It’s another early start today, as a lengthy two-and-a-half-hour morning stint to compensate for some of the time lost on the first day. The cricketers are making final preparations to take the field.
Pink Tributes and Batting Might
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 tragedy, and on the third day the Sydney Cricket Ground was turned into a wave of pink to once again raise funds for the McGrath Foundation.
Out in the middle, however, Australian charity was in far more limited availability. Across three sessions their batmen wore down the English attack, answering any questions about their drive since securing the Ashes and posing a few more concerning their beaten opponents.
Visibly weary from the effort, Ben Stokes and his team walked off at stumps exhausted and overwhelmed. Steve Smith’s century number thirty-seven, 129 not out from 205 balls, had come after the second half of Travis Head’s explosive 163 from 166, and with it Australia had achieved 518 for seven from 124 overs. The lead was 134 runs overnight and looked an threatening one.
A Cricketing Icon's Opinion
The famed Neil Harvey, 97, shared his thoughts in a charming interview.
I've been disappointed in England. I think the way they tackle the batting side of things, they get too careless, nobody seems to want to construct a knock, 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 enjoyment out of it, but when you try to play this aggressive approach it lessens the probability of winning an important Test. I'd like to see them rein themselves in.
A Baptism of Fire
Forty-five minutes into a quietly overcast morning at the Sydney Cricket Ground, Matt Potts entered the England attack from the Randwick End, and immediately began utilizing his variations.
His first ball was full and wide and smashed through cover by Travis Head. His second ball was both short outside off stump and hacked over gully by Travis Head. His third ball was on a good length and smashed 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 get involved. A tough initiation, Pottsy. And yes, it's always like this around here.
Scaling the Ashes Mountain
There was a time, while Steve Smith was at the peak 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 hit their peak for a time, no other has remained there.
The combination of those phases, though, elevated 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 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 surpassed on Tuesday.
Preamble: An Anticlimactic Finale
The current Ashes battle, arguably the most underwhelming series in the 144 years since Fred Spofforth made history at The Oval, is limping towards a suitable finale. Australia are on course to crush England at Sydney and win the series 4-1, a margin not even the most biased Pom could argue with.
It's been a success of maturity, composure, application, ability and Travis Head. His bold 123 at Perth hurt England that have yet to mend; four Tests later he is happily compounding their misery. 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 inevitable even before he faced his first ball.
Australia, despite a number of faultlines in their team, have won the series with an comfort that is hard to comprehend. Maybe that's an English perspective. It's not Australia's fault that England did not show up – even if, on some level, they probably craved a greater challenge.
The final act will be delivered either this evening or tomorrow. There's a chance of a complete blowout 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.
