Play gets underway early once more, with a two-and-a-half-hour morning session to recover some of the overs lost on the first day. The players are preparing to begin play.
Pink Tributes and Batting Might
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 tragedy, and on the third day the Sydney Cricket Ground was became a wave of pink to once again collect money 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 regarding their beaten opponents.
Visibly weary from the effort, Ben Stokes and his team departed at stumps exhausted and overwhelmed. Steve Smith’s 37th Test century, 129 not out from 205 balls, had succeeded the concluding stages of Travis Head’s blistering 163 from 166, and with it Australia had reached 518 for seven from 124 overs. The lead was 134 runs overnight and looked an daunting one.
A Cricketing Icon's Opinion
The renowned Neil Harvey, 97, gave his views in a engaging interview.
I've been disappointed in England. I think the way they handle the batting side of things, they get too reckless, 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 relatively quickly, and everyone gets a lot of satisfaction 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 show more restraint.
A Baptism of Fire
Almost an hour into a somewhat cloudy morning at the Sydney Cricket Ground, Matt Potts came into the England attack from the Randwick End, and immediately began running through his change-ups.
His first ball was sprayed down the leg side 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 short and straight and pulled past midwicket by Travis Head. His fourth ball was blocked with a show of furrowed caution, to raucous, sarcastic applause from a crowd that had begun to tuck into the day. A grueling introduction, Pottsy. And yes, it's always like this around here.
Joining the Pantheon
There was a time, while Steve Smith was at the pinnacle of his batting skill, when “best since Bradman” was used with certainty. The thing about that phrase is that even when the recipient has excelled for years, it gets bestowed too quickly, given the point of comparison is a career lasting two decades. Lots of players attain greatness for a time, no other has stayed as long.
The blend of those phases, though, took him to a exceptional 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-focused 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 scale. Jack Hobbs's 3,636 runs against Australia is the one he ascended on Tuesday.
Preamble: A One-Sided Conclusion
The latest Ashes series, arguably the most underwhelming series in the 144 years since Fred Spofforth made history at The Oval, is heading for a suitable finale. Australia are on course to overwhelm England at Sydney and win the series 4-1, a scoreline not even the most partisan Pom could argue with.
It's been a success of maturity, maturity, skill, ability and Travis Head. His daring 123 at Perth hurt England that have yet to heal; four Tests later he is cheerily grinding salt into them. 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 simplicity that is hard to comprehend. Maybe that's an English perspective. It's not Australia's fault that England failed to turn 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 one-sided finish 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 broken. It's nearly time for everyone to go home.
