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 athletes are getting ready to begin play.
A Sea of Pink and a Display of Dominance
They do things well in Australia. The opening day of this final Test featured a appropriate remembrance 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 sea of pink to once again generate donations for the McGrath Foundation.
Out in the middle, however, Australian generosity was in far shorter supply. Across three sessions their batters wore down the English attack, dispelling any doubts about their drive since securing the Ashes and posing a few more concerning their vanquished foes.
Faces flush from the ordeal, Ben Stokes and his team trudged off at stumps exhausted and overwhelmed. Steve Smith’s 37th Test century, 129 not out from 205 balls, had followed 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 ominous one.
Legendary Critique
The famed Neil Harvey, 97, offered his perspective in a engaging interview.
I've been disappointed in England. I think the way they approach 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 quality outfit 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 aggressive approach it reduces the chances of winning an important Test. I'd like to see them pull their hooves in.
A Baptism of Fire
Shortly after the start of a gloomy morning at the Sydney Cricket Ground, Matt Potts entered 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 clobbered through cover by Travis Head. His second ball was both short and wide and slashed over gully by Travis Head. His third ball was short and straight and driven past midwicket by Travis Head. His fourth ball was negotiated with a show of studious defense, 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.
A Historic Achievement
There was a time, while Steve Smith was at the height 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 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 combination of those phases, though, took him to a uncommon position on the third day. In the record books of the game there are landmarks, then there are mountaintops. 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 conquer. Jack Hobbs's 3,636 runs against Australia is the one he overtook on Tuesday.
Preamble: An Anticlimactic Finale
The 2025-26 Ashes, arguably the most underwhelming series in the 144 years since Fred Spofforth caused havoc at The Oval, is staggering to a fitting conclusion. Australia are poised to defeat comprehensively England at Sydney and win the series 4-1, a scoreline not even the most biased Pom could dispute.
It's been a triumph of know-how, discipline, application, skill and Travis Head. His bold 123 at Perth exposed English frailties that have yet to mend; 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 certain even before he faced his first ball.
Australia, despite a number of weaknesses in their team, have won the series with an simplicity that is hard to understand. Maybe that's an Anglocentric view. 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 conducted 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 exhausted, their confidence broken, their spirit crushed. It's nearly time for everyone to go home.
