The Baggy Greens v England – The Final Ashes Test, Day Four: Action Unfolds

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 atrocity, 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.

Between the wickets, however, Australian generosity was in far scarcer quantity. Across three sessions their batters wore down the English attack, addressing any queries about their drive since securing the Ashes and posing a few more regarding their beaten opponents.

Visibly weary from the effort, Ben Stokes and his team trudged off at stumps battle-weary. Steve Smith’s century number thirty-seven, 129 not out from 205 balls, had followed the concluding stages of Travis Head’s sizzling 163 from 166, and with it Australia had achieved 518 for seven from 124 overs. The lead sat at 134 runs overnight and looked an threatening one.

The renowned Neil Harvey, 97, gave his views 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 construct a knock, like a Cowdrey or a Boycott.

It might work against lesser sides 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 aggressive approach it takes the odds away from winning an important Test. I'd like to see them rein themselves in.

Almost an hour 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 utilizing his change-ups.

His first ball was sprayed down the leg side and hammered through cover by Travis Head. His second ball was both short outside off stump and cut over gully by Travis Head. His third ball was back of a length and smashed past midwicket by Travis Head. His fourth ball was defended with a show of concentrated care, to raucous, sarcastic applause from a crowd that had begun to tuck into the day. Welcome to the treadmill, Pottsy. And yes, it's always like this around here.

There was a time, while Steve Smith was at the height of his batting prowess, when “best since Bradman” was used with assurance. The thing about that line is that even when the recipient has excelled 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 blend of those phases, though, took him to a exceptional position on the third day. In the statistics of the game there are milestones, then there are summits. 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 climb. Jack Hobbs's 3,636 runs against Australia is the one he ascended on Tuesday.

The latest Ashes series, perhaps the most disappointing series in the 144 years since Fred Spofforth raised hell at The Oval, is staggering to a suitable finale. Australia are poised to defeat comprehensively England at Sydney and win the series 4-1, a result not even the most partisan Pom could argue with.

It's been a triumph of maturity, discipline, skill, talent and Travis Head. His audacious 123 at Perth exposed English frailties that have yet to heal; 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 flaws in their team, have won the series with an simplicity that is hard to fathom. 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 wanted a greater challenge.

The concluding chapter will be administered either this evening or tomorrow. There's a chance of a complete blowout when England bat, just as there was in the last knock of 2013-14 and 2021-22. Their bodies are weary, their confidence broken, their spirit dented. It's nearly time for everyone to go home.