🔗 Share this article Australia v The Three Lions – Fifth Ashes Test, Day Four: Action Unfolds Play gets underway early once more, featuring an extended morning session of two and a half hours to recover some of the play washed out on the first day. The athletes are making final preparations to begin play. Charity and Command on Display Events are handled superbly in Australia. The opening day of this final Test featured 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 became a sea of pink to once again collect money for the McGrath Foundation. Between the wickets, however, Australian benevolence was in far more limited availability. Across three sessions their batsmen ground England’s bowlers into the dust, addressing any queries about their incentive since securing the Ashes and throwing up a few more regarding their defeated rivals. Visibly weary from the effort, Ben Stokes and his team trudged off at stumps exhausted and overwhelmed. Steve Smith’s 37th hundred in Tests, 129 not out from 205 balls, had followed the concluding stages of Travis Head’s explosive 163 from 166, and with it Australia had achieved 518 for seven from 124 overs. The lead sat at 134 runs overnight and looked an threatening one. Veteran's Viewpoint The famed Neil Harvey, 97, gave his views in a delightful interview. I've been let down by England. I think the way they handle the batting side of things, they get too impetuous, nobody seems to want to build an innings, like a Cowdrey or a Boycott. It might work against average opponents but when you get a top-tier team like Australia it's a whole new challenge. I used to score runs quite rapidly, 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 Forty-five minutes into a quietly overcast morning at the Sydney Cricket Ground, Matt Potts was introduced into the England attack from the Randwick End, and immediately began running through his different deliveries. His first ball was wide and smashed through cover by Travis Head. His second ball was both back of a length and outside off and cut over gully by Travis Head. His third ball was on a good length 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. A tough initiation, Pottsy. And yes, it's always like this around here. Joining the Pantheon There was a time, while Steve Smith was at the pinnacle of his batting prowess, when “best since Bradman” was used with confidence. The thing about that phrase 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 amalgamation of those phases, though, took him to a exceptional position on the third day. In the annals 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 looming ever nearer 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, perhaps the most underwhelming series in the 144 years since Fred Spofforth raised hell 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 margin not even the most one-eyed Pom could contest. It's been a victory of know-how, maturity, discipline, talent and Travis Head. His audacious 123 at Perth hurt England that have yet to recover; four Tests later he is cheerily grinding salt into them. Head's seemingly relentless 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 understand. Maybe that's an English perspective. It's not Australia's fault that England were not competitive – even if, on some level, they probably desired a greater challenge. The concluding chapter 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 final innings of 2013-14 and 2021-22. Their bodies are exhausted, their confidence shot, their spirit broken. It's nearly time for everyone to go home.
Play gets underway early once more, featuring an extended morning session of two and a half hours to recover some of the play washed out on the first day. The athletes are making final preparations to begin play.
Charity and Command on Display Events are handled superbly in Australia. The opening day of this final Test featured 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 became a sea of pink to once again collect money for the McGrath Foundation. Between the wickets, however, Australian benevolence was in far more limited availability. Across three sessions their batsmen ground England’s bowlers into the dust, addressing any queries about their incentive since securing the Ashes and throwing up a few more regarding their defeated rivals. Visibly weary from the effort, Ben Stokes and his team trudged off at stumps exhausted and overwhelmed. Steve Smith’s 37th hundred in Tests, 129 not out from 205 balls, had followed the concluding stages of Travis Head’s explosive 163 from 166, and with it Australia had achieved 518 for seven from 124 overs. The lead sat at 134 runs overnight and looked an threatening one.
Veteran's Viewpoint The famed Neil Harvey, 97, gave his views in a delightful interview. I've been let down by England. I think the way they handle the batting side of things, they get too impetuous, nobody seems to want to build an innings, like a Cowdrey or a Boycott. It might work against average opponents but when you get a top-tier team like Australia it's a whole new challenge. I used to score runs quite rapidly, 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 Forty-five minutes into a quietly overcast morning at the Sydney Cricket Ground, Matt Potts was introduced into the England attack from the Randwick End, and immediately began running through his different deliveries. His first ball was wide and smashed through cover by Travis Head. His second ball was both back of a length and outside off and cut over gully by Travis Head. His third ball was on a good length 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. A tough initiation, Pottsy. And yes, it's always like this around here.
Joining the Pantheon There was a time, while Steve Smith was at the pinnacle of his batting prowess, when “best since Bradman” was used with confidence. The thing about that phrase 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 amalgamation of those phases, though, took him to a exceptional position on the third day. In the annals 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 looming ever nearer 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, perhaps the most underwhelming series in the 144 years since Fred Spofforth raised hell 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 margin not even the most one-eyed Pom could contest. It's been a victory of know-how, maturity, discipline, talent and Travis Head. His audacious 123 at Perth hurt England that have yet to recover; four Tests later he is cheerily grinding salt into them. Head's seemingly relentless 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 understand. Maybe that's an English perspective. It's not Australia's fault that England were not competitive – even if, on some level, they probably desired a greater challenge. The concluding chapter 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 final innings of 2013-14 and 2021-22. Their bodies are exhausted, their confidence shot, their spirit broken. It's nearly time for everyone to go home.