It’s another early start today, with a two-and-a-half-hour morning session to recover some of the play washed out on the first day. The athletes are preparing to begin play.
A Sea of Pink and a Display of Dominance
They do things well in Australia. This fifth Test commenced with a fitting tribute to the victims and first responders of the Bondi atrocity, and on the third day the Sydney Cricket Ground was transformed into a wave of pink to once again collect money for the McGrath Foundation.
On the field of play, though, Australian generosity was in far more limited availability. Across three sessions their batsmen wore down the English attack, dispelling any doubts about their incentive since securing the Ashes and raising a few more about their defeated rivals.
Faces flush from the ordeal, Ben Stokes and his team departed at stumps exhausted and overwhelmed. Steve Smith’s 37th Test century, 129 not out from 205 balls, had succeeded the second half of Travis Head’s explosive 163 from 166, and with it Australia had achieved 518 for seven from 124 overs. The lead was 134 runs overnight and looked an daunting one.
A Cricketing Icon's Opinion
The famed Neil Harvey, 97, gave his views 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 play a long innings, 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 quite rapidly, and everyone gets a lot of enjoyment out of it, but when you try to play this Bazball style it takes the odds away from winning an important Test. I'd like to see them rein themselves in.
A Baptism of Fire
Forty-five minutes into a gloomy morning at the Sydney Cricket Ground, Matt Potts came into the England attack from the Randwick End, and immediately began running through his change-ups.
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 back of a length and pulled past midwicket by Travis Head. His fourth ball was defended with a show of concentrated care, to loud, mocking cheers from a crowd that had begun to tuck into the day. 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 peak of his batting skill, when “best since Bradman” was used with assurance. The thing about that line 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 stayed as long.
The amalgamation of those phases, though, propelled him into a uncommon position on the third day. In the statistics of the game there are achievements, then there are summits. 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 surpassed on Tuesday.
Preamble: A Forgone Conclusion
The latest Ashes series, perhaps the most anticlimactic series in the 144 years since Fred Spofforth raised hell at The Oval, is staggering to a fitting conclusion. Australia are poised to overwhelm England at Sydney and win the series 4-1, a result not even the most partisan Pom could dispute.
It's been a triumph of know-how, composure, discipline, skill and Travis Head. His daring 123 at Perth exposed English frailties that have yet to heal; four Tests later he is cheerily grinding salt into them. Head's deceptively pitiless 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 comfort that is hard to comprehend. Maybe that's an Anglocentric view. 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 delivered 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 weary, their confidence shot, their spirit crushed. It's nearly time for everyone to go home.
