The action begins ahead of schedule again, with a two-and-a-half-hour morning session to make up some of the overs lost on the first day. The players are getting ready to take the field.
A Sea of Pink and a Display of Dominance
Australia knows how to host an event. The opening day of this final Test featured a appropriate remembrance to the sufferers and heroes of the Bondi incident, and on the third day the Sydney Cricket Ground was turned into a ocean of pink to once again generate donations for the McGrath Foundation.
Between the wickets, however, Australian charity was in far scarcer quantity. Across three sessions their batters wore down the English attack, answering any questions about their drive since securing the Ashes and raising a few more concerning their vanquished foes.
Visibly weary from the effort, Ben Stokes and his team trudged off at stumps seeing pink elephants. Steve Smith’s 37th hundred in Tests, 129 not out from 205 balls, had succeeded the latter part of Travis Head’s explosive 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 daunting one.
Legendary Critique
The renowned Neil Harvey, 97, shared his thoughts in a delightful 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 top-tier team like Australia it's a completely different proposition. 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 style it takes the odds away from winning an important Test. I'd like to see them show more restraint.
A Tough Introduction
Almost an hour into a gloomy morning at the Sydney Cricket Ground, Matt Potts entered the England attack from the Randwick End, and immediately began utilizing his different deliveries.
His first ball was full and wide and smashed through cover by Travis Head. His second ball was both short and wide and cut over gully by Travis Head. His third ball was on a good length and driven 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. Welcome to the treadmill, 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 certainty. The thing about that description is that even when the recipient has reigned supreme for years, it gets granted too quickly, given the point of comparison is a career spanning twenty years. Lots of players reach the top for a time, no other has maintained that level.
The combination of those phases, though, elevated him to a exceptional position on the third day. In the statistics of the game there are achievements, then there are mountaintops. For a long time in Smith's Ashes-centric career there have been two peaks looming ever nearer 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, perhaps the most disappointing series in the 144 years since Fred Spofforth caused havoc at The Oval, is staggering to a suitable finale. Australia are set to overwhelm England at Sydney and win the series 4-1, a scoreline not even the most biased Pom could argue with.
It's been a victory of maturity, maturity, skill, ability and Travis Head. His bold 123 at Perth hurt England that have yet to recover; four Tests later he is merrily adding to their woes. Head's surprisingly ruthless 163 helped Australia to 518 for 7 at the end of day three, a lead of 134. Steve Smith will resume 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 simplicity that is hard to fathom. Maybe that's an Anglocentric view. It's not Australia's fault that England did not show up – even if, on some level, they probably wanted 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 last knock of 2013-14 and 2021-22. Their bodies are tired, their confidence shot, their spirit dented. It's nearly time for everyone to go home.
