It’s another early start today, with a two-and-a-half-hour morning session to recover some of the play washed out on the first day. The players are getting ready to step onto the ground.
Charity and Command on Display
Australia knows how to host an event. The opening day of this final Test featured a moving homage to the those affected and the emergency services 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 generosity was in far shorter supply. Across three sessions their batsmen wore down the English attack, addressing any queries about their incentive since securing the Ashes and posing a few more about their vanquished foes.
Visibly weary from the effort, Ben Stokes and his team departed at stumps battle-weary. Steve Smith’s 37th hundred in Tests, 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 attained 518 for seven from 124 overs. The lead stood at 134 runs overnight and looked an ominous one.
Veteran's Viewpoint
The legendary Neil Harvey, 97, offered his perspective 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 impetuous, nobody seems to want to build an innings, like a Cowdrey or a Boycott.
It might work against ordinary teams but when you get a top-tier team 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 lessens the probability of winning an important Test. I'd like to see them rein themselves in.
A Tough Introduction
Forty-five minutes into a somewhat cloudy morning at the Sydney Cricket Ground, Matt Potts entered the England attack from the Randwick End, and immediately began trying out his variations.
His first ball was 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 short and straight and driven past midwicket by Travis Head. His fourth ball was defended with a show of studious defense, 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 pinnacle of his batting skill, when “best since Bradman” was used with confidence. The thing about that description is that even when the recipient has excelled 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 maintained that level.
The blend of those phases, though, propelled him into a exceptional position on the third day. In the record books of the game there are landmarks, then there are summits. 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 latest Ashes series, possibly the most underwhelming series in the 144 years since Fred Spofforth raised hell at The Oval, is staggering to 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 dispute.
It's been a triumph of experience, composure, discipline, ability and Travis Head. His audacious 123 at Perth hurt England that have yet to recover; four Tests later he is merrily adding to their woes. 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 simplicity that is hard to understand. Maybe that's an Pommy outlook. It's not Australia's fault that England failed to turn 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 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 shot, their spirit dented. It's nearly time for everyone to go home.
