🔗 Share this article The Baggy Greens v The Three Lions – The Final Ashes Test, Day Four: Live Updates Play gets underway early once more, featuring an extended morning session of two and a half hours to make up some of the overs lost on the first day. The athletes are getting ready to take the field. Pink Tributes and Batting Might Australia knows how to host an event. This fifth Test commenced with a moving homage to the sufferers and heroes of the Bondi incident, and on the third day the Sydney Cricket Ground was transformed into a wave of pink to once again raise funds for the McGrath Foundation. Between the wickets, however, Australian charity was in far shorter supply. Across three sessions their batters dominated the English bowling, dispelling any doubts about their motivation since securing the Ashes and throwing up 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 37th hundred in Tests, 129 not out from 205 balls, had followed the latter part of Travis Head’s blistering 163 from 166, and with it Australia had attained 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 delightful interview. I've been disappointed in England. I think the way they handle the batting side of things, they get too reckless, nobody seems to want to build an 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 pleasure out of it, but when you try to play this Bazball style it reduces the chances of winning an important Test. I'd like to see them pull their hooves in. A Harsh Welcome Forty-five minutes into a gloomy morning at the Sydney Cricket Ground, Matt Potts came into the England attack from the Randwick End, and immediately began utilizing his change-ups. 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 smashed past midwicket by Travis Head. His fourth ball was negotiated with a show of furrowed caution, to raucous, sarcastic applause from a crowd that had begun to tuck into the day. A grueling introduction, 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 prowess, when “best since Bradman” was used with assurance. 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 enduring for 20 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 statistics 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 current Ashes battle, possibly the most underwhelming series in the 144 years since Fred Spofforth made history at The Oval, is heading for a fitting conclusion. Australia are poised to crush England at Sydney and win the series 4-1, a scoreline not even the most partisan Pom could argue with. It's been a triumph of know-how, discipline, skill, talent and Travis Head. His audacious 123 at Perth hurt England that have yet to heal; 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 resume 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 understand. 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 concluding chapter will be administered either this evening or tomorrow. There's a chance of a total collapse when England bat, just as there was in the last knock of 2013-14 and 2021-22. Their bodies are tired, their confidence shattered, 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 make up some of the overs lost on the first day. The athletes are getting ready to take the field.
Pink Tributes and Batting Might Australia knows how to host an event. This fifth Test commenced with a moving homage to the sufferers and heroes of the Bondi incident, and on the third day the Sydney Cricket Ground was transformed into a wave of pink to once again raise funds for the McGrath Foundation. Between the wickets, however, Australian charity was in far shorter supply. Across three sessions their batters dominated the English bowling, dispelling any doubts about their motivation since securing the Ashes and throwing up 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 37th hundred in Tests, 129 not out from 205 balls, had followed the latter part of Travis Head’s blistering 163 from 166, and with it Australia had attained 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 delightful interview. I've been disappointed in England. I think the way they handle the batting side of things, they get too reckless, nobody seems to want to build an 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 pleasure out of it, but when you try to play this Bazball style it reduces the chances of winning an important Test. I'd like to see them pull their hooves in.
A Harsh Welcome Forty-five minutes into a gloomy morning at the Sydney Cricket Ground, Matt Potts came into the England attack from the Randwick End, and immediately began utilizing his change-ups. 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 smashed past midwicket by Travis Head. His fourth ball was negotiated with a show of furrowed caution, to raucous, sarcastic applause from a crowd that had begun to tuck into the day. A grueling introduction, 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 prowess, when “best since Bradman” was used with assurance. 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 enduring for 20 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 statistics 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 current Ashes battle, possibly the most underwhelming series in the 144 years since Fred Spofforth made history at The Oval, is heading for a fitting conclusion. Australia are poised to crush England at Sydney and win the series 4-1, a scoreline not even the most partisan Pom could argue with. It's been a triumph of know-how, discipline, skill, talent and Travis Head. His audacious 123 at Perth hurt England that have yet to heal; 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 resume 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 understand. 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 concluding chapter will be administered either this evening or tomorrow. There's a chance of a total collapse when England bat, just as there was in the last knock of 2013-14 and 2021-22. Their bodies are tired, their confidence shattered, their spirit broken. It's nearly time for everyone to go home.