Australia v England – The Final Ashes Test, Day Four: Live Updates

Australia knows how to host an event. On the first day of this fifth Test came a moving homage 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 generate donations for the McGrath Foundation.

Between the wickets, however, Australian charity was in far shorter supply. Across three sessions their batmen dominated the English bowling, answering any questions about their incentive since securing the Ashes and throwing up a few more regarding their beaten opponents.

Faces flush from the ordeal, Ben Stokes and his team departed at stumps exhausted and overwhelmed. Steve Smith’s 37th hundred in Tests, 129 not out from 205 balls, had followed the second half of Travis Head’s explosive 163 from 166, and with it Australia had reached 518 for seven from 124 overs. The lead sat at 134 runs overnight and looked an ominous one.

The legendary Neil Harvey, 97, offered his perspective in a delightful interview.

I've been let down by 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 class side like Australia it's a completely different proposition. I used to score runs relatively quickly, and everyone gets a lot of pleasure out of it, but when you try to play this Bazball style it lessens the probability of winning an important Test. I'd like to see them pull their hooves in.

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

His first ball was full and wide and smashed through cover by Travis Head. His second ball was both short and wide and slashed over gully by Travis Head. His third ball was back of a length and driven past midwicket by Travis Head. His fourth ball was negotiated with a show of studious defense, to raucous, sarcastic applause from a crowd that had begun to get involved. Welcome to the treadmill, Pottsy. And yes, it's always like this around here.

There was a time, while Steve Smith was at the peak of his batting mastery, when “best since Bradman” was used with assurance. The thing about that description is that even when the recipient has dominated for years, it gets bestowed too quickly, given the point of comparison is a career lasting two decades. Lots of players reach the top for a time, no other has maintained that level.

The combination of those phases, though, elevated him to a rare position on the third day. In the record books of the game there are milestones, then there are mountaintops. For a long time in Smith's Ashes-heavy career there have been two peaks slowly approaching 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 surpassed on Tuesday.

The current Ashes battle, arguably the most disappointing series in the 144 years since Fred Spofforth raised hell at The Oval, is staggering to a appropriate end. Australia are poised to overwhelm England at Sydney and win the series 4-1, a margin not even the most biased Pom could contest.

It's been a triumph of maturity, composure, application, skill and Travis Head. His audacious 123 at Perth hurt England that have yet to mend; four Tests later he is cheerily grinding salt into them. Head's seemingly relentless 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 faultlines 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 final act will be delivered either this evening or tomorrow. There's a chance of a complete blowout when England bat, just as there was in the final innings of 2013-14 and 2021-22. Their bodies are tired, their confidence broken, their spirit dented. It's nearly time for everyone to go home.