It’s another early start today, featuring an extended morning session of two and a half hours to compensate for some of the play washed out on the first day. The players are making final preparations to begin play.
A Sea of Pink and a Display of Dominance
Events are handled superbly in Australia. On the first day of this fifth Test came a appropriate remembrance to the victims and first responders of the Bondi atrocity, and on the third day the Sydney Cricket Ground was turned into a ocean of pink to once again raise funds for the McGrath Foundation.
On the field of play, though, Australian charity was in far more limited availability. Across three sessions their batmen ground England’s bowlers into the dust, dispelling any doubts about their motivation since securing the Ashes and posing a few more regarding their vanquished foes.
Visibly weary from the effort, 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 followed the concluding stages 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.
A Cricketing Icon's Opinion
The legendary Neil Harvey, 97, offered his perspective in a delightful 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 play a long innings, like a Cowdrey or a Boycott.
It might work against lesser sides but when you get a class side like Australia it's a different ballgame. I used to score runs relatively quickly, 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 pull their hooves in.
A Tough Introduction
Forty-five minutes into 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 variations.
His first ball was full and wide and hammered through cover by Travis Head. His second ball was both short outside off stump and slashed over gully by Travis Head. His third ball was short and straight and driven past midwicket by Travis Head. His fourth ball was negotiated with a show of furrowed caution, to raucous, sarcastic applause from a crowd that had begun to tuck into the day. Welcome to the treadmill, Pottsy. And yes, it's always like this around here.
A Historic Achievement
There was a time, while Steve Smith was at the height of his batting prowess, when “best since Bradman” was used with certainty. The thing about that line is that even when the recipient has reigned supreme for years, it gets granted too quickly, given the point of comparison is a career enduring for 20 years. Lots of players reach the top for a time, no other has maintained that level.
The amalgamation of those phases, though, propelled him into a uncommon position on the third day. In the annals of the game there are milestones, then there are summits. For a long time in Smith's Ashes-focused 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 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 anticlimactic series in the 144 years since Fred Spofforth made history at The Oval, is limping towards a fitting conclusion. Australia are on course to crush England at Sydney and win the series 4-1, a margin not even the most one-eyed Pom could argue with.
It's been a success of maturity, maturity, application, skill 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 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 certain 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 English perspective. It's not Australia's fault that England failed to turn 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 final innings of 2013-14 and 2021-22. Their bodies are tired, their confidence broken, their spirit broken. It's nearly time for everyone to go home.
