It’s another early start today, as a lengthy two-and-a-half-hour morning stint to compensate for some of the time lost on the first day. The players are preparing to take the field.
Pink Tributes and Batting Might
Australia knows how to host an event. This fifth Test commenced with a moving homage to the victims and first responders of the Bondi tragedy, and on the third day the Sydney Cricket Ground was transformed into a ocean of pink to once again generate donations for the McGrath Foundation.
On the field of play, though, Australian charity was in far shorter supply. Across three sessions their batsmen dominated the English bowling, answering any questions about their incentive since securing the Ashes and throwing up a few more regarding their vanquished foes.
Faces flush from the ordeal, Ben Stokes and his team walked off at stumps exhausted and overwhelmed. Steve Smith’s 37th Test century, 129 not out from 205 balls, had succeeded the concluding stages of Travis Head’s blistering 163 from 166, and with it Australia had reached 518 for seven from 124 overs. The lead sat at 134 runs overnight and looked an ominous one.
Legendary Critique
The famed Neil Harvey, 97, offered his perspective in a charming 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 build an 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 completely different proposition. 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 takes the odds away from winning an important Test. I'd like to see them pull their hooves 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 trying out his variations.
His first ball was sprayed down the leg side and clobbered 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 on a good length and smashed past midwicket by Travis Head. His fourth ball was negotiated with a show of studious defense, to raucous, sarcastic applause from a crowd that had begun to get involved. Welcome to the treadmill, Pottsy. And yes, it's always like this around here.
Joining the Pantheon
There was a time, while Steve Smith was at the height of his batting skill, when “best since Bradman” was used with assurance. 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 spanning twenty years. Lots of players reach the top for a time, no other has stayed as long.
The combination of those phases, though, took him to a exceptional 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-focused 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: An Anticlimactic Finale
The current Ashes battle, possibly the most disappointing series in the 144 years since Fred Spofforth caused havoc at The Oval, is staggering to a suitable finale. Australia are set to crush England at Sydney and win the series 4-1, a margin not even the most biased Pom could contest.
It's been a triumph of know-how, discipline, discipline, skill and Travis Head. His bold 123 at Perth exposed English frailties that have yet to mend; four Tests later he is cheerily grinding salt into them. Head's seemingly relentless 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 faultlines 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 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 exhausted, their confidence broken, their spirit dented. It's nearly time for everyone to go home.
