The action begins ahead of schedule again, as a lengthy two-and-a-half-hour morning stint to compensate for some of the overs lost on the first day. The athletes are preparing to take the field.
A Sea of Pink and a Display of Dominance
They do things well in Australia. The opening day of this final Test featured a fitting tribute to the those affected and the emergency services of the Bondi incident, and on the third day the Sydney Cricket Ground was became a ocean of pink to once again generate donations for the McGrath Foundation.
Out in the middle, however, Australian charity was in far scarcer quantity. Across three sessions their batmen dominated the English bowling, dispelling any doubts about their motivation since securing the Ashes and raising a few more concerning their vanquished foes.
Faces flush from the ordeal, Ben Stokes and his team walked off at stumps seeing pink elephants. Steve Smith’s 37th hundred in Tests, 129 not out from 205 balls, had succeeded the concluding stages of Travis Head’s blistering 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 ominous one.
Legendary Critique
The legendary Neil Harvey, 97, offered his perspective in a delightful interview.
I've been unimpressed with England. I think the way they handle the batting side of things, they get too reckless, nobody seems to want to build an innings, like a Cowdrey or a Boycott.
It might work against average opponents but when you get a top-tier team like Australia it's a different ballgame. I used to score runs at a fair pace, and everyone gets a lot of pleasure out of it, but when you try to play this aggressive approach 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 somewhat cloudy morning at the Sydney Cricket Ground, Matt Potts entered the England attack from the Randwick End, and immediately began running through 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 hacked over gully by Travis Head. His third ball was back of a length and driven past midwicket by Travis Head. His fourth ball was defended with a show of studious defense, 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.
Scaling the Ashes Mountain
There was a time, while Steve Smith was at the peak of his batting skill, 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 applied too quickly, given the point of comparison is a career enduring for 20 years. Lots of players reach the top for a time, no other has stayed as long.
The combination of those phases, though, took him to a uncommon position on the third day. In the statistics of the game there are landmarks, 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 overtook on Tuesday.
Preamble: An Anticlimactic Finale
The 2025-26 Ashes, possibly the most disappointing series in the 144 years since Fred Spofforth raised hell at The Oval, is limping towards a appropriate end. Australia are set 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 victory of experience, maturity, skill, ability and Travis Head. His daring 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 certain even before he faced his first ball.
Australia, despite a number of flaws in their team, have won the series with an ease that is hard to comprehend. 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 final act will be conducted 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 tired, their confidence shattered, their spirit dented. It's nearly time for everyone to go home.
