It’s another early start today, featuring an extended morning session of two and a half hours to recover some of the play washed out on the first day. The players are making final preparations to begin play.
Pink Tributes and Batting Might
Australia knows how to host an event. The opening day of this final Test featured a fitting tribute to the victims and first responders of the Bondi tragedy, and on the third day the Sydney Cricket Ground was became a sea of pink to once again collect money for the McGrath Foundation.
On the field of play, though, Australian charity was in far shorter supply. Across three sessions their batters wore down the English attack, dispelling any doubts about their incentive since securing the Ashes and posing a few more concerning their beaten opponents.
Faces flush from the ordeal, Ben Stokes and his team walked off at stumps battle-weary. Steve Smith’s 37th hundred in Tests, 129 not out from 205 balls, had followed the latter part of Travis Head’s explosive 163 from 166, and with it Australia had reached 518 for seven from 124 overs. The lead was 134 runs overnight and looked an threatening one.
Legendary Critique
The legendary Neil Harvey, 97, gave his views in a engaging interview.
I've been unimpressed with 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 lesser sides but when you get a quality outfit like Australia it's a whole new challenge. I used to score runs relatively quickly, and everyone gets a lot of satisfaction out of it, but when you try to play this aggressive approach it lessens the probability of winning an important Test. I'd like to see them rein themselves in.
A Baptism of Fire
Almost an hour into a somewhat cloudy 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 smashed through cover by Travis Head. His second ball was both back of a length and outside off 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 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 peak 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 bestowed too quickly, given the point of comparison is a career enduring for 20 years. Lots of players hit their peak for a time, no other has stayed as long.
The blend of those phases, though, propelled him into a uncommon 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-centric 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 surpassed on Tuesday.
Preamble: A Forgone Conclusion
The current Ashes battle, possibly the most disappointing series in the 144 years since Fred Spofforth raised hell at The Oval, is limping towards a appropriate end. Australia are poised to defeat comprehensively England at Sydney and win the series 4-1, a scoreline not even the most partisan Pom could dispute.
It's been a victory of experience, composure, skill, talent and Travis Head. His audacious 123 at Perth exposed English frailties that have yet to recover; four Tests later he is merrily adding to their woes. Head's surprisingly ruthless 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 weaknesses in their team, have won the series with an ease that is hard to understand. Maybe that's an English perspective. It's not Australia's fault that England failed to turn up – even if, on some level, they probably wanted a greater challenge.
The concluding chapter will be administered 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 shot, their spirit dented. It's nearly time for everyone to go home.
