Play gets underway early once more, with a two-and-a-half-hour morning session to compensate for some of the time lost on the first day. The players are preparing to step onto the ground.
A Sea of Pink and a Display of Dominance
They do things well in Australia. This fifth Test commenced with a moving homage to the sufferers and heroes of the Bondi atrocity, 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.
Between the wickets, however, Australian charity was in far scarcer quantity. Across three sessions their batsmen wore down the English attack, dispelling any doubts about their motivation since securing the Ashes and posing a few more about their beaten opponents.
Faces flush from the ordeal, Ben Stokes and his team departed at stumps exhausted and overwhelmed. Steve Smith’s 37th Test century, 129 not out from 205 balls, had succeeded the second half of Travis Head’s blistering 163 from 166, and with it Australia had reached 518 for seven from 124 overs. The lead was 134 runs overnight and looked an ominous one.
Veteran's Viewpoint
The famed 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 careless, 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 top-tier team like Australia it's a different ballgame. I used to score runs relatively quickly, and everyone gets a lot of satisfaction out of it, but when you try to play this Bazball style it lessens the probability of winning an important Test. I'd like to see them rein themselves in.
A Baptism of Fire
Shortly after the start of a quietly overcast morning at the Sydney Cricket Ground, Matt Potts was introduced into the England attack from the Randwick End, and immediately began utilizing his change-ups.
His first ball was wide and clobbered through cover by Travis Head. His second ball was both short and wide and slashed 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 raucous, sarcastic applause from a crowd that had begun to tuck into the day. 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 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 reach the top for a time, no other has stayed as long.
The combination of those phases, though, elevated him to a uncommon position on the third day. In the statistics of the game there are landmarks, then there are summits. For a long time in Smith's Ashes-focused 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 climb. Jack Hobbs's 3,636 runs against Australia is the one he ascended on Tuesday.
Preamble: An Anticlimactic Finale
The latest Ashes series, perhaps the most disappointing series in the 144 years since Fred Spofforth caused havoc at The Oval, is limping towards a suitable finale. Australia are on course to crush England at Sydney and win the series 4-1, a result not even the most biased Pom could argue with.
It's been a success of experience, discipline, application, skill and Travis Head. His audacious 123 at Perth opened English wounds that have yet to mend; four Tests later he is cheerily grinding salt into them. Head's surprisingly ruthless 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 inevitable even before he faced his first ball.
Australia, despite a number of weaknesses in their team, have won the series with an comfort that is hard to fathom. 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 delivered 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 weary, their confidence shattered, their spirit dented. It's nearly time for everyone to go home.
