The action begins ahead of schedule again, as a lengthy two-and-a-half-hour morning stint to make up some of the time lost on the first day. The players are making final preparations to step onto the ground.
A Sea of Pink and a Display of Dominance
Australia knows how to host an event. The opening day of this final Test featured a appropriate remembrance to the victims and first responders of the Bondi atrocity, and on the third day the Sydney Cricket Ground was became a ocean 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 ground England’s bowlers into the dust, addressing any queries about their motivation since securing the Ashes and raising a few more regarding their beaten opponents.
Visibly weary from the effort, Ben Stokes and his team walked off at stumps battle-weary. Steve Smith’s 37th hundred in Tests, 129 not out from 205 balls, had come after the latter part of Travis Head’s explosive 163 from 166, and with it Australia had reached 518 for seven from 124 overs. The lead sat at 134 runs overnight and looked an threatening one.
A Cricketing Icon's Opinion
The legendary Neil Harvey, 97, shared his thoughts in a engaging interview.
I've been disappointed in England. I think the way they tackle the batting side of things, they get too reckless, nobody seems to want to build an innings, like a Cowdrey or a Boycott.
It might work against ordinary teams but when you get a class side like Australia it's a whole new challenge. 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 lessens the probability of winning an important Test. I'd like to see them show more restraint.
A Harsh Welcome
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 clobbered through cover by Travis Head. His second ball was both back of a length and outside off and hacked over gully by Travis Head. His third ball was on a good length and driven past midwicket by Travis Head. His fourth ball was negotiated with a show of concentrated care, to raucous, sarcastic applause from a crowd that had begun to get involved. A tough initiation, Pottsy. And yes, it's always like this around here.
Scaling the Ashes Mountain
There was a time, while Steve Smith was at the peak of his batting skill, when “best since Bradman” was used with certainty. The thing about that description is that even when the recipient has excelled for years, it gets granted 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 maintained that level.
The amalgamation of those phases, though, propelled him into a rare position on the third day. In the record books of the game there are milestones, then there are peaks. 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 scale. Jack Hobbs's 3,636 runs against Australia is the one he ascended on Tuesday.
Preamble: A Forgone Conclusion
The current Ashes battle, arguably the most disappointing series in the 144 years since Fred Spofforth made history at The Oval, is limping towards a appropriate end. Australia are poised to overwhelm England at Sydney and win the series 4-1, a scoreline not even the most partisan Pom could argue with.
It's been a success of know-how, composure, skill, ability and Travis Head. His daring 123 at Perth opened English wounds that have yet to heal; four Tests later he is merrily adding to their woes. Head's surprisingly ruthless 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 inevitable even before he faced his first ball.
Australia, despite a number of flaws in their team, have won the series with an comfort that is hard to understand. Maybe that's an Pommy outlook. It's not Australia's fault that England were not competitive – even if, on some level, they probably wanted a greater challenge.
The final act will be administered either this evening or tomorrow. There's a chance of a one-sided finish when England bat, just as there was in the concluding effort 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.
