Play gets underway early once more, featuring an extended morning session of two and a half hours to make up some of the overs lost on the first day. The players are making final preparations to step onto the ground.
A Sea of Pink and a Display of Dominance
Events are handled superbly in Australia. The opening day of this final Test featured a moving homage to the sufferers and heroes of the Bondi tragedy, and on the third day the Sydney Cricket Ground was turned into a ocean of pink to once again raise funds for the McGrath Foundation.
Out in the middle, however, Australian benevolence was in far more limited availability. Across three sessions their batters ground England’s bowlers into the dust, addressing any queries about their incentive since securing the Ashes and throwing up a few more regarding their beaten opponents.
Faces flush from the ordeal, Ben Stokes and his team trudged off at stumps battle-weary. Steve Smith’s 37th hundred in Tests, 129 not out from 205 balls, had followed the concluding stages of Travis Head’s explosive 163 from 166, and with it Australia had reached 518 for seven from 124 overs. The lead stood at 134 runs overnight and looked an daunting one.
Veteran's Viewpoint
The renowned Neil Harvey, 97, offered his perspective in a engaging interview.
I've been disappointed in England. I think the way they handle the batting side of things, they get too reckless, nobody seems to want to build an 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 whole new challenge. I used to score runs relatively quickly, and everyone gets a lot of enjoyment out of it, but when you try to play this aggressive approach it reduces the chances of winning an important Test. I'd like to see them show more restraint.
A Harsh Welcome
Shortly after the start of 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 variations.
His first ball was full and wide and smashed through cover by Travis Head. His second ball was both back of a length and outside off and hacked over gully by Travis Head. His third ball was short and straight and smashed past midwicket by Travis Head. His fourth ball was defended with a show of studious defense, to raucous, sarcastic applause 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 pinnacle of his batting mastery, when “best since Bradman” was used with assurance. The thing about that line 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 attain greatness for a time, no other has maintained that level.
The combination of those phases, though, elevated him to a rare position on the third day. In the statistics of the game there are landmarks, then there are mountaintops. For a long time in Smith's Ashes-heavy 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 climb. Jack Hobbs's 3,636 runs against Australia is the one he overtook on Tuesday.
Preamble: An Anticlimactic Finale
The latest Ashes series, arguably the most underwhelming series in the 144 years since Fred Spofforth made history at The Oval, is staggering to a suitable finale. Australia are poised to defeat comprehensively England at Sydney and win the series 4-1, a result not even the most partisan Pom could dispute.
It's been a triumph of know-how, composure, discipline, skill and Travis Head. His audacious 123 at Perth exposed English frailties that have yet to heal; 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 start again 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 were not competitive – even if, on some level, they probably desired a greater challenge.
The last rites will be delivered 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.
