The action begins ahead of schedule again, as a lengthy two-and-a-half-hour morning stint to recover some of the play washed out on the first day. The players are making final preparations to take the field.
A Sea of Pink and a Display of Dominance
Events are handled superbly in Australia. 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 turned into a wave 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 batsmen ground England’s bowlers into the dust, addressing any queries about their motivation since securing the Ashes and raising a few more concerning their beaten opponents.
Looking drained after the toil, Ben Stokes and his team departed at stumps seeing pink elephants. Steve Smith’s century number thirty-seven, 129 not out from 205 balls, had followed the latter part of Travis Head’s sizzling 163 from 166, and with it Australia had reached 518 for seven from 124 overs. The lead was 134 runs overnight and looked an threatening one.
Legendary Critique
The famed Neil Harvey, 97, offered his perspective in a charming interview.
I've been unimpressed with 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 different ballgame. I used to score runs at a fair pace, and everyone gets a lot of satisfaction 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 rein themselves in.
A Harsh Welcome
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 trying out his different deliveries.
His first ball was sprayed down the leg side and smashed through cover by Travis Head. His second ball was both back of a length and outside off and cut over gully by Travis Head. His third ball was short and straight and driven past midwicket by Travis Head. His fourth ball was blocked with a show of studious defense, 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 pinnacle of his batting mastery, 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 applied too quickly, given the point of comparison is a career lasting two decades. Lots of players attain greatness for a time, no other has remained there.
The amalgamation of those phases, though, took him to a rare position on the third day. In the annals of the game there are milestones, then there are summits. For a long time in Smith's Ashes-centric 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 ascended on Tuesday.
Preamble: An Anticlimactic Finale
The 2025-26 Ashes, arguably the most underwhelming series in the 144 years since Fred Spofforth raised hell at The Oval, is limping towards a fitting conclusion. Australia are set to overwhelm England at Sydney and win the series 4-1, a margin not even the most biased Pom could contest.
It's been a victory of experience, maturity, discipline, talent and Travis Head. His daring 123 at Perth opened English wounds that have yet to mend; 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 faultlines in their team, have won the series with an ease that is hard to understand. Maybe that's an English perspective. It's not Australia's fault that England were not competitive – even if, on some level, they probably craved a greater challenge.
The concluding chapter 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 concluding effort of 2013-14 and 2021-22. Their bodies are exhausted, their confidence shot, their spirit dented. It's nearly time for everyone to go home.
