Play gets underway early once more, with a two-and-a-half-hour morning session to recover some of the overs lost on the first day. The cricketers are making final preparations to begin play.
A Sea of Pink and a Display of Dominance
They do things well in Australia. The opening day of this final Test featured a moving homage to the those affected and the emergency services of the Bondi incident, and on the third day the Sydney Cricket Ground was turned into a sea of pink to once again generate donations for the McGrath Foundation.
Out in the middle, however, Australian generosity was in far more limited availability. Across three sessions their batters dominated the English bowling, dispelling any doubts about their motivation since securing the Ashes and raising a few more regarding their vanquished foes.
Faces flush from the ordeal, Ben Stokes and his team walked off at stumps seeing pink elephants. Steve Smith’s century number thirty-seven, 129 not out from 205 balls, had come after the latter part of Travis Head’s explosive 163 from 166, and with it Australia had achieved 518 for seven from 124 overs. The lead was 134 runs overnight and looked an ominous one.
A Cricketing Icon's Opinion
The famed Neil Harvey, 97, shared his thoughts in a charming interview.
I've been let down by England. I think the way they approach 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 enjoyment out of it, but when you try to play this Bazball style it reduces the chances of winning an important Test. I'd like to see them show more restraint.
A Tough Introduction
Forty-five minutes into 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 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 back of a length and pulled past midwicket by Travis Head. His fourth ball was defended with a show of concentrated care, to loud, mocking cheers 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.
Scaling the Ashes Mountain
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 description is that even when the recipient has excelled for years, it gets applied 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 remained there.
The combination of those phases, though, elevated him to a uncommon position on the third day. In the statistics 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 slowly approaching 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: A Forgone Conclusion
The latest Ashes series, arguably the most underwhelming series in the 144 years since Fred Spofforth caused havoc at The Oval, is limping towards a fitting conclusion. Australia are on course to overwhelm England at Sydney and win the series 4-1, a scoreline not even the most one-eyed Pom could contest.
It's been a success of maturity, maturity, skill, talent and Travis Head. His audacious 123 at Perth hurt England 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 resume on 129 after making a century that looked inevitable 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 comprehend. Maybe that's an Pommy outlook. 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 conducted either this evening or tomorrow. There's a chance of a one-sided finish when England bat, just as there was in the concluding effort of 2013-14 and 2021-22. Their bodies are exhausted, their confidence shot, their spirit dented. It's nearly time for everyone to go home.
