The action begins ahead of schedule again, with a two-and-a-half-hour morning session to make up some of the time lost on the first day. The athletes are getting ready to step onto the ground.
Charity and Command on Display
Events are handled superbly in Australia. 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 wave of pink to once again raise funds for the McGrath Foundation.
On the field of play, though, Australian benevolence was in far shorter supply. Across three sessions their batters ground England’s bowlers into the dust, dispelling any doubts about their motivation since securing the Ashes and raising a few more about their vanquished foes.
Visibly weary from the effort, 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 succeeded the concluding stages of Travis Head’s sizzling 163 from 166, and with it Australia had attained 518 for seven from 124 overs. The lead stood at 134 runs overnight and looked an ominous one.
A Cricketing Icon's Opinion
The famed Neil Harvey, 97, gave his views in a charming interview.
I've been unimpressed with England. I think the way they handle 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 at a fair pace, and everyone gets a lot of enjoyment out of it, but when you try to play this Bazball style it takes the odds away from winning an important Test. I'd like to see them show more restraint.
A Baptism of Fire
Shortly after the start of 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 change-ups.
His first ball was full and wide and hammered through cover by Travis Head. His second ball was both short and wide and slashed over gully by Travis Head. His third ball was back of a length and driven past midwicket by Travis Head. His fourth ball was negotiated with a show of furrowed caution, to raucous, sarcastic applause 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.
A Historic Achievement
There was a time, while Steve Smith was at the pinnacle of his batting skill, when “best since Bradman” was used with certainty. The thing about that phrase is that even when the recipient has excelled for years, it gets applied 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 remained there.
The combination of those phases, though, elevated him to a uncommon position on the third day. In the annals of the game there are milestones, then there are peaks. For a long time in Smith's Ashes-centric 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 ascended on Tuesday.
Preamble: A One-Sided Conclusion
The 2025-26 Ashes, arguably the most anticlimactic series in the 144 years since Fred Spofforth raised hell at The Oval, is heading for a appropriate end. Australia are on course to overwhelm England at Sydney and win the series 4-1, a margin not even the most partisan Pom could contest.
It's been a success of know-how, discipline, discipline, talent and Travis Head. His audacious 123 at Perth hurt England that have yet to mend; four Tests later he is merrily adding to their woes. Head's deceptively pitiless 163 helped Australia to 518 for 7 at the end of day three, a lead of 134. Steve Smith will resume on 129 after making a century that looked certain even before he faced his first ball.
Australia, despite a number of flaws in their team, have won the series with an ease that is hard to understand. Maybe that's an English perspective. It's not Australia's fault that England did not show 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 last knock of 2013-14 and 2021-22. Their bodies are weary, their confidence broken, their spirit dented. It's nearly time for everyone to go home.
