The action begins ahead of schedule again, with a two-and-a-half-hour morning session to recover some of the time lost on the first day. The players are getting ready to step onto the ground.
Pink Tributes and Batting Might
They do things well in Australia. This fifth Test commenced with a fitting tribute to the sufferers and heroes of the Bondi atrocity, and on the third day the Sydney Cricket Ground was became a ocean of pink to once again raise funds for the McGrath Foundation.
Between the wickets, however, Australian benevolence was in far shorter supply. Across three sessions their batters ground England’s bowlers into the dust, addressing any queries about their motivation since securing the Ashes and raising a few more about their defeated rivals.
Visibly weary from the effort, Ben Stokes and his team departed at stumps seeing pink elephants. Steve Smith’s 37th Test century, 129 not out from 205 balls, had come after 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 stood at 134 runs overnight and looked an daunting one.
Veteran's Viewpoint
The famed Neil Harvey, 97, shared his thoughts in a charming 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 quality outfit like Australia it's a different ballgame. 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 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 gloomy morning at the Sydney Cricket Ground, Matt Potts was introduced into the England attack from the Randwick End, and immediately began running through his change-ups.
His first ball was full and wide and hammered 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 on a good length and smashed past midwicket by Travis Head. His fourth ball was blocked with a show of concentrated care, to raucous, sarcastic applause from a crowd that had begun to get involved. 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 height of his batting mastery, when “best since Bradman” was used with assurance. The thing about that line 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 hit their peak for a time, no other has stayed as long.
The amalgamation of those phases, though, elevated him to a rare position on the third day. In the statistics of the game there are milestones, 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 scale. Jack Hobbs's 3,636 runs against Australia is the one he overtook on Tuesday.
Preamble: A One-Sided Conclusion
The 2025-26 Ashes, perhaps the most underwhelming series in the 144 years since Fred Spofforth made history at The Oval, is heading for a fitting conclusion. Australia are poised to overwhelm England at Sydney and win the series 4-1, a scoreline not even the most biased Pom could contest.
It's been a triumph of maturity, discipline, application, skill and Travis Head. His audacious 123 at Perth exposed English frailties 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 start again on 129 after making a century that looked certain even before he faced his first ball.
Australia, despite a number of flaws in their team, have won the series with an simplicity that is hard to understand. Maybe that's an Anglocentric view. It's not Australia's fault that England failed to turn up – even if, on some level, they probably desired a greater challenge.
The concluding chapter 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 weary, their confidence shattered, their spirit crushed. It's nearly time for everyone to go home.
