🔗 Share this article The Baggy Greens v The Three Lions – Fifth Ashes Test, The Fourth Day: Action Unfolds It’s another early start today, featuring an extended morning session of two and a half hours to compensate for some of the time lost on the first day. The players are preparing to take the field. A Sea of Pink and a Display of Dominance They do things well in Australia. On the first day of this fifth Test came a appropriate remembrance to the sufferers and heroes of the Bondi atrocity, and on the third day the Sydney Cricket Ground was turned into a sea of pink to once again raise funds for the McGrath Foundation. On the field of play, though, Australian benevolence was in far shorter supply. Across three sessions their batters ground England’s bowlers into the dust, dispelling any doubts about their motivation since securing the Ashes and posing a few more concerning their beaten opponents. Looking drained after the toil, Ben Stokes and his team trudged off at stumps seeing pink elephants. Steve Smith’s century number thirty-seven, 129 not out from 205 balls, had succeeded the second half 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. Legendary Critique The legendary Neil Harvey, 97, gave his views in a engaging interview. I've been disappointed in England. I think the way they tackle the batting side of things, they get too reckless, nobody seems to want to play a long 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 relatively quickly, and everyone gets a lot of pleasure out of it, but when you try to play this aggressive approach it lessens the probability of winning an important Test. I'd like to see them rein themselves in. A Tough Introduction Shortly after the start of a somewhat cloudy morning at the Sydney Cricket Ground, Matt Potts came into the England attack from the Randwick End, and immediately began running through his different deliveries. His first ball was full and wide and hammered through cover by Travis Head. His second ball was both back of a length and outside off and hacked over gully by Travis Head. His third ball was on a good length and driven past midwicket by Travis Head. His fourth ball was negotiated with a show of studious defense, to raucous, sarcastic applause from a crowd that had begun to get involved. A tough initiation, Pottsy. And yes, it's always like this around here. Scaling the Ashes Mountain There was a time, while Steve Smith was at the pinnacle of his batting skill, when “best since Bradman” was used with certainty. The thing about that line is that even when the recipient has reigned supreme for years, it gets applied 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 blend of those phases, though, took him to a exceptional position on the third day. In the annals of the game there are landmarks, then there are peaks. For a long time in Smith's Ashes-heavy 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 climb. Jack Hobbs's 3,636 runs against Australia is the one he overtook on Tuesday. Preamble: An Anticlimactic Finale The current Ashes battle, arguably the most disappointing series in the 144 years since Fred Spofforth made history at The Oval, is heading for a appropriate end. Australia are poised 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 experience, discipline, discipline, ability and Travis Head. His bold 123 at Perth hurt England that have yet to mend; 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 continue on 129 after making a century that looked certain even before he faced his first ball. Australia, despite a number of flaws in their team, have won the series with an simplicity that is hard to understand. Maybe that's an Pommy outlook. It's not Australia's fault that England failed to turn up – even if, on some level, they probably desired a greater challenge. The final act will be administered either this evening or tomorrow. There's a chance of a one-sided finish when England bat, just as there was in the last knock of 2013-14 and 2021-22. Their bodies are weary, their confidence shattered, their spirit dented. It's nearly time for everyone to go home.
It’s another early start today, featuring an extended morning session of two and a half hours to compensate for some of the time lost on the first day. The players are preparing to take the field.
A Sea of Pink and a Display of Dominance They do things well in Australia. On the first day of this fifth Test came a appropriate remembrance to the sufferers and heroes of the Bondi atrocity, and on the third day the Sydney Cricket Ground was turned into a sea of pink to once again raise funds for the McGrath Foundation. On the field of play, though, Australian benevolence was in far shorter supply. Across three sessions their batters ground England’s bowlers into the dust, dispelling any doubts about their motivation since securing the Ashes and posing a few more concerning their beaten opponents. Looking drained after the toil, Ben Stokes and his team trudged off at stumps seeing pink elephants. Steve Smith’s century number thirty-seven, 129 not out from 205 balls, had succeeded the second half 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.
Legendary Critique The legendary Neil Harvey, 97, gave his views in a engaging interview. I've been disappointed in England. I think the way they tackle the batting side of things, they get too reckless, nobody seems to want to play a long 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 relatively quickly, and everyone gets a lot of pleasure out of it, but when you try to play this aggressive approach it lessens the probability of winning an important Test. I'd like to see them rein themselves in.
A Tough Introduction Shortly after the start of a somewhat cloudy morning at the Sydney Cricket Ground, Matt Potts came into the England attack from the Randwick End, and immediately began running through his different deliveries. His first ball was full and wide and hammered through cover by Travis Head. His second ball was both back of a length and outside off and hacked over gully by Travis Head. His third ball was on a good length and driven past midwicket by Travis Head. His fourth ball was negotiated with a show of studious defense, to raucous, sarcastic applause from a crowd that had begun to get involved. A tough initiation, Pottsy. And yes, it's always like this around here.
Scaling the Ashes Mountain There was a time, while Steve Smith was at the pinnacle of his batting skill, when “best since Bradman” was used with certainty. The thing about that line is that even when the recipient has reigned supreme for years, it gets applied 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 blend of those phases, though, took him to a exceptional position on the third day. In the annals of the game there are landmarks, then there are peaks. For a long time in Smith's Ashes-heavy 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 climb. Jack Hobbs's 3,636 runs against Australia is the one he overtook on Tuesday.
Preamble: An Anticlimactic Finale The current Ashes battle, arguably the most disappointing series in the 144 years since Fred Spofforth made history at The Oval, is heading for a appropriate end. Australia are poised 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 experience, discipline, discipline, ability and Travis Head. His bold 123 at Perth hurt England that have yet to mend; 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 continue on 129 after making a century that looked certain even before he faced his first ball. Australia, despite a number of flaws in their team, have won the series with an simplicity that is hard to understand. Maybe that's an Pommy outlook. It's not Australia's fault that England failed to turn up – even if, on some level, they probably desired a greater challenge. The final act will be administered either this evening or tomorrow. There's a chance of a one-sided finish when England bat, just as there was in the last knock of 2013-14 and 2021-22. Their bodies are weary, their confidence shattered, their spirit dented. It's nearly time for everyone to go home.