Play gets underway early once more, as a lengthy two-and-a-half-hour morning stint to recover some of the play washed out on the first day. The players are making final preparations to take the field.
A Sea of Pink and a Display of Dominance
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 tragedy, and on the third day the Sydney Cricket Ground was became a ocean of pink to once again raise funds for the McGrath Foundation.
Between the wickets, however, Australian benevolence was in far more limited availability. Across three sessions their batmen wore down the English attack, addressing any queries about their motivation since securing the Ashes and raising a few more regarding their vanquished foes.
Faces flush from the ordeal, Ben Stokes and his team departed at stumps seeing pink elephants. Steve Smith’s 37th Test century, 129 not out from 205 balls, had followed the second half of Travis Head’s sizzling 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 ominous one.
A Cricketing Icon's Opinion
The famed Neil Harvey, 97, gave his views in a delightful interview.
I've been unimpressed with England. I think the way they tackle the batting side of things, they get too impetuous, nobody seems to want to build an 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 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 pull their hooves in.
A Tough Introduction
Almost an hour 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 variations.
His first ball was wide and smashed through cover by Travis Head. His second ball was both short and wide and slashed over gully by Travis Head. His third ball was short and straight and smashed past midwicket by Travis Head. His fourth ball was defended with a show of studious defense, to raucous, sarcastic applause from a crowd that had begun to settle in for the day's play. A tough initiation, Pottsy. And yes, it's always like this around here.
Joining the Pantheon
There was a time, while Steve Smith was at the height of his batting skill, when “best since Bradman” was used with assurance. The thing about that line 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 reach the top for a time, no other has stayed as long.
The combination of those phases, though, took him to a exceptional position on the third day. In the annals of the game there are milestones, then there are mountaintops. For a long time in Smith's Ashes-centric 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 scale. Jack Hobbs's 3,636 runs against Australia is the one he surpassed on Tuesday.
Preamble: An Anticlimactic Finale
The latest Ashes series, arguably the most underwhelming series in the 144 years since Fred Spofforth raised hell at The Oval, is limping towards a appropriate end. Australia are on course to overwhelm England at Sydney and win the series 4-1, a result not even the most one-eyed Pom could argue with.
It's been a success of maturity, composure, skill, talent and Travis Head. His audacious 123 at Perth hurt England that have yet to mend; four Tests later he is merrily adding to their woes. Head's seemingly relentless 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 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 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 shattered, their spirit broken. It's nearly time for everyone to go home.
