Play gets underway early once more, featuring an extended morning session of two and a half hours to compensate for some of the time lost on the first day. The players are getting ready to step onto the ground.
Charity and Command on Display
Events are handled superbly in Australia. On the first day of this fifth Test came a fitting tribute to the sufferers and heroes 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.
On the field of play, though, Australian generosity was in far scarcer quantity. Across three sessions their batters dominated the English bowling, answering any questions about their incentive since securing the Ashes and posing a few more about their defeated rivals.
Looking drained after the toil, Ben Stokes and his team walked off at stumps seeing pink elephants. Steve Smith’s 37th Test century, 129 not out from 205 balls, had come after 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 was 134 runs overnight and looked an ominous one.
Veteran's Viewpoint
The legendary Neil Harvey, 97, gave his views in a delightful interview.
I've been disappointed in England. I think the way they approach the batting side of things, they get too careless, nobody seems to want to play a long innings, 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 enjoyment out of it, but when you try to play this Bazball thing it reduces the chances of winning an important Test. I'd like to see them show more restraint.
A Baptism of Fire
Forty-five minutes into 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 variations.
His first ball was wide and hammered through cover by Travis Head. His second ball was both short and wide 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 raucous, sarcastic applause from a crowd that had begun to tuck into the day. Welcome to the treadmill, Pottsy. And yes, it's always like this around here.
A Historic Achievement
There was a time, while Steve Smith was at the height of his batting skill, when “best since Bradman” was used with confidence. The thing about that line is that even when the recipient has excelled for years, it gets granted too quickly, given the point of comparison is a career lasting two decades. Lots of players attain greatness for a time, no other has maintained that level.
The combination of those phases, though, propelled him into a exceptional position on the third day. In the record books of the game there are landmarks, then there are peaks. For a long time in Smith's Ashes-heavy 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 scale. Jack Hobbs's 3,636 runs against Australia is the one he surpassed on Tuesday.
Preamble: A One-Sided Conclusion
The latest Ashes series, arguably the most disappointing series in the 144 years since Fred Spofforth caused havoc at The Oval, is limping towards a suitable finale. Australia are set to defeat comprehensively England at Sydney and win the series 4-1, a result not even the most one-eyed Pom could dispute.
It's been a victory of experience, discipline, application, skill and Travis Head. His audacious 123 at Perth exposed English frailties that have yet to recover; 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 start again on 129 after making a century that looked unavoidable even before he faced his first ball.
Australia, despite a number of flaws in their team, have won the series with an simplicity that is hard to fathom. Maybe that's an Anglocentric view. It's not Australia's fault that England did not show up – even if, on some level, they probably wanted a greater challenge.
The final act 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 last knock of 2013-14 and 2021-22. Their bodies are exhausted, their confidence shattered, their spirit crushed. It's nearly time for everyone to go home.
