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 getting ready to step onto the ground.
Charity and Command on Display
They do things well in Australia. The opening day of this final Test featured a moving homage to the victims and first responders of the Bondi tragedy, and on the third day the Sydney Cricket Ground was transformed into a ocean of pink to once again collect money for the McGrath Foundation.
Between the wickets, however, Australian generosity was in far more limited availability. Across three sessions their batsmen dominated the English bowling, addressing any queries about their drive since securing the Ashes and posing a few more about their beaten opponents.
Looking drained after the toil, Ben Stokes and his team departed at stumps seeing pink elephants. Steve Smith’s century number thirty-seven, 129 not out from 205 balls, had followed the second half of Travis Head’s sizzling 163 from 166, and with it Australia had achieved 518 for seven from 124 overs. The lead stood at 134 runs overnight and looked an daunting one.
A Cricketing Icon's Opinion
The famed Neil Harvey, 97, shared his thoughts in a delightful interview.
I've been let down by England. I think the way they tackle 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 lesser sides but when you get a class side like Australia it's a whole new challenge. 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 pull their hooves in.
A Tough Introduction
Forty-five minutes into a gloomy morning at the Sydney Cricket Ground, Matt Potts entered the England attack from the Randwick End, and immediately began utilizing his variations.
His first ball was full and wide 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 on a good length and driven past midwicket by Travis Head. His fourth ball was blocked with a show of furrowed caution, to jeering shouts from a crowd that had begun to tuck into the day. A grueling introduction, 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 prowess, when “best since Bradman” was used with confidence. The thing about that line is that even when the recipient has dominated for years, it gets applied too quickly, given the point of comparison is a career spanning twenty years. Lots of players attain greatness for a time, no other has stayed as long.
The combination of those phases, though, propelled him into a exceptional 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 drawing gradually closer in the mist. Donald Bradman's 5,028 runs against England is one that even Smith will never scale. Jack Hobbs's 3,636 runs against Australia is the one he surpassed on Tuesday.
Preamble: A Forgone Conclusion
The current Ashes battle, perhaps the most anticlimactic series in the 144 years since Fred Spofforth made history at The Oval, is staggering to a suitable finale. Australia are set to crush England at Sydney and win the series 4-1, a margin not even the most partisan Pom could argue with.
It's been a triumph of maturity, composure, application, ability and Travis Head. His daring 123 at Perth hurt England that have yet to recover; 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 flaws in their team, have won the series with an comfort that is hard to fathom. 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 desired a greater challenge.
The last rites will be delivered 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 tired, their confidence broken, their spirit dented. It's nearly time for everyone to go home.
