It’s another early start today, featuring an extended morning session of two and a half hours to recover some of the time lost on the first day. The cricketers are making final preparations to take the field.
Charity and Command on Display
Australia knows how to host an event. The opening day of this final Test featured a fitting tribute to the those affected and the emergency services of the Bondi atrocity, and on the third day the Sydney Cricket Ground was became a ocean of pink to once again collect money for the McGrath Foundation.
On the field of play, though, Australian benevolence was in far shorter supply. Across three sessions their batmen dominated the English bowling, dispelling any doubts about their drive since securing the Ashes and throwing up a few more regarding their beaten opponents.
Faces flush from the ordeal, Ben Stokes and his team trudged off at stumps seeing pink elephants. Steve Smith’s century number thirty-seven, 129 not out from 205 balls, had come after the second half of Travis Head’s blistering 163 from 166, and with it Australia had reached 518 for seven from 124 overs. The lead sat at 134 runs overnight and looked an ominous one.
A Cricketing Icon's Opinion
The famed Neil Harvey, 97, offered his perspective in a charming interview.
I've been unimpressed with England. I think the way they approach 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 class side like Australia it's a completely different proposition. I used to score runs quite rapidly, and everyone gets a lot of pleasure 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 show more restraint.
A Harsh Welcome
Shortly after the start of a quietly overcast morning at the Sydney Cricket Ground, Matt Potts came into the England attack from the Randwick End, and immediately began utilizing his different deliveries.
His first ball was wide and hammered through cover by Travis Head. His second ball was both short and wide and hacked over gully by Travis Head. His third ball was short and straight and smashed past midwicket by Travis Head. His fourth ball was blocked with a show of concentrated care, to loud, mocking cheers from a crowd that had begun to settle in for the day's play. A grueling introduction, 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 prowess, when “best since Bradman” was used with confidence. The thing about that phrase is that even when the recipient has reigned supreme for years, it gets granted 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, elevated him to a rare position on the third day. In the record books of the game there are achievements, 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 2025-26 Ashes, arguably the most disappointing series in the 144 years since Fred Spofforth raised hell at The Oval, is staggering to a appropriate end. Australia are poised to overwhelm England at Sydney and win the series 4-1, a scoreline not even the most biased Pom could dispute.
It's been a victory of maturity, composure, application, talent and Travis Head. His daring 123 at Perth hurt England that have yet to recover; 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 continue on 129 after making a century that looked inevitable 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 did not show up – even if, on some level, they probably desired a greater challenge.
The last rites 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 last knock 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.
