🔗 Share this article Australia v England – Fifth Ashes Test, Day Four: Live Updates Play gets underway early once more, as a lengthy two-and-a-half-hour morning stint to make up some of the overs lost on the first day. The athletes are preparing to begin play. 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 those affected and the emergency services of the Bondi incident, and on the third day the Sydney Cricket Ground was turned into a ocean of pink to once again collect money for the McGrath Foundation. Out in the middle, however, Australian charity was in far shorter supply. Across three sessions their batsmen dominated the English bowling, dispelling any doubts about their motivation since securing the Ashes and throwing up a few more about their defeated rivals. Faces flush from the ordeal, 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 come after the concluding stages 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 ominous one. Veteran's Viewpoint The legendary Neil Harvey, 97, shared his thoughts in a delightful interview. I've been unimpressed with England. I think the way they approach the batting side of things, they get too careless, nobody seems to want to build an 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 quite rapidly, and everyone gets a lot of satisfaction 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 rein themselves in. 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 running through 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 on a good length and driven past midwicket by Travis Head. His fourth ball was blocked with a show of studious defense, to raucous, sarcastic applause from a crowd that had begun to get involved. 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 height of his batting mastery, when “best since Bradman” was used with certainty. The thing about that description is that even when the recipient has excelled for years, it gets granted 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 remained there. The blend of those phases, though, elevated him to a exceptional position on the third day. In the statistics of the game there are achievements, then there are summits. 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 conquer. Jack Hobbs's 3,636 runs against Australia is the one he ascended on Tuesday. Preamble: An Anticlimactic Finale The current Ashes battle, perhaps the most underwhelming series in the 144 years since Fred Spofforth made history at The Oval, is heading for a appropriate end. Australia are set to overwhelm England at Sydney and win the series 4-1, a scoreline not even the most biased Pom could argue with. It's been a success of experience, composure, discipline, talent 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 deceptively pitiless 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 weaknesses in their team, have won the series with an comfort that is hard to comprehend. 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 wanted a greater challenge. The final act 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 concluding effort of 2013-14 and 2021-22. Their bodies are weary, their confidence broken, their spirit crushed. It's nearly time for everyone to go home.
Play gets underway early once more, as a lengthy two-and-a-half-hour morning stint to make up some of the overs lost on the first day. The athletes are preparing to begin play.
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 those affected and the emergency services of the Bondi incident, and on the third day the Sydney Cricket Ground was turned into a ocean of pink to once again collect money for the McGrath Foundation. Out in the middle, however, Australian charity was in far shorter supply. Across three sessions their batsmen dominated the English bowling, dispelling any doubts about their motivation since securing the Ashes and throwing up a few more about their defeated rivals. Faces flush from the ordeal, 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 come after the concluding stages 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 ominous one.
Veteran's Viewpoint The legendary Neil Harvey, 97, shared his thoughts in a delightful interview. I've been unimpressed with England. I think the way they approach the batting side of things, they get too careless, nobody seems to want to build an 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 quite rapidly, and everyone gets a lot of satisfaction 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 rein themselves in.
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 running through 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 on a good length and driven past midwicket by Travis Head. His fourth ball was blocked with a show of studious defense, to raucous, sarcastic applause from a crowd that had begun to get involved. 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 height of his batting mastery, when “best since Bradman” was used with certainty. The thing about that description is that even when the recipient has excelled for years, it gets granted 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 remained there. The blend of those phases, though, elevated him to a exceptional position on the third day. In the statistics of the game there are achievements, then there are summits. 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 conquer. Jack Hobbs's 3,636 runs against Australia is the one he ascended on Tuesday.
Preamble: An Anticlimactic Finale The current Ashes battle, perhaps the most underwhelming series in the 144 years since Fred Spofforth made history at The Oval, is heading for a appropriate end. Australia are set to overwhelm England at Sydney and win the series 4-1, a scoreline not even the most biased Pom could argue with. It's been a success of experience, composure, discipline, talent 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 deceptively pitiless 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 weaknesses in their team, have won the series with an comfort that is hard to comprehend. 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 wanted a greater challenge. The final act 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 concluding effort of 2013-14 and 2021-22. Their bodies are weary, their confidence broken, their spirit crushed. It's nearly time for everyone to go home.