It’s another early start today, with a two-and-a-half-hour morning session to make up some of the overs lost on the first day. The cricketers are making final preparations to step onto the ground.
Pink Tributes and Batting Might
Events are handled superbly in Australia. On the first day of this fifth Test came a moving homage to the victims and first responders of the Bondi incident, and on the third day the Sydney Cricket Ground was became a ocean of pink to once again generate donations for the McGrath Foundation.
On the field of play, though, Australian benevolence was in far shorter supply. Across three sessions their batters dominated the English bowling, dispelling any doubts about their drive since securing the Ashes and raising a few more concerning their beaten opponents.
Faces flush from the ordeal, 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 succeeded the concluding stages of Travis Head’s explosive 163 from 166, and with it Australia had reached 518 for seven from 124 overs. The lead was 134 runs overnight and looked an daunting one.
Legendary Critique
The renowned Neil Harvey, 97, shared his thoughts in a delightful interview.
I've been let down by 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 average opponents but when you get a top-tier team like Australia it's a different ballgame. I used to score runs quite rapidly, and everyone gets a lot of satisfaction out of it, but when you try to play this Bazball style it lessens the probability of winning an important Test. I'd like to see them rein themselves in.
A Harsh Welcome
Forty-five minutes into a somewhat cloudy morning at the Sydney Cricket Ground, Matt Potts entered the England attack from the Randwick End, and immediately began utilizing his change-ups.
His first ball was full and wide and smashed 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 back of a length 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 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 pinnacle of his batting mastery, when “best since Bradman” was used with assurance. The thing about that phrase is that even when the recipient has excelled for years, it gets applied too quickly, given the point of comparison is a career enduring for 20 years. Lots of players attain greatness for a time, no other has remained there.
The blend of those phases, though, took him to a exceptional 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-heavy career there have been two peaks drawing gradually closer 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 2025-26 Ashes, perhaps the most disappointing series in the 144 years since Fred Spofforth made history at The Oval, is staggering to a suitable finale. Australia are on course to defeat comprehensively England at Sydney and win the series 4-1, a margin not even the most partisan Pom could contest.
It's been a triumph of experience, maturity, application, talent and Travis Head. His bold 123 at Perth opened English wounds that have yet to recover; four Tests later he is merrily adding to their woes. 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 unavoidable even before he faced his first ball.
Australia, despite a number of weaknesses in their team, have won the series with an simplicity that is hard to fathom. Maybe that's an Anglocentric view. It's not Australia's fault that England were not competitive – even if, on some level, they probably craved a greater challenge.
The final act 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 final innings of 2013-14 and 2021-22. Their bodies are exhausted, their confidence shattered, their spirit dented. It's nearly time for everyone to go home.
