Play gets underway early once more, with a two-and-a-half-hour morning session to make up some of the play washed out on the first day. The players are preparing to begin play.
Pink Tributes and Batting Might
Australia knows how to host an event. This fifth Test commenced with a fitting tribute to the victims and first responders of the Bondi incident, and on the third day the Sydney Cricket Ground was transformed into a sea of pink to once again raise funds for the McGrath Foundation.
Between the wickets, however, Australian charity was in far more limited availability. Across three sessions their batters wore down the English attack, answering any questions about their drive since securing the Ashes and posing a few more about their vanquished foes.
Visibly weary from the effort, Ben Stokes and his team walked off at stumps seeing pink elephants. Steve Smith’s 37th Test century, 129 not out from 205 balls, had come after the latter part of Travis Head’s blistering 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 threatening one.
Legendary Critique
The famed Neil Harvey, 97, shared his thoughts in a delightful 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 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 completely different proposition. I used to score runs at a fair pace, and everyone gets a lot of satisfaction 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 show more restraint.
A Baptism of Fire
Shortly after the start of a somewhat cloudy morning at the Sydney Cricket Ground, Matt Potts was introduced into 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 hacked over gully by Travis Head. His third ball was back of a length and pulled 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 get involved. A tough initiation, Pottsy. And yes, it's always like this around here.
A Historic Achievement
There was a time, while Steve Smith was at the peak of his batting mastery, when “best since Bradman” was used with certainty. The thing about that line is that even when the recipient has dominated for years, it gets granted too quickly, given the point of comparison is a career lasting two decades. Lots of players attain greatness for a time, no other has stayed as long.
The combination of those phases, though, elevated him to a exceptional position on the third day. In the record books of the game there are achievements, then there are summits. 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 One-Sided Conclusion
The latest Ashes series, perhaps the most anticlimactic series in the 144 years since Fred Spofforth made history at The Oval, is staggering to a fitting conclusion. Australia are poised to defeat comprehensively England at Sydney and win the series 4-1, a margin not even the most biased Pom could dispute.
It's been a triumph of maturity, discipline, discipline, skill and Travis Head. His daring 123 at Perth hurt England that have yet to heal; four Tests later he is happily compounding their misery. Head's surprisingly ruthless 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 flaws in their team, have won the series with an ease that is hard to fathom. Maybe that's an Pommy outlook. It's not Australia's fault that England did not show up – even if, on some level, they probably desired a greater challenge.
The concluding chapter will be administered either this evening or tomorrow. There's a chance of a complete blowout when England bat, just as there was in the concluding effort 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.
