Australia v England – Fifth Ashes Test, The Fourth Day: Live Updates

Events are handled superbly in Australia. This fifth Test commenced with a moving homage to the sufferers and heroes of the Bondi tragedy, and on the third day the Sydney Cricket Ground was transformed into a sea of pink to once again raise funds for the McGrath Foundation.

Between the wickets, however, Australian generosity was in far scarcer quantity. Across three sessions their batmen ground England’s bowlers into the dust, answering any questions about their motivation since securing the Ashes and throwing up a few more concerning their vanquished foes.

Visibly weary from the effort, 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 concluding stages of Travis Head’s explosive 163 from 166, and with it Australia had reached 518 for seven from 124 overs. The lead was 134 runs overnight and looked an ominous one.

The renowned Neil Harvey, 97, shared his thoughts in a charming interview.

I've been disappointed in England. I think the way they approach the batting side of things, they get too careless, nobody seems to want to construct a knock, like a Cowdrey or a Boycott.

It might work against ordinary teams but when you get a class side like Australia it's a whole new challenge. I used to score runs at a fair pace, and everyone gets a lot of enjoyment 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 rein themselves in.

Shortly after the start of a gloomy morning at the Sydney Cricket Ground, Matt Potts came into the England attack from the Randwick End, and immediately began running through 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 cut over gully by Travis Head. His third ball was on a good length and smashed past midwicket by Travis Head. His fourth ball was negotiated with a show of concentrated care, to loud, mocking cheers 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 prowess, when “best since Bradman” was used with certainty. The thing about that phrase 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 stayed as long.

The combination of those phases, though, elevated him to a exceptional position on the third day. In the annals of the game there are milestones, then there are peaks. 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, perhaps the most disappointing series in the 144 years since Fred Spofforth raised hell at The Oval, is limping towards a fitting conclusion. Australia are on course to defeat comprehensively England at Sydney and win the series 4-1, a scoreline not even the most one-eyed Pom could argue with.

It's been a triumph of maturity, composure, skill, ability and Travis Head. His daring 123 at Perth opened English wounds 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 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 ease that is hard to understand. Maybe that's an Anglocentric view. It's not Australia's fault that England were not competitive – even if, on some level, they probably craved a greater challenge.

The last rites will be conducted 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 exhausted, their confidence shattered, their spirit crushed. It's nearly time for everyone to go home.