The action begins ahead of schedule again, featuring an extended morning session of two and a half hours to make up some of the play washed out on the first day. The players are making final preparations to begin play.
Charity and Command on Display
Australia knows how to host an event. This fifth Test commenced with a moving homage to the victims and first responders of the Bondi atrocity, and on the third day the Sydney Cricket Ground was became a sea of pink to once again raise funds for the McGrath Foundation.
On the field of play, though, Australian generosity was in far scarcer quantity. Across three sessions their batters dominated the English bowling, dispelling any doubts about their incentive since securing the Ashes and raising a few more concerning their defeated rivals.
Faces flush from the ordeal, Ben Stokes and his team trudged off at stumps exhausted and overwhelmed. Steve Smith’s century number thirty-seven, 129 not out from 205 balls, had succeeded the second half of Travis Head’s blistering 163 from 166, and with it Australia had attained 518 for seven from 124 overs. The lead sat at 134 runs overnight and looked an daunting one.
A Cricketing Icon's Opinion
The famed 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 careless, 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 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 reduces the chances of winning an important Test. I'd like to see them rein themselves in.
A Harsh Welcome
Shortly after the start of a somewhat cloudy 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 full and wide and hammered through cover by Travis Head. His second ball was both short outside off stump and hacked over gully by Travis Head. His third ball was short and straight and driven past midwicket by Travis Head. His fourth ball was blocked with a show of studious defense, to jeering shouts from a crowd that had begun to get involved. 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 mastery, when “best since Bradman” was used with confidence. 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 lasting two decades. Lots of players hit their peak for a time, no other has stayed as long.
The blend of those phases, though, propelled him into a exceptional position on the third day. In the record books of the game there are landmarks, then there are peaks. For a long time in Smith's Ashes-centric 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 scale. Jack Hobbs's 3,636 runs against Australia is the one he surpassed on Tuesday.
Preamble: A Forgone Conclusion
The current Ashes battle, perhaps the most underwhelming 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 maturity, composure, skill, talent and Travis Head. His audacious 123 at Perth hurt England that have yet to recover; 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 start again on 129 after making a century that looked certain even before he faced his first ball.
Australia, despite a number of weaknesses in their team, have won the series with an ease 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 wanted a greater challenge.
The concluding chapter 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 broken. It's nearly time for everyone to go home.
