Australia v The Three Lions – Fifth Ashes Test, Day Four: Live Updates

Australia knows how to host an event. This fifth Test commenced with a fitting tribute to the victims and first responders of the Bondi atrocity, and on the third day the Sydney Cricket Ground was transformed into a ocean of pink to once again collect money for the McGrath Foundation.

Between the wickets, however, Australian generosity was in far more limited availability. Across three sessions their batters wore down the English attack, dispelling any doubts about their incentive since securing the Ashes and throwing up a few more concerning their beaten opponents.

Looking drained after the toil, Ben Stokes and his team departed at stumps battle-weary. Steve Smith’s 37th hundred in Tests, 129 not out from 205 balls, had come after the concluding stages of Travis Head’s sizzling 163 from 166, and with it Australia had reached 518 for seven from 124 overs. The lead was 134 runs overnight and looked an threatening one.

The famed Neil Harvey, 97, shared his thoughts 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 play a long innings, like a Cowdrey or a Boycott.

It might work against ordinary teams but when you get a quality outfit like Australia it's a different ballgame. I used to score runs quite rapidly, and everyone gets a lot of enjoyment 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 rein themselves in.

Almost an hour into a quietly overcast morning at the Sydney Cricket Ground, Matt Potts came into the England attack from the Randwick End, and immediately began running through his change-ups.

His first ball was wide and clobbered through cover by Travis Head. His second ball was both short and wide 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. Welcome to the treadmill, Pottsy. And yes, it's always like this around here.

There was a time, while Steve Smith was at the pinnacle of his batting prowess, when “best since Bradman” was used with assurance. The thing about that line is that even when the recipient has dominated for years, it gets applied too quickly, given the point of comparison is a career enduring for 20 years. Lots of players hit their peak for a time, no other has remained there.

The combination of those phases, though, propelled him into a exceptional position on the third day. In the statistics of the game there are landmarks, then there are mountaintops. 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 climb. Jack Hobbs's 3,636 runs against Australia is the one he surpassed on Tuesday.

The latest Ashes series, perhaps the most anticlimactic series in the 144 years since Fred Spofforth caused havoc at The Oval, is heading for a appropriate end. Australia are set to defeat comprehensively England at Sydney and win the series 4-1, a scoreline not even the most partisan Pom could contest.

It's been a triumph of experience, composure, skill, ability and Travis Head. His audacious 123 at Perth hurt England 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 start again on 129 after making a century that looked inevitable 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 comprehend. Maybe that's an Anglocentric view. It's not Australia's fault that England failed to turn up – even if, on some level, they probably wanted a greater challenge.

The last rites will be administered 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 exhausted, their confidence broken, their spirit dented. It's nearly time for everyone to go home.