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 athletes are making final preparations to step onto the ground.
Charity and Command on Display
They do things well in Australia. On the first day of this fifth Test came a moving homage to the sufferers and heroes of the Bondi incident, and on the third day the Sydney Cricket Ground was transformed into a sea 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 batmen wore down the English attack, answering any questions about their incentive since securing the Ashes and posing a few more concerning their defeated rivals.
Looking drained after the toil, Ben Stokes and his team trudged off at stumps seeing pink elephants. Steve Smith’s 37th hundred in Tests, 129 not out from 205 balls, had followed 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 ominous one.
A Cricketing Icon's Opinion
The renowned Neil Harvey, 97, offered his perspective in a delightful interview.
I've been unimpressed with England. I think the way they approach 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 quality outfit like Australia it's a whole new challenge. I used to score runs quite rapidly, and everyone gets a lot of enjoyment out of it, but when you try to play this aggressive approach it lessens the probability of winning an important Test. I'd like to see them pull their hooves in.
A Harsh Welcome
Forty-five minutes into a quietly overcast morning at the Sydney Cricket Ground, Matt Potts came into the England attack from the Randwick End, and immediately began utilizing his different deliveries.
His first ball was sprayed down the leg side and smashed through cover by Travis Head. His second ball was both back of a length and outside off 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 blocked with a show of concentrated care, to loud, mocking cheers from a crowd that had begun to settle in for the day's play. A tough initiation, Pottsy. And yes, it's always like this around here.
Scaling the Ashes Mountain
There was a time, while Steve Smith was at the height of his batting prowess, 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 bestowed 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 remained there.
The amalgamation of those phases, though, took him to 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-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 scale. Jack Hobbs's 3,636 runs against Australia is the one he overtook on Tuesday.
Preamble: A One-Sided Conclusion
The latest Ashes series, perhaps the most disappointing series in the 144 years since Fred Spofforth raised hell at The Oval, is heading for a suitable finale. Australia are set to overwhelm England at Sydney and win the series 4-1, a margin not even the most partisan Pom could argue with.
It's been a victory of experience, composure, application, talent and Travis Head. His audacious 123 at Perth opened English wounds that have yet to recover; four Tests later he is cheerily grinding salt into them. 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 inevitable even before he faced his first ball.
Australia, despite a number of flaws in their team, have won the series with an comfort that is hard to comprehend. Maybe that's an Pommy outlook. It's not Australia's fault that England failed to turn up – even if, on some level, they probably craved a greater challenge.
The final act will be administered either this evening or tomorrow. There's a chance of a total collapse when England bat, just as there was in the concluding effort of 2013-14 and 2021-22. Their bodies are weary, their confidence shattered, their spirit dented. It's nearly time for everyone to go home.
