It’s another early start today, with a two-and-a-half-hour morning session to recover some of the overs lost on the first day. The athletes are getting ready to begin play.
Pink Tributes and Batting Might
They do things well in Australia. The opening day of this final Test featured a fitting tribute to the sufferers and heroes of the Bondi tragedy, 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.
Out in the middle, however, Australian generosity was in far more limited availability. Across three sessions their batmen dominated the English bowling, answering any questions about their incentive since securing the Ashes and raising a few more regarding their vanquished foes.
Faces flush from the ordeal, Ben Stokes and his team trudged off at stumps seeing pink elephants. Steve Smith’s century number thirty-seven, 129 not out from 205 balls, had followed the second half of Travis Head’s explosive 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 ominous one.
Legendary Critique
The legendary Neil Harvey, 97, gave his views in a engaging interview.
I've been let down by England. I think the way they approach 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 quality outfit like Australia it's a whole new challenge. I used to score runs quite rapidly, and everyone gets a lot of pleasure out of it, but when you try to play this aggressive approach 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 entered the England attack from the Randwick End, and immediately began utilizing his variations.
His first ball was sprayed down the leg side and hammered through cover by Travis Head. His second ball was both short outside off stump and cut over gully by Travis Head. His third ball was short and straight and smashed past midwicket by Travis Head. His fourth ball was negotiated with a show of concentrated care, 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.
Scaling the Ashes Mountain
There was a time, while Steve Smith was at the peak of his batting prowess, when “best since Bradman” was used with confidence. The thing about that phrase is that even when the recipient has reigned supreme for years, it gets bestowed too quickly, given the point of comparison is a career enduring for 20 years. Lots of players hit their peak for a time, no other has maintained that level.
The amalgamation of those phases, though, propelled him into a rare position on the third day. In the statistics of the game there are milestones, then there are mountaintops. For a long time in Smith's Ashes-centric career there have been two peaks slowly approaching 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 2025-26 Ashes, arguably the most underwhelming series in the 144 years since Fred Spofforth caused havoc at The Oval, is limping towards a appropriate end. Australia are poised to overwhelm England at Sydney and win the series 4-1, a scoreline not even the most biased Pom could argue with.
It's been a success of know-how, discipline, skill, skill and Travis Head. His daring 123 at Perth opened English wounds that have yet to mend; four Tests later he is merrily adding to their woes. Head's surprisingly ruthless 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 faultlines in their team, have won the series with an simplicity 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 wanted a greater challenge.
The last rites will be conducted 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 exhausted, their confidence broken, their spirit broken. It's nearly time for everyone to go home.
