Play gets underway early once more, as a lengthy two-and-a-half-hour morning stint to compensate for some of the overs lost on the first day. The cricketers are preparing to take the field.
Charity and Command on Display
Australia knows how to host an event. This fifth Test commenced with a appropriate remembrance to the victims and first responders of the Bondi incident, and on the third day the Sydney Cricket Ground was became a sea of pink to once again raise funds for the McGrath Foundation.
Out in the middle, however, Australian generosity was in far shorter supply. Across three sessions their batmen dominated the English bowling, addressing any queries about their incentive since securing the Ashes and throwing up a few more about their vanquished foes.
Visibly weary from the effort, Ben Stokes and his team departed at stumps seeing pink elephants. Steve Smith’s century number thirty-seven, 129 not out from 205 balls, had followed the second half 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.
Legendary Critique
The renowned Neil Harvey, 97, gave his views in a delightful interview.
I've been unimpressed with England. I think the way they handle the batting side of things, they get too impetuous, nobody seems to want to play a long 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 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 rein themselves in.
A Harsh Welcome
Forty-five minutes into a quietly overcast morning at the Sydney Cricket Ground, Matt Potts entered the England attack from the Randwick End, and immediately began running through 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 driven past midwicket by Travis Head. His fourth ball was negotiated with a show of concentrated care, to jeering shouts from a crowd that had begun to get involved. 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 height of his batting skill, when “best since Bradman” was used with assurance. The thing about that line is that even when the recipient has reigned supreme for years, it gets granted too quickly, given the point of comparison is a career spanning twenty years. Lots of players attain greatness for a time, no other has maintained that level.
The amalgamation of those phases, though, took him to a exceptional position on the third day. In the record books of the game there are milestones, 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 scale. Jack Hobbs's 3,636 runs against Australia is the one he ascended 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 limping towards a suitable finale. Australia are poised to defeat comprehensively England at Sydney and win the series 4-1, a margin not even the most biased Pom could argue with.
It's been a triumph of know-how, composure, application, ability and Travis Head. His bold 123 at Perth opened English wounds that have yet to mend; 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 unavoidable 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 understand. Maybe that's an Anglocentric view. It's not Australia's fault that England were not competitive – even if, on some level, they probably craved a greater challenge.
The last rites 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 last knock of 2013-14 and 2021-22. Their bodies are tired, their confidence shot, their spirit crushed. It's nearly time for everyone to go home.
