The action begins ahead of schedule again, as a lengthy two-and-a-half-hour morning stint to compensate for some of the time lost on the first day. The athletes are making final preparations to take the field.
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 incident, and on the third day the Sydney Cricket Ground was turned into a wave of pink to once again generate donations for the McGrath Foundation.
On the field of play, though, Australian benevolence was in far more limited availability. Across three sessions their batters ground England’s bowlers into the dust, dispelling any doubts about their motivation since securing the Ashes and throwing up a few more regarding their defeated rivals.
Visibly weary from the effort, 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 succeeded the latter part 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 threatening one.
A Cricketing Icon's Opinion
The legendary Neil Harvey, 97, offered his perspective in a delightful interview.
I've been let down by England. I think the way they handle 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 average opponents but when you get a class side like Australia it's a different ballgame. I used to score runs relatively quickly, and everyone gets a lot of pleasure out of it, but when you try to play this Bazball thing it takes the odds away from winning an important Test. I'd like to see them rein themselves in.
A Harsh Welcome
Shortly after the start of a quietly overcast morning at the Sydney Cricket Ground, Matt Potts entered the England attack from the Randwick End, and immediately began running through his variations.
His first ball was wide and clobbered through cover by Travis Head. His second ball was both short outside off stump 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 concentrated care, to jeering shouts 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.
A Historic Achievement
There was a time, while Steve Smith was at the pinnacle of his batting skill, when “best since Bradman” was used with confidence. The thing about that phrase is that even when the recipient has dominated for years, it gets bestowed too quickly, given the point of comparison is a career spanning twenty years. Lots of players reach the top for a time, no other has maintained that level.
The blend of those phases, though, took him to a exceptional position on the third day. In the record books of the game there are achievements, then there are peaks. 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 surpassed on Tuesday.
Preamble: A One-Sided Conclusion
The latest Ashes series, possibly the most disappointing series in the 144 years since Fred Spofforth made history at The Oval, is limping towards a appropriate end. 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 dispute.
It's been a success of experience, composure, skill, skill and Travis Head. His bold 123 at Perth hurt England that have yet to heal; four Tests later he is happily compounding their misery. Head's seemingly relentless 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 weaknesses in their team, have won the series with an comfort 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 craved a greater challenge.
The final act 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 exhausted, their confidence broken, their spirit broken. It's nearly time for everyone to go home.
