The action begins ahead of schedule again, featuring an extended morning session of two and a half hours to compensate for some of the time lost on the first day. The athletes are preparing to begin play.
Pink Tributes and Batting Might
Events are handled superbly in Australia. This fifth Test commenced with a appropriate remembrance to the victims and first responders of the Bondi incident, and on the third day the Sydney Cricket Ground was turned into a sea of pink to once again generate donations for the McGrath Foundation.
Out in the middle, however, Australian generosity was in far more limited availability. Across three sessions their batters ground England’s bowlers into the dust, addressing any queries about their incentive since securing the Ashes and posing a few more regarding their vanquished foes.
Visibly weary from the effort, Ben Stokes and his team trudged off at stumps exhausted and overwhelmed. Steve Smith’s 37th Test century, 129 not out from 205 balls, had followed the latter part of Travis Head’s blistering 163 from 166, and with it Australia had achieved 518 for seven from 124 overs. The lead was 134 runs overnight and looked an daunting one.
Legendary Critique
The renowned Neil Harvey, 97, gave his views in a engaging interview.
I've been let down by England. I think the way they tackle 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 completely different proposition. I used to score runs relatively quickly, and everyone gets a lot of pleasure out of it, but when you try to play this Bazball thing it takes the odds away from 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 was introduced into the England attack from the Randwick End, and immediately began utilizing his variations.
His first ball was sprayed down the leg side and clobbered through cover by Travis Head. His second ball was both short outside off stump and slashed over gully by Travis Head. His third ball was on a good length and driven past midwicket by Travis Head. His fourth ball was defended with a show of concentrated care, to jeering shouts from a crowd that had begun to tuck into the day. Welcome to the treadmill, Pottsy. And yes, it's always like this around here.
Joining the Pantheon
There was a time, while Steve Smith was at the peak of his batting prowess, when “best since Bradman” was used with assurance. The thing about that description is that even when the recipient has reigned supreme for years, it gets granted too quickly, given the point of comparison is a career spanning twenty years. Lots of players attain greatness for a time, no other has maintained that level.
The combination of those phases, though, elevated him to a rare position on the third day. In the record books 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 looming ever nearer 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 surpassed on Tuesday.
Preamble: An Anticlimactic Finale
The current Ashes battle, perhaps the most disappointing series in the 144 years since Fred Spofforth made history at The Oval, is heading for a suitable finale. Australia are set to overwhelm England at Sydney and win the series 4-1, a result not even the most biased Pom could argue with.
It's been a success of know-how, composure, skill, skill and Travis Head. His audacious 123 at Perth exposed English frailties that have yet to recover; four Tests later he is cheerily grinding salt into them. Head's deceptively pitiless 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 inevitable even before he faced his first ball.
Australia, despite a number of weaknesses in their team, have won the series with an comfort that is hard to fathom. Maybe that's an English perspective. It's not Australia's fault that England did not show up – even if, on some level, they probably craved a greater challenge.
The last rites will be administered either this evening or tomorrow. There's a chance of a complete blowout when England bat, just as there was in the final innings of 2013-14 and 2021-22. Their bodies are exhausted, their confidence broken, their spirit broken. It's nearly time for everyone to go home.
