The Baggy Greens v The Three Lions – The Final Ashes Test, The Fourth Day: Action Unfolds

Events are handled superbly in Australia. This fifth Test commenced with a appropriate remembrance to the victims and first responders of the Bondi atrocity, and on the third day the Sydney Cricket Ground was turned into a ocean of pink to once again raise funds for the McGrath Foundation.

On the field of play, though, Australian generosity was in far shorter supply. Across three sessions their batsmen dominated the English bowling, addressing any queries about their drive since securing the Ashes and throwing up a few more concerning their defeated rivals.

Faces flush from the ordeal, Ben Stokes and his team departed at stumps seeing pink elephants. Steve Smith’s 37th Test century, 129 not out from 205 balls, had followed the latter part of Travis Head’s sizzling 163 from 166, and with it Australia had attained 518 for seven from 124 overs. The lead stood at 134 runs overnight and looked an ominous one.

The famed Neil Harvey, 97, gave his views in a delightful 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 build an innings, like a Cowdrey or a Boycott.

It might work against ordinary teams 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 satisfaction out of it, but when you try to play this Bazball thing it lessens the probability of winning an important Test. I'd like to see them show more restraint.

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 trying out his variations.

His first ball was sprayed down the leg side and smashed through cover by Travis Head. His second ball was both short and wide and hacked over gully by Travis Head. His third ball was back of a length and driven past midwicket by Travis Head. His fourth ball was defended 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.

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 line is that even when the recipient has excelled for years, it gets bestowed too quickly, given the point of comparison is a career spanning twenty years. Lots of players reach the top for a time, no other has stayed as long.

The amalgamation of those phases, though, elevated him to a uncommon 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 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 overtook on Tuesday.

The current Ashes battle, arguably the most anticlimactic series in the 144 years since Fred Spofforth made history at The Oval, is staggering to a suitable finale. Australia are on course to crush England at Sydney and win the series 4-1, a scoreline not even the most one-eyed Pom could dispute.

It's been a triumph of experience, maturity, skill, ability 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 surprisingly ruthless 163 helped Australia to 518 for 7 at the end of day three, a lead of 134. Steve Smith will resume 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 ease that is hard to understand. Maybe that's an Anglocentric view. It's not Australia's fault that England did not show up – even if, on some level, they probably desired a greater challenge.

The concluding chapter 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 final innings of 2013-14 and 2021-22. Their bodies are tired, their confidence shot, their spirit dented. It's nearly time for everyone to go home.