Play gets underway early once more, as a lengthy two-and-a-half-hour morning stint to recover some of the time lost on the first day. The cricketers are making final preparations to begin play.
Pink Tributes and Batting Might
Australia knows how to host an event. The opening day of this final Test featured a moving homage to the victims and first responders of the Bondi atrocity, and on the third day the Sydney Cricket Ground was became a ocean of pink to once again raise funds for the McGrath Foundation.
Out in the middle, however, Australian charity was in far shorter supply. Across three sessions their batters dominated the English bowling, answering any questions about their incentive since securing the Ashes and throwing up a few more concerning their defeated rivals.
Looking drained after the toil, Ben Stokes and his team departed at stumps exhausted and overwhelmed. Steve Smith’s 37th Test century, 129 not out from 205 balls, had come after the second half of Travis Head’s explosive 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 daunting one.
A Cricketing Icon's Opinion
The renowned Neil Harvey, 97, offered his perspective in a charming interview.
I've been disappointed in England. I think the way they handle the batting side of things, they get too careless, nobody seems to want to construct a knock, like a Cowdrey or a Boycott.
It might work against ordinary teams 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 Bazball style it lessens the probability of winning an important Test. I'd like to see them pull their hooves in.
A Baptism of Fire
Almost an hour into a quietly overcast morning at the Sydney Cricket Ground, Matt Potts came into the England attack from the Randwick End, and immediately began trying out his different deliveries.
His first ball was wide 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 on a good length and pulled past midwicket by Travis Head. His fourth ball was defended with a show of concentrated care, to jeering shouts 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 mastery, when “best since Bradman” was used with certainty. The thing about that line is that even when the recipient has dominated for years, it gets applied 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 remained there.
The combination of those phases, though, propelled him into a uncommon position on the third day. In the statistics of the game there are landmarks, then there are summits. For a long time in Smith's Ashes-centric career there have been two peaks looming ever nearer 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 overtook on Tuesday.
Preamble: An Anticlimactic Finale
The current Ashes battle, perhaps the most disappointing series in the 144 years since Fred Spofforth raised hell at The Oval, is heading for a fitting conclusion. Australia are set to crush England at Sydney and win the series 4-1, a scoreline not even the most biased Pom could contest.
It's been a victory of maturity, maturity, skill, skill and Travis Head. His daring 123 at Perth opened English wounds that have yet to recover; four Tests later he is happily compounding their misery. 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 certain even before he faced his first ball.
Australia, despite a number of weaknesses in their team, have won the series with an simplicity that is hard to understand. 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 craved 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 final innings of 2013-14 and 2021-22. Their bodies are weary, their confidence shot, their spirit broken. It's nearly time for everyone to go home.
