Play gets underway early once more, featuring an extended morning session of two and a half hours to recover some of the play washed out on the first day. The players are preparing to begin play.
Charity and Command on Display
Events are handled superbly in Australia. On the first day of this fifth Test came a fitting tribute to the those affected and the emergency services of the Bondi incident, and on the third day the Sydney Cricket Ground was turned into a sea of pink to once again collect money for the McGrath Foundation.
Between the wickets, however, Australian generosity was in far scarcer quantity. Across three sessions their batsmen dominated the English bowling, answering any questions about their incentive since securing the Ashes and raising a few more about their beaten opponents.
Faces flush from the ordeal, Ben Stokes and his team trudged off at stumps seeing pink elephants. Steve Smith’s 37th hundred in Tests, 129 not out from 205 balls, had followed the latter part 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 threatening one.
A Cricketing Icon's Opinion
The renowned Neil Harvey, 97, offered his perspective in a engaging interview.
I've been unimpressed with England. I think the way they handle the batting side of things, they get too impetuous, nobody seems to want to construct a knock, like a Cowdrey or a Boycott.
It might work against ordinary teams but when you get a class side like Australia it's a different ballgame. 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 show more restraint.
A Baptism of Fire
Forty-five minutes into a gloomy morning at the Sydney Cricket Ground, Matt Potts entered the England attack from the Randwick End, and immediately began trying out his different deliveries.
His first ball was wide and hammered through cover by Travis Head. His second ball was both back of a length and outside off 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 loud, mocking cheers from a crowd that had begun to tuck into the day. A grueling introduction, 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 mastery, when “best since Bradman” was used with confidence. The thing about that phrase is that even when the recipient has reigned supreme for years, it gets applied too quickly, given the point of comparison is a career spanning twenty years. Lots of players hit their peak for a time, no other has stayed as long.
The amalgamation of those phases, though, took him to a uncommon position on the third day. In the annals of the game there are milestones, then there are summits. For a long time in Smith's Ashes-heavy 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: A One-Sided Conclusion
The current Ashes battle, perhaps the most underwhelming series in the 144 years since Fred Spofforth caused havoc at The Oval, is heading for a fitting conclusion. Australia are set to crush England at Sydney and win the series 4-1, a scoreline not even the most biased Pom could contest.
It's been a triumph of know-how, composure, discipline, talent and Travis Head. His audacious 123 at Perth hurt England that have yet to mend; four Tests later he is cheerily grinding salt into them. Head's surprisingly ruthless 163 helped Australia to 518 for 7 at the end of day three, a lead of 134. Steve Smith will resume on 129 after making a century that looked unavoidable even before he faced his first ball.
Australia, despite a number of flaws in their team, have won the series with an ease that is hard to comprehend. Maybe that's an Pommy outlook. It's not Australia's fault that England failed to turn up – even if, on some level, they probably wanted a greater challenge.
The final act will be conducted either this evening or tomorrow. There's a chance of a total collapse when England bat, just as there was in the last knock of 2013-14 and 2021-22. Their bodies are tired, their confidence shattered, their spirit crushed. It's nearly time for everyone to go home.
