The Baggy Greens v The Three Lions – Fifth Ashes Test, Day Four: Live Updates
The action begins ahead of schedule again, featuring an extended morning session of two and a half hours to make up some of the play washed out on the first day. The players are getting ready to take the field.
Pink Tributes and Batting Might
Events are handled superbly in Australia. The opening day of this final Test featured a fitting tribute to the those affected and the emergency services of the Bondi tragedy, and on the third day the Sydney Cricket Ground was became a wave of pink to once again generate donations for the McGrath Foundation.
On the field of play, though, Australian generosity was in far scarcer quantity. Across three sessions their batsmen dominated the English bowling, answering any questions about their drive since securing the Ashes and throwing up a few more about their beaten opponents.
Looking drained after the toil, Ben Stokes and his team departed at stumps battle-weary. Steve Smith’s 37th hundred in Tests, 129 not out from 205 balls, had come after the latter part of Travis Head’s explosive 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 threatening one.
Legendary Critique
The famed Neil Harvey, 97, shared his thoughts in a delightful interview.
I've been unimpressed with England. I think the way they tackle 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 top-tier team like Australia it's a completely different proposition. 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 lessens the probability of winning an important Test. I'd like to see them pull their hooves in.
A Harsh Welcome
Forty-five minutes into a somewhat cloudy morning at the Sydney Cricket Ground, Matt Potts was introduced into the England attack from the Randwick End, and immediately began running through his change-ups.
His first ball was sprayed down the leg side and clobbered through cover by Travis Head. His second ball was both short and wide and slashed over gully by Travis Head. His third ball was short and straight and pulled past midwicket by Travis Head. His fourth ball was defended 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.
Joining the Pantheon
There was a time, while Steve Smith was at the height of his batting skill, when “best since Bradman” was used with assurance. The thing about that description is that even when the recipient has dominated for years, it gets bestowed too quickly, given the point of comparison is a career lasting two decades. Lots of players attain greatness for a time, no other has maintained that level.
The amalgamation of those phases, though, took him to a rare position on the third day. In the annals of the game there are achievements, then there are mountaintops. 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: A Forgone Conclusion
The 2025-26 Ashes, perhaps the most disappointing series in the 144 years since Fred Spofforth raised hell at The Oval, is staggering to a appropriate end. Australia are on course to crush England at Sydney and win the series 4-1, a margin not even the most biased Pom could dispute.
It's been a victory of experience, composure, discipline, ability 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 deceptively pitiless 163 helped Australia to 518 for 7 at the end of day three, a lead of 134. Steve Smith will continue 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 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 craved a greater challenge.
The concluding chapter will be delivered 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 exhausted, their confidence broken, their spirit dented. It's nearly time for everyone to go home.
