The action begins ahead of schedule again, featuring an extended morning session of two and a half hours to compensate for some of the overs lost on the first day. The athletes are preparing to begin play.
Pink Tributes and Batting Might
Australia knows how to host an event. This fifth Test commenced with a fitting tribute 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 generate donations for the McGrath Foundation.
On the field of play, though, Australian charity was in far scarcer quantity. Across three sessions their batmen ground England’s bowlers into the dust, dispelling any doubts about their motivation since securing the Ashes and throwing up a few more about their vanquished foes.
Visibly weary from the effort, 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 come after the second half of Travis Head’s sizzling 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 ominous one.
Legendary Critique
The famed Neil Harvey, 97, offered his perspective 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 ordinary teams but when you get a quality outfit like Australia it's a whole new challenge. I used to score runs quite rapidly, and everyone gets a lot of satisfaction 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 Baptism of Fire
Shortly after the start of a gloomy morning at the Sydney Cricket Ground, Matt Potts was introduced into the England attack from the Randwick End, and immediately began utilizing his different deliveries.
His first ball was full and wide and smashed through cover by Travis Head. His second ball was both short outside off stump and slashed over gully by Travis Head. His third ball was back of a length and smashed past midwicket by Travis Head. His fourth ball was negotiated with a show of studious defense, to raucous, sarcastic applause from a crowd that had begun to get involved. 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 peak of his batting prowess, when “best since Bradman” was used with assurance. The thing about that phrase is that even when the recipient has reigned supreme for years, it gets granted too quickly, given the point of comparison is a career lasting two decades. Lots of players hit their peak for a time, no other has remained there.
The blend of those phases, though, propelled him into a rare position on the third day. In the statistics of the game there are achievements, then there are mountaintops. For a long time in Smith's Ashes-heavy 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 surpassed on Tuesday.
Preamble: A One-Sided Conclusion
The 2025-26 Ashes, perhaps the most anticlimactic series in the 144 years since Fred Spofforth made history at The Oval, is limping towards a suitable finale. Australia are poised to defeat comprehensively England at Sydney and win the series 4-1, a margin not even the most one-eyed Pom could contest.
It's been a triumph of know-how, discipline, skill, skill and Travis Head. His daring 123 at Perth hurt England that have yet to mend; 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 continue on 129 after making a century that looked unavoidable 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 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 conducted either this evening or tomorrow. There's a chance of a total collapse when England bat, just as there was in the concluding effort 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.
