Play gets underway early once more, with a two-and-a-half-hour morning session to recover some of the time lost on the first day. The cricketers are making final preparations to take the field.
A Sea of Pink and a Display of Dominance
Australia knows how to host an event. This fifth Test commenced with a moving homage to the victims and first responders of the Bondi incident, and on the third day the Sydney Cricket Ground was became a ocean of pink to once again raise funds for the McGrath Foundation.
Between the wickets, however, Australian generosity was in far more limited availability. Across three sessions their batsmen ground England’s bowlers into the dust, dispelling any doubts about their incentive since securing the Ashes and posing a few more about their vanquished foes.
Visibly weary from the effort, Ben Stokes and his team departed at stumps battle-weary. Steve Smith’s 37th Test century, 129 not out from 205 balls, had come after the latter part of Travis Head’s blistering 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 daunting one.
Legendary Critique
The renowned Neil Harvey, 97, gave his views in a charming interview.
I've been disappointed in England. I think the way they handle the batting side of things, they get too careless, nobody seems to want to play a long innings, like a Cowdrey or a Boycott.
It might work against lesser sides 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 takes the odds away from 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 entered the England attack from the Randwick End, and immediately began running through his different deliveries.
His first ball was full and wide and hammered through cover by Travis Head. His second ball was both short and wide and hacked over gully by Travis Head. His third ball was back of a length and smashed 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 tuck into the day. 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 assurance. The thing about that line is that even when the recipient has reigned supreme for years, it gets applied too quickly, given the point of comparison is a career enduring for 20 years. 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 record books of the game there are achievements, then there are peaks. 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 climb. Jack Hobbs's 3,636 runs against Australia is the one he surpassed on Tuesday.
Preamble: A Forgone Conclusion
The 2025-26 Ashes, possibly the most disappointing series in the 144 years since Fred Spofforth raised hell at The Oval, is staggering to a appropriate end. Australia are set to overwhelm England at Sydney and win the series 4-1, a margin not even the most one-eyed Pom could dispute.
It's been a success of experience, discipline, skill, talent and Travis Head. His daring 123 at Perth opened English wounds 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 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 comfort that is hard to fathom. 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 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 final innings of 2013-14 and 2021-22. Their bodies are exhausted, their confidence shattered, their spirit broken. It's nearly time for everyone to go home.
