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 cricketers are getting ready to begin play.
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 moving homage to the victims and first responders of the Bondi incident, and on the third day the Sydney Cricket Ground was turned into 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 batters dominated the English bowling, dispelling any doubts about their motivation since securing the Ashes and throwing up a few more concerning their beaten opponents.
Looking drained after the toil, 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 followed the latter part of Travis Head’s blistering 163 from 166, and with it Australia had attained 518 for seven from 124 overs. The lead stood at 134 runs overnight and looked an threatening one.
Legendary Critique
The legendary Neil Harvey, 97, offered his perspective in a charming interview.
I've been disappointed in England. I think the way they approach the batting side of things, they get too impetuous, nobody seems to want to construct a knock, like a Cowdrey or a Boycott.
It might work against ordinary teams but when you get a top-tier team like Australia it's a completely different proposition. 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 aggressive approach it reduces the chances of winning an important Test. I'd like to see them rein themselves in.
A Baptism of Fire
Shortly after the start of a gloomy morning at the Sydney Cricket Ground, Matt Potts was introduced into the England attack from the Randwick End, and immediately began trying out his change-ups.
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 short and straight and driven past midwicket by Travis Head. His fourth ball was blocked with a show of concentrated care, to raucous, sarcastic applause 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.
A Historic Achievement
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 excelled for years, it gets applied too quickly, given the point of comparison is a career spanning twenty years. Lots of players attain greatness for a time, no other has maintained that level.
The combination of those phases, though, propelled him into a rare position on the third day. In the record books of the game there are milestones, then there are mountaintops. 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 2025-26 Ashes, possibly the most disappointing series in the 144 years since Fred Spofforth caused havoc at The Oval, is staggering to a appropriate end. Australia are set to defeat comprehensively England at Sydney and win the series 4-1, a scoreline not even the most biased Pom could argue with.
It's been a triumph of experience, maturity, application, ability and Travis Head. His daring 123 at Perth opened English wounds that have yet to recover; four Tests later he is cheerily grinding salt into them. Head's deceptively pitiless 163 helped Australia to 518 for 7 at the end of day three, a lead of 134. Steve Smith will start again on 129 after making a century that looked unavoidable 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 comprehend. Maybe that's an Anglocentric view. It's not Australia's fault that England were not competitive – even if, on some level, they probably wanted a greater challenge.
The concluding chapter 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 concluding effort of 2013-14 and 2021-22. Their bodies are tired, their confidence shattered, their spirit crushed. It's nearly time for everyone to go home.
