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

Events are handled superbly in Australia. On the first day of this fifth Test came a moving homage to the sufferers and heroes of the Bondi atrocity, and on the third day the Sydney Cricket Ground was transformed into a ocean of pink to once again raise funds for the McGrath Foundation.

Out in the middle, however, Australian benevolence was in far scarcer quantity. Across three sessions their batsmen ground England’s bowlers into the dust, answering any questions about their incentive since securing the Ashes and throwing up a few more about their defeated rivals.

Faces flush from the ordeal, Ben Stokes and his team departed at stumps battle-weary. Steve Smith’s century number thirty-seven, 129 not out from 205 balls, had succeeded the concluding stages of Travis Head’s blistering 163 from 166, and with it Australia had achieved 518 for seven from 124 overs. The lead was 134 runs overnight and looked an ominous one.

The famed Neil Harvey, 97, offered his perspective in a engaging interview.

I've been unimpressed with England. I think the way they handle the batting side of things, they get too careless, nobody seems to want to build an innings, like a Cowdrey or a Boycott.

It might work against average opponents but when you get a class side 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 reduces the chances of winning an important Test. I'd like to see them show more restraint.

Forty-five minutes into 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 outside off stump 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 negotiated with a show of concentrated care, to jeering shouts from a crowd that had begun to tuck into the day. A tough initiation, Pottsy. And yes, it's always like this around here.

There was a time, while Steve Smith was at the pinnacle of his batting skill, when “best since Bradman” was used with confidence. The thing about that description is that even when the recipient has reigned supreme for years, it gets granted too quickly, given the point of comparison is a career spanning twenty years. Lots of players attain greatness for a time, no other has remained there.

The blend of those phases, though, propelled him into 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-heavy 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 scale. Jack Hobbs's 3,636 runs against Australia is the one he ascended on Tuesday.

The current Ashes battle, possibly the most underwhelming series in the 144 years since Fred Spofforth made history at The Oval, is heading for a suitable finale. Australia are poised to crush England at Sydney and win the series 4-1, a scoreline not even the most biased Pom could argue with.

It's been a triumph of experience, discipline, discipline, skill and Travis Head. His audacious 123 at Perth opened English wounds that have yet to recover; four Tests later he is happily compounding their misery. Head's deceptively pitiless 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 certain even before he faced his first ball.

Australia, despite a number of faultlines in their team, have won the series with an simplicity that is hard to comprehend. 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 craved 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 shot, their spirit dented. It's nearly time for everyone to go home.