The action begins ahead of schedule again, as a lengthy two-and-a-half-hour morning stint to make up some of the overs lost on the first day. The cricketers are getting ready to step onto the ground.
Pink Tributes and Batting Might
They do things well in Australia. This fifth Test commenced with a moving homage to the those affected and the emergency services of the Bondi incident, and on the third day the Sydney Cricket Ground was turned into a sea of pink to once again generate donations for the McGrath Foundation.
Between the wickets, however, Australian charity was in far more limited availability. Across three sessions their batters dominated the English bowling, answering any questions about their motivation since securing the Ashes and raising a few more regarding their defeated rivals.
Looking drained after the toil, Ben Stokes and his team departed at stumps seeing pink elephants. Steve Smith’s 37th hundred in Tests, 129 not out from 205 balls, had come after 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 daunting one.
Legendary Critique
The famed Neil Harvey, 97, offered his perspective in a delightful interview.
I've been let down by England. I think the way they tackle the batting side of things, they get too impetuous, nobody seems to want to build an 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 different ballgame. I used to score runs quite rapidly, and everyone gets a lot of enjoyment out of it, but when you try to play this Bazball thing it takes the odds away from winning an important Test. I'd like to see them show more restraint.
A Tough Introduction
Almost an hour 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 running through his change-ups.
His first ball was wide and hammered 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 furrowed caution, to loud, mocking cheers from a crowd that had begun to settle in for the day's play. Welcome to the treadmill, 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 assurance. The thing about that line is that even when the recipient has dominated for years, it gets bestowed too quickly, given the point of comparison is a career enduring for 20 years. Lots of players attain greatness for a time, no other has maintained that level.
The blend of those phases, though, took him to a rare position on the third day. In the record books 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 looming ever nearer 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 surpassed on Tuesday.
Preamble: An Anticlimactic Finale
The 2025-26 Ashes, possibly the most anticlimactic series in the 144 years since Fred Spofforth made history at The Oval, is limping towards a appropriate end. Australia are poised to crush 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 experience, composure, skill, ability and Travis Head. His audacious 123 at Perth hurt England that have yet to heal; four Tests later he is happily compounding their misery. 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 faultlines in their team, have won the series with an comfort that is hard to comprehend. Maybe that's an Anglocentric view. It's not Australia's fault that England failed to turn up – even if, on some level, they probably desired a greater challenge.
The concluding chapter will be conducted either this evening or tomorrow. There's a chance of a complete blowout 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 crushed. It's nearly time for everyone to go home.
