufferers and heroes of the Bondi incident, and on the third day the Sydney Cricket Ground was turned into a sea of pink to once again raise funds for the McGrath Foundation.
Between the wickets, however, Australian generosity was in far shorter supply. Across three sessions their batmen ground England’s bowlers into the dust, dispelling any doubts about their drive since securing the Ashes and posing a few more regarding their defeated rivals.
Visibly weary from the effort, Ben Stokes and his team walked off at stumps exhausted and overwhelmed. Steve Smith’s century number thirty-seven, 129 not out from 205 balls, had come after the concluding stages of Travis Head’s blistering 163 from 166, and with it Australia had achieved 518 for seven from 124 overs. The lead stood at 134 runs overnight and looked an daunting one.
Veteran's Viewpoint
The renowned Neil Harvey, 97, shared his thoughts in a charming interview.
I've been unimpressed with England. I think the way they approach the batting side of things, they get too reckless, 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 class side like Australia it's a completely different proposition. I used to score runs at a fair pace, and everyone gets a lot of enjoyment out of it, but when you try to play this aggressive approach it reduces the chances of winning an important Test. I'd like to see them rein themselves in.
A Baptism of Fire
Almost an hour into a gloomy morning at the Sydney Cricket Ground, Matt Potts was introduced into the England attack from the Randwick End, and immediately began running through his change-ups.
His first ball was sprayed down the leg side and hammered through cover by Travis Head. His second ball was both back of a length and outside off and slashed over gully by Travis Head. His third ball was on a good length and smashed past midwicket by Travis Head. His fourth ball was defended with a show of concentrated care, to raucous, sarcastic applause from a crowd that had begun to tuck into the day. A grueling introduction, Pottsy. And yes, it's always like this around here.
A Historic Achievement
There was a time, while Steve Smith was at the peak of his batting mastery, when “best since Bradman” was used with certainty. The thing about that phrase is that even when the recipient has reigned supreme for years, it gets granted too quickly, given the point of comparison is a career enduring for 20 years. Lots of players reach the top for a time, no other has stayed as long.
The amalgamation of those phases, though, propelled him into a rare position on the third day. In the statistics of the game there are landmarks, then there are mountaintops. For a long time in Smith's Ashes-focused career there have been two peaks slowly approaching 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 ascended on Tuesday.
Preamble: A One-Sided Conclusion
The current Ashes battle, perhaps the most anticlimactic series in the 144 years since Fred Spofforth raised hell at The Oval, is staggering to a fitting conclusion. Australia are poised to overwhelm England at Sydney and win the series 4-1, a margin not even the most one-eyed Pom could argue with.
It's been a triumph of maturity, discipline, application, ability and Travis Head. His bold 123 at Perth hurt England that have yet to recover; four Tests later he is cheerily grinding salt into them. Head's seemingly relentless 163 helped Australia to 518 for 7 at the end of day three, a lead of 134. Steve Smith will continue on 129 after making a century that looked unavoidable even before he faced his first ball.
Australia, despite a number of weaknesses in their team, have won the series with an ease that is hard to understand. Maybe that's an English perspective. It's not Australia's fault that England were not competitive – even if, on some level, they probably desired a greater challenge.
The final act will be conducted either this evening or tomorrow. There's a chance of a one-sided finish when England bat, just as there was in the final innings of 2013-14 and 2021-22. Their bodies are tired, their confidence shot, their spirit broken. It's nearly time for everyone to go home.
