🔗 Share this article Australia v The Three Lions – Fifth Ashes Test, The Fourth Day: Live Updates It’s another early start today, with a two-and-a-half-hour morning session to recover some of the overs lost on the first day. The players are making final preparations to step onto the ground. A Sea of Pink and a Display of Dominance They do things well in Australia. This fifth Test commenced with a appropriate remembrance to the those affected and the emergency services of the Bondi tragedy, and on the third day the Sydney Cricket Ground was transformed into a ocean of pink to once again collect money for the McGrath Foundation. Out in the middle, however, Australian charity was in far scarcer quantity. Across three sessions their batters wore down the English attack, answering any questions about their drive since securing the Ashes and raising a few more regarding their vanquished foes. Looking drained after the toil, Ben Stokes and his team departed at stumps exhausted and overwhelmed. Steve Smith’s century number thirty-seven, 129 not out from 205 balls, had succeeded the latter part of Travis Head’s sizzling 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. A Cricketing Icon's Opinion The legendary Neil Harvey, 97, gave his views in a delightful interview. I've been unimpressed with 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 ordinary teams but when you get a quality outfit like Australia it's a completely different proposition. 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 Bazball style it lessens the probability of winning an important Test. I'd like to see them show more restraint. A Baptism of Fire Shortly after the start of a somewhat cloudy morning at the Sydney Cricket Ground, Matt Potts entered the England attack from the Randwick End, and immediately began trying out his variations. His first ball was wide and hammered through cover by Travis Head. His second ball was both short and wide and slashed over gully by Travis Head. His third ball was back of a length and pulled past midwicket by Travis Head. His fourth ball was defended with a show of studious defense, 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 height of his batting skill, when “best since Bradman” was used with confidence. 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 spanning twenty years. Lots of players reach the top for a time, no other has maintained that level. The combination of those phases, though, elevated him to a uncommon position on the third day. In the record books of the game there are milestones, then there are peaks. 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 climb. Jack Hobbs's 3,636 runs against Australia is the one he ascended on Tuesday. Preamble: A One-Sided Conclusion The current Ashes battle, arguably the most anticlimactic series in the 144 years since Fred Spofforth caused havoc at The Oval, is heading for a fitting conclusion. Australia are on course to defeat comprehensively England at Sydney and win the series 4-1, a scoreline not even the most partisan Pom could dispute. It's been a victory of experience, composure, discipline, talent and Travis Head. His audacious 123 at Perth opened English wounds that have yet to heal; 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 resume on 129 after making a century that looked inevitable even before he faced his first ball. Australia, despite a number of flaws in their team, have won the series with an comfort that is hard to fathom. Maybe that's an English perspective. It's not Australia's fault that England failed to turn up – even if, on some level, they probably wanted a greater challenge. The concluding chapter will be delivered either this evening or tomorrow. There's a chance of a total collapse when England bat, just as there was in the final innings of 2013-14 and 2021-22. Their bodies are exhausted, their confidence shot, their spirit crushed. It's nearly time for everyone to go home.
It’s another early start today, with a two-and-a-half-hour morning session to recover some of the overs lost on the first day. The players are making final preparations to step onto the ground.
A Sea of Pink and a Display of Dominance They do things well in Australia. This fifth Test commenced with a appropriate remembrance to the those affected and the emergency services of the Bondi tragedy, and on the third day the Sydney Cricket Ground was transformed into a ocean of pink to once again collect money for the McGrath Foundation. Out in the middle, however, Australian charity was in far scarcer quantity. Across three sessions their batters wore down the English attack, answering any questions about their drive since securing the Ashes and raising a few more regarding their vanquished foes. Looking drained after the toil, Ben Stokes and his team departed at stumps exhausted and overwhelmed. Steve Smith’s century number thirty-seven, 129 not out from 205 balls, had succeeded the latter part of Travis Head’s sizzling 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.
A Cricketing Icon's Opinion The legendary Neil Harvey, 97, gave his views in a delightful interview. I've been unimpressed with 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 ordinary teams but when you get a quality outfit like Australia it's a completely different proposition. 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 Bazball style it lessens the probability of winning an important Test. I'd like to see them show more restraint.
A Baptism of Fire Shortly after the start of a somewhat cloudy morning at the Sydney Cricket Ground, Matt Potts entered the England attack from the Randwick End, and immediately began trying out his variations. His first ball was wide and hammered through cover by Travis Head. His second ball was both short and wide and slashed over gully by Travis Head. His third ball was back of a length and pulled past midwicket by Travis Head. His fourth ball was defended with a show of studious defense, 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 height of his batting skill, when “best since Bradman” was used with confidence. 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 spanning twenty years. Lots of players reach the top for a time, no other has maintained that level. The combination of those phases, though, elevated him to a uncommon position on the third day. In the record books of the game there are milestones, then there are peaks. 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 climb. Jack Hobbs's 3,636 runs against Australia is the one he ascended on Tuesday.
Preamble: A One-Sided Conclusion The current Ashes battle, arguably the most anticlimactic series in the 144 years since Fred Spofforth caused havoc at The Oval, is heading for a fitting conclusion. Australia are on course to defeat comprehensively England at Sydney and win the series 4-1, a scoreline not even the most partisan Pom could dispute. It's been a victory of experience, composure, discipline, talent and Travis Head. His audacious 123 at Perth opened English wounds that have yet to heal; 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 resume on 129 after making a century that looked inevitable even before he faced his first ball. Australia, despite a number of flaws in their team, have won the series with an comfort that is hard to fathom. Maybe that's an English perspective. It's not Australia's fault that England failed to turn up – even if, on some level, they probably wanted a greater challenge. The concluding chapter will be delivered either this evening or tomorrow. There's a chance of a total collapse when England bat, just as there was in the final innings of 2013-14 and 2021-22. Their bodies are exhausted, their confidence shot, their spirit crushed. It's nearly time for everyone to go home.