🔗 Share this article The Baggy Greens 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 recover some of the play washed out on the first day. The players are making final preparations to take the field. Pink Tributes and Batting Might They do things well in Australia. This fifth Test commenced with a moving homage to the victims and first responders of the Bondi tragedy, and on the third day the Sydney Cricket Ground was became a sea of pink to once again raise funds for the McGrath Foundation. Between the wickets, however, Australian charity was in far scarcer quantity. Across three sessions their batters ground England’s bowlers into the dust, answering any questions about their motivation since securing the Ashes and raising a few more about their vanquished foes. Looking drained after the toil, 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 latter part of Travis Head’s sizzling 163 from 166, and with it Australia had achieved 518 for seven from 124 overs. The lead was 134 runs overnight and looked an threatening one. Legendary Critique The legendary Neil Harvey, 97, offered his perspective in a charming interview. I've been disappointed in 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 class side like Australia it's a different ballgame. 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 thing it takes the odds away from winning an important Test. I'd like to see them show more restraint. A Baptism of Fire Almost an hour into a somewhat cloudy morning at the Sydney Cricket Ground, Matt Potts came into the England attack from the Randwick End, and immediately began trying out his change-ups. His first ball was full and wide and hammered through cover by Travis Head. His second ball was both short outside off stump and slashed over gully by Travis Head. His third ball was on a good length and smashed past midwicket by Travis Head. His fourth ball was defended with a show of concentrated care, to jeering shouts from a crowd that had begun to get involved. 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 peak of his batting prowess, when “best since Bradman” was used with certainty. The thing about that line 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 hit their peak for a time, no other has remained there. The amalgamation of those phases, though, elevated him to a uncommon 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 drawing gradually closer 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 surpassed on Tuesday. Preamble: A One-Sided Conclusion The 2025-26 Ashes, possibly the most anticlimactic series in the 144 years since Fred Spofforth raised hell at The Oval, is limping towards a suitable finale. Australia are set to crush England at Sydney and win the series 4-1, a scoreline not even the most one-eyed Pom could contest. It's been a victory of maturity, maturity, application, skill and Travis Head. His daring 123 at Perth exposed English frailties that have yet to mend; 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 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 craved a greater challenge. The final act will be conducted either this evening or tomorrow. There's a chance of a total collapse when England bat, just as there was in the concluding effort 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, as a lengthy two-and-a-half-hour morning stint to recover some of the play washed out on the first day. The players are making final preparations to take the field.
Pink Tributes and Batting Might They do things well in Australia. This fifth Test commenced with a moving homage to the victims and first responders of the Bondi tragedy, and on the third day the Sydney Cricket Ground was became a sea of pink to once again raise funds for the McGrath Foundation. Between the wickets, however, Australian charity was in far scarcer quantity. Across three sessions their batters ground England’s bowlers into the dust, answering any questions about their motivation since securing the Ashes and raising a few more about their vanquished foes. Looking drained after the toil, 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 latter part of Travis Head’s sizzling 163 from 166, and with it Australia had achieved 518 for seven from 124 overs. The lead was 134 runs overnight and looked an threatening one.
Legendary Critique The legendary Neil Harvey, 97, offered his perspective in a charming interview. I've been disappointed in 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 class side like Australia it's a different ballgame. 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 thing it takes the odds away from winning an important Test. I'd like to see them show more restraint.
A Baptism of Fire Almost an hour into a somewhat cloudy morning at the Sydney Cricket Ground, Matt Potts came into the England attack from the Randwick End, and immediately began trying out his change-ups. His first ball was full and wide and hammered through cover by Travis Head. His second ball was both short outside off stump and slashed over gully by Travis Head. His third ball was on a good length and smashed past midwicket by Travis Head. His fourth ball was defended with a show of concentrated care, to jeering shouts from a crowd that had begun to get involved. 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 peak of his batting prowess, when “best since Bradman” was used with certainty. The thing about that line 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 hit their peak for a time, no other has remained there. The amalgamation of those phases, though, elevated him to a uncommon 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 drawing gradually closer 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 surpassed on Tuesday.
Preamble: A One-Sided Conclusion The 2025-26 Ashes, possibly the most anticlimactic series in the 144 years since Fred Spofforth raised hell at The Oval, is limping towards a suitable finale. Australia are set to crush England at Sydney and win the series 4-1, a scoreline not even the most one-eyed Pom could contest. It's been a victory of maturity, maturity, application, skill and Travis Head. His daring 123 at Perth exposed English frailties that have yet to mend; 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 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 craved a greater challenge. The final act will be conducted either this evening or tomorrow. There's a chance of a total collapse when England bat, just as there was in the concluding effort 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.