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 athletes are making final preparations to take the field.
A Sea of Pink and a Display of Dominance
They do things well in Australia. This fifth Test commenced with a appropriate remembrance to the victims and first responders of the Bondi tragedy, and on the third day the Sydney Cricket Ground was became a sea of pink to once again generate donations for the McGrath Foundation.
Between the wickets, however, Australian generosity was in far shorter supply. Across three sessions their batmen dominated the English bowling, answering any questions about their incentive since securing the Ashes and throwing up a few more concerning their vanquished foes.
Visibly weary from the effort, Ben Stokes and his team walked off at stumps exhausted and overwhelmed. Steve Smith’s 37th hundred in Tests, 129 not out from 205 balls, had succeeded the second half of Travis Head’s blistering 163 from 166, and with it Australia had attained 518 for seven from 124 overs. The lead sat at 134 runs overnight and looked an ominous one.
Veteran's Viewpoint
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 play a long innings, like a Cowdrey or a Boycott.
It might work against average opponents but when you get a class side like Australia it's a whole new challenge. I used to score runs quite rapidly, and everyone gets a lot of enjoyment 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 show more restraint.
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 trying out his variations.
His first ball was full and wide and smashed through cover by Travis Head. His second ball was both short outside off stump and cut over gully by Travis Head. His third ball was back of a length and pulled past midwicket by Travis Head. His fourth ball was blocked with a show of furrowed caution, to loud, mocking cheers 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.
Joining the Pantheon
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 reigned supreme for years, it gets applied too quickly, given the point of comparison is a career lasting two decades. Lots of players reach the top for a time, no other has maintained that level.
The blend of those phases, though, took him to a uncommon position on the third day. In the annals of the game there are landmarks, then there are mountaintops. For a long time in Smith's Ashes-centric career there have been two peaks slowly approaching 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 ascended on Tuesday.
Preamble: A One-Sided Conclusion
The current Ashes battle, perhaps the most disappointing series in the 144 years since Fred Spofforth made history at The Oval, is heading for a appropriate end. Australia are poised to crush England at Sydney and win the series 4-1, a result not even the most partisan Pom could contest.
It's been a victory of know-how, maturity, application, skill 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 surprisingly ruthless 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 flaws in their team, have won the series with an ease that is hard to fathom. 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 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 final innings of 2013-14 and 2021-22. Their bodies are exhausted, their confidence broken, their spirit crushed. It's nearly time for everyone to go home.
