Stumps: England 302 for 8
England 384 and 302 for 8 (Bethell 142*, Webster 3-51) lead Australia 567 by 119 runs
It's been Jacob Bethell's day at the SCG, and he walks off unbeaten on 142 at the close of play after handshakes from Australia's fielders. He has played quite magnificently for his maiden Test century, at the age of 22... but has not found enough support from his England team-mates to rescue this game, barring a fifth-day miracle tomorrow.
No other England batter reached 50 on a day in which their youngest player showed far more poise and maturity than his more experienced team-mates. Will Jacks (caught in the deep slog-sweeping his second ball) and Jamie Smith (run out after a horrible mix-up) were new entries to the list of England's worst dismissals of the series, and Australia won't be chasing many when they bat again on the final day.
Scott Boland was hugely impressive for them, particularly in his spell to Joe Root after lunch which ended when he trapped him lbw, while Beau Webster's offbreaks were also effective on a day when he reached yet another Test half-century, his fifth in eight Tests. Usman Khawaja will go to sleep dreaming of hitting the winning runs in his farewell match.
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Boland gets Carse
Brydon Carse belts a couple of boundaries from No. 9 but never looks likely to last the night, and can only steer Scott Boland into Steve Smith's grateful hands at slip. Boland has been utterly relentless today, and Australia have eight. England's lead is 114 as Matthew Potts walks out to face his first ball.
14 Steven Smith has taken 14 catches in the field in this series. Only once has a fielder taken more catches in a two-team Test series, over 100 years ago.
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Stokes' struggles
184 Ben Stokes' total run tally in the series, at an average of 18.40 and a strike rate of 36.58.
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...and Stokes walks back!
Beau Webster heater alert #Ashes pic.twitter.com/CXBQutNgbR
— cricket.com.au (@cricketcomau) January 7, 2026
Beau Webster drops short and wide outside off stump, but Stokes is not moving well at all. He has a tame waft, and can only steer to Steve Smith at first slip. Webster has three, and Australia are rampant.
Given the obvious discomfort that Stokes was in, did it really make sense to send him out at No. 8 late in the day rather than pushing him down the order and hoping that he might get a full night of recovery before batting in this innings?
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Stokes walks out
Ben Stokes comes in at No. 8 but is not moving well at all after his right groin strain while bowling early this morning. He struggles to duck underneath a bumper from Labuschagne, then hobbles through for a single at walking pace. England are effectively 83 for 6, and Bethell is going to have to score the bulk of the runs if they are going to set Australia anything remotely defendable.
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Horror mix-up!
Jamie Smith is gone as Jake Weatherald spearheads a wild run out!#Ashes pic.twitter.com/dDmu1tbzZn
— cricket.com.au (@cricketcomau) January 7, 2026
Jacob Bethell works Marnus Labuschagne off his pads and takes a couple of strides down the pitch. It's Jamie Smith's call, but there is a dreadful mix-up which results in Smith scrambling back towards the non-striker's end as Jake Weatherald's throw comes in. Labuschagne gathers, whips off the bails, and tears off in celebration again. Smith's two dismissals in this match have been truly abject.
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Labuschagne to Smith
Some horseplay from Steven Smith as the fourth day heads into its final hour: Marnus Labuschagne comes into the attack to bowl to Jamie Smith with the field set for short stuff - just as it was in England's first innings, when Smith holed out to deep extra cover.
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Reaction to Jacks
Webster gets Jacks second ball!
— 7Cricket (@7Cricket) January 7, 2026
Green takes the catch in the deep!
Wow #Ashes pic.twitter.com/nwrnN4j6NM
Ricky Ponting, Channel 7: “Will Jacks, how do you walk back into that dressing room? It’s a rank slog."
Michael Vaughan, Fox Sports: "I just can't believe the shot I've just seen. It was his second ball and we've just seen a partnership between Bethell and Brook where they had to fight so hard. Then that, second ball..."
Alex Hartley, BBC Sport: "I have seen some stupidity in this Ashes series and that is up there."
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Jacks' howler
What is Will Jacks thinking?!
Australia have two wickets in three balls, and this shot from Jacks rivals Jamie Smith's first-innings dismissal for the worst of the tour. Promoted to No. 6 with Ben Stokes struggling with a groin injury, Jacks takes a wild slog-sweep at his second ball and picks out Cameron Green at deep square leg. That is dreadful batting.
After so much hard work from Bethell, England are effectively 36 for 5.
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Ponting on Bethell
Ricky Ponting on Channel 7:
"What a knock we’ve just witnessed. It’s been flawless, it’s been classy, it’s been brutal at times. Some of his strokeplay has been as good as we’ve seen from anyone. Front and back foot. Navigated his way through the nineties, I can’t imagine what his heart rate would’ve been when he was on ninety-nine...
"We were all saying in the back of the box, use your feet, get down the wicket and he did. Put it on the half-volley, dragged it through the leg side and what a moment for him and all of his family. Tears of joy."
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Webster strikes!
Webster takes the wicket of Brook. #Ashes2025 #AUSvENG #ashes #SCG pic.twitter.com/i4HzMkdDfF
— Robert Cianflone (@Sportsnapper71) January 7, 2026
Wow. That's a huge moment!
Beau Webster, bowling his offbreaks, gets one to turn a mile which pins Harry Brook on the pad as he shapes to defend off the back foot. Webster isn't convinced, but Alex Carey convinces Steven Smith that it's worth sending upstairs and ball-tracking projects that the ball would have gone on to hit the top of leg stump. Australia erupt, and a fourth-wicket stand worth 102 in 116 balls has come to an end.
Australia might not have picked a specialist spinner, but Webster is showing that there is something on offer on a day-four pitch.
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Bethell gets there in style
A maiden Test century for Jacob Bethell! What a way to do it #Ashes | #PlayoftheDay | @nrmainsurance pic.twitter.com/lXSUViEVrR
— cricket.com.au (@cricketcomau) January 7, 2026
After facing seven dots on 99, Jacob Bethell skips down and swings Beau Webster's offbreak over midwicket for four to reach his century. He gets a standing ovation from the SCG crowd, but looks the epitome of calm as he celebrates reaching three figures. He keeps chewing his gum for a couple of strides, before high-fiving Harry Brook and shouting "come on!"
His family look emotional in the stands, as he acknowledges the applause from the crowd. It might not have altered the series scoreline, but how different might things have been for England on this tour if they had picked him at No. 3 from the outset, ahead of Ollie Pope?
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Bethell on 99
A single run cannot have felt further away for Jacob Bethell... he has spent 15 balls within a boundary of a first Test hundred, and have faced five dots on 99. His family are watching nervously in the stands, and England have only scored seven runs in the last four overs. A game within a game!
England lead
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Jacob Bethell steers Michael Neser out into the off side for a single which takes England into the lead, having driven him crisply through cover earlier in an expensive over after tea. Bethell and Harry Brook are rotating the strike freely, and Australia will have to bat again. They look a little worn down after a hot day in the field.
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Tea: England 174 for 3
England 384 and 174 for 3 (Bethell 79*, Brook 24*) trail Australia 567 by nine runs
94 runs and two wickets in the session: Ben Duckett chopped on trying to force Michael Neser away through the off side, and Joe Root was pinned lbw by Scott Boland after failing to score a single run off the first 23 balls he had faced from him during a brilliant spell after lunch.
But Jacob Bethell and Harry Brook have put on 57 in just nine overs, with Bethell closing in on what would be not only his maiden Test hundred, but his first hundred in all first-class cricket. He has looked superb this afternoon, and has already overtaken Ollie Pope for series runs. How England must regret their decision to persevere with Pope after Bethell's early success in New Zealand in late 2024...
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Penalty runs
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5p
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That's a rare sight on our ball-by-ball commentary: England are awarded five penalty runs, as Alex Carey fumbles a short ball which dips late on him and dribbles into the helmet stationed nearby. Cameron Green's over costs 14 runs in all, as Harry Brook edges another short one over Carey for four. All of a sudden, England's fourth-wicket pair have added 40 in just five overs, with a major release of pressure after the end of Scott Boland's spell.
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A tight call
Joe Root wasn't sure, but what did you make of this review?#Ashes | #DRSChallenge @Westpac pic.twitter.com/qViOJlaj9h
— cricket.com.au (@cricketcomau) January 7, 2026
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Boland gets Root
A huge moment in the match. Joe Root can only laugh as the umpire's call is upheld. He was struck high on the pad by Scott Boland and given out on-field by Chris Gaffaney, and ball-tracking suggested that the ball would have gone on to shave the top of the stumps. Root is clearly frustrated, and Boland has got him for the first time in the series. He has been brilliant since lunch, with 1 for 5 in four overs in this spell.
Root's series ends with exactly 400 runs. He played superbly for his 138 not out at the Gabba and his 160 in the first innings this week. But his other eight innings brought him just 102 runs - a feast or famine series, with only one score between 20 and 137.
We will probably see Root in Australia again. England are due back in November for three ODIs (and five T20Is, though Root is no longer involved in that set-up) and then again in March 2027 for the one-off, 150th anniversary Test. But there is every chance that we have seen him bat in an away Ashes Test for the final time.
Root turned 35 shortly before this Test and history suggests that he is unlikely to continue for too much longer: the last time that an England batter scored a Test hundred aged 36 or older was Nasser Hussain in 2004.
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Ironman Starc
The wickets have not quite come at the same rate for Mitchell Starc in the last couple of Tests – although he struck in a first over for the 27th time earlier today - but Australia’s ironman has continued to hurtle in, writes Andrew McGlashan. A bouncer to Jacob Bethell after lunch on day four was clocked at 91mph/147kph and his average speed for the series is 88mph/142kph.
Travis Head’s three centuries have made it a close-run thing for the Compton-Miller medal – awarded to the player of the series - but Starc would be a worthy winner having played defining roles in two live Tests in Perth and Brisbane.
He needs one more wicket to reach 30 in the series. Only twice before for Australia has a bowler reached that mark in a Test series and scored at least two 50+ scores alongside it, and it would be just the ninth occasion for any team. Starc didn’t need a career-defining performance, but it would certainly be one.
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Bethell 50
Jacob Bethell gets up on his toes to play a rasping back-cut off Mitchell Starc to reach his first Ashes half-century, and his fourth in Tests. He has had to fight hard, walking out in the first over of England's second innings with a big deficit and getting hit on the helmet by a Cameron Green bouncer but has played fluently, particularly through cover-point.
Bethell achieved something that his predecessor at No. 3 Ollie Pope never has last week when he was involved in an Ashes win. Now, unlike Pope, he can say that he has scored an Ashes fifty, too.
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Root battling
Joe Root is clinging on for dear life. Scott Boland has got the ball doing all sorts, and convinces Steven Smith to take a review as his nip-backer flicks the knee roll and goes near the glove on its way through. Root survives, but is beaten on the outside edge by Boland's next ball and pinned by another nip-backer two balls later. This is a gripping contest.
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Will Stokes bat?
Ben Stokes is watching on from the England dressing-room balcony, wearing training kit and Birkenstocks. He doesn't look like a man who is waiting to bat at No. 6, given England's No. 4 is already in the middle. In case you missed it earlier, Stokes left the field midway through his second over of the morning with an apparent groin strain and has been assessed by England's medical staff.
Stokes barely plays any cricket outside of England's Test schedule these days - his most recent game in any other format was in August 2024, when he tore his hamstring playing for Northern Superchargers - so will likely bat at some stage despite his injury. But it looks as though he will give himself as long as possible to recover before hobbling in, which is also the indication from the England camp.
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Duckett chops on
Ben Duckett's series with the bat is over. Michael Neser hits a length in the channel outside off stump, offering no width, and Duckett looks to force him away through the covers with half a bat. The ball shapes in, cramping him for room, skews off the inside edge and clatters into the stumps.
Duckett looks furious to have missed out on his first half-century of the tour and whacks his pad with his bat on his way off. He finishes the series with 202 runs in 10 innings, and has endured a truly miserable run of form across formats since the end of the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy in the English summer.
Ben Duckett's last 24 innings across formats:
— Matt Roller (@mroller98) January 7, 2026
The Hundred: 0, 20, 7, 11, 11, 5, 49*, 20.
ODIs vs SA: 5, 14, 31.
ODIs vs NZ: 2, 1, 8.
The Ashes: 21, 28, 0, 15, 29, 4, 2, 34, 27, 42.
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Lunch: England 80 for 1
England 384 and 80 for 1 (Duckett 40*, Bethell 28*) trail Australia 567 by 103 runs
Whisper it quietly, but that was a pretty good session for England: they took the last three Australian wickets within 10 overs, and Ben Duckett and Jacob Bethell have added an unbroken 76 for the second wicket after the early loss of Zak Crawley to Mitchell Starc.
But there is one major blemish on it in the shape of a groin injury for their captain, Ben Stokes, who was unable to complete his second over of the morning and is being assessed and treated by England's medical staff. It remains to be seen if he'll be available to bat - and perhaps more pertinently, whether he'll be able to run between the wickets with any kind of freedom.
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Green drops Duckett
The chance goes down! Michael Neser finds some steep bounce from a good length and strikes Duckett on the glove. The ball balloons up into the cordon, towards Steven Smith at first slip, but Cameron Green at second tumbles across him and shells the catch. A life for Duckett on 38, shortly before lunch.
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Bethell struck
Oh that is a nasty one! Jacob Bethell was rocked by this one from Cameron Green. #Ashes pic.twitter.com/pyuM3iaA5m
— cricket.com.au (@cricketcomau) January 7, 2026
Ouch. Cameron Green bowls a steep bouncer which rears up off the pitch and pings off Jacob Bethell's helmet before looping up and over the slip cordon and down to the third man boundary. There's a longish delay while Bethell gets a concussion check and changes his helmet, and Green follows up with another sharp short ball. Bethell sways inside the line.
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Duckett's best
Ben Duckett pulls Cameron Green for two fours in front of square, then nails a cover drive in Green's subsequent over to move to 37 - his highest score of the series. This has been a miserable tour for Duckett, both on and off the field, but he has shaped up well today.
It is an important innings for him, too, given he does not have any time off the treadmill anytime soon: he will arrive in Sri Lanka in 11 days' time for a white-ball tour which leads into the T20 World Cup, then is due at the IPL for the first time with Delhi Capitals shortly after that before the start of England's home summer in June.
Bethell, Duckett bed in
It is a curiosity of Jacob Bethell's early experiences in Test cricket that he performs far better in the second innings than the first. His highest first-innings score in his first six Tests is just 16, but this is the fifth time that he has scored more than that in the second innings.
He has shaped up well so far, pinging Michael Neser through the covers for four, and his partnership with Ben Duckett has lasted more than 10 overs already. It felt like this game might be done in a hurry when Crawley was out in the first over, but England are digging in.
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The Starc effect
Another almost-record low: Crawley and Duckett have added 191 in 10 innings in this series. Only one pair who opened together that many times in a series have done worse - John Dyson and Graeme Wood, who mustered only 186 in 10 innings in the 1981 Ashes.
— Association of Cricket Statisticians & Historians (@ACScricket) January 7, 2026
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Lee slams England preparation
Brett Lee managed to play 76 Tests in his international career despite the back-breaking work of consistently hitting 150kph and has been consistently critical of England's inability to prepare their fast bowlers for the rigours of an Ashes tour in this series. He has continued that on Fox Cricket after Stokes' injury this morning:
"I'm doubling down on what I've said about [England's] preparation leading into a Test series. Fast bowlers have to be able to bowl all five Tests, simple as that.
"It's Test cricket, a test of your endurance and pain threshold, it's hard work and England's bowlers have tried their hardest, there's no doubt about it.
"But I think sometimes when they come in a little bit underdone with not the work under their belt that they needed, that's to me why we've seen so many injuries."
Of the five seamers that England picked for the first Test in Perth, three have gone home injured - Mark Wood (knee), Jofra Archer (side) and Gus Atkinson (hamstring) - and now Stokes is struggling with his adductor. Brydon Carse is the last man standing for them.
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Starc's perfect starts
Update the list!
— 7Cricket (@7Cricket) January 7, 2026
It's now 27 times Mitchell Starc has taken a wicket in the first over of an innings...
The third time he's done it to Zak Crawley, and the fourth time it's happened this series #Ashes pic.twitter.com/ThNqDbyWLF
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England's opening woes
It really has been a grim series to be an England opener. They have only made it past the third over unscathed four times in ten innings, and have never made it past the eighth. Zak Crawley and Ben Duckett's partnerships now read: 0, 0, 5, 48, 37, 4, 7, 51, 35, 4. It is incredible to think that they were considered one of England's strengths when they arrived in Australia two months ago.
Crawley has had a bizarre series. He bagged a pair in Perth, played one classy innings in both Brisbane and Adelaide, and finished the Boxing Day Test as England's leading scorer on the tour. But his final tally of 273 runs in 10 innings tells the story of his Test career and leaves his place vulnerable - especially in the event that England start their home summer with a new managing director, coach or captain.
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Starc in the first over
Wicket No. 29 in the series for Mitchell Starc as Zak Crawley's review does not save him. Starc angles one across Crawley but it shapes back in and hits him high on the pad as he shoulders arms, and ball-tracking projects that the ball would have clipped the top of off stump. This could be over in a hurry...
4 Times in the series that England have lost a wicket in the first over of an innings.
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Australia lead by 183
Beau Webster is stranded on 71 not out as Australia lose their last two wickets in a hurry: Mitchell Starc has his leg stump knocked back by Josh Tongue, and Scott Boland edges his first ball to slip off Will Jacks. Australia are bowled out for 567, the highest total of the series, and England will need to score 183 just to make Australia bat again.
Some ugly bowling figures for England, particularly Matthew Potts - unused this morning - who finishes with 0 for 141 from his 25 overs on Ashes debut.
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Stokes update
England spokesperson: "Ben Stokes is currently being assessed for a right adductor complaint. We will provide an update when more information is available."
Not good news for the England captain. It remains to be seen whether he is able to bat in England's second innings, and he may be pushed down to No. 7 regardless if Australia can drag their first innings out for a while longer. Here is the relevant playing condition from the ICC:
24.2.3 If a player is absent from the field for longer than 8 minutes, the following restrictions shall apply to their future participation in the match:
24.2.3.2 The player shall not be permitted to bat in the match until his team’s batting innings has been in progress for the length of playing time that is equal to the unexpired Penalty time carried forward from the previous innings. However, once his side has lost five wickets in its batting innings, he may bat immediately. If any unexpired penalty time remains at the end of that batting innings, it is carried forward to the next and subsequent innings of the match.
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Smith nicks off
Breaking: Steven Smith is finally out.
He has been in complete control of this Test match since walking out at No. 5 yesterday, but gets a snorter from Josh Tongue which nips away to take the outside edge on its way through to Jamie Smith behind the stumps. He gets a big ovation on his way off, but there's no thought of a declaration from Australia as yet and Mitchell Starc walks in as low as No. 10 to join him. Australia lead by 167 and will keep grinding England down.
4 Josh Tongue has dismissed Steven Smith four times in five innings in Tests, the only exception being his 24 not out in the second innings at the MCG last week.
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Beefy vs Baz
This looks like a frank exchange of views between Brendon McCullum and Ian Botham, who took particular objection to England's preparation - or lack thereof - before the first Test in Perth. Here's a flavour of what Botham has had to say on Triple M Radio while commentating on this series:
"I would say that [preparation] was a massive part of the equation, yes. Perth, for instance, the ball always appears quicker there because of the air and there’s the brightness of the sun, and there’s so many things you have to take it into account. Playing around [at Lilac Hill] and just knocking the ball about, that was just a nonsense. Complete nonsense.
"They should have played at least three warm-up games. They try and tell us ‘oh, we’ve got too much cricket’: you haven’t got too much cricket at all, and that’s been proven by the bowlers. The bowlers aren’t match fit."
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Stokes injury scare
It was the only thing missing from the bingo card last night: Ben Stokes has left the field midway through his second over of the day, biting his collar and wincing in pain as he walks off for treatment on what looks like a right groin injury.
Stokes flogging himself to the point of injury has become a familiar story, sadly. This would be the fifth Test series in a row that he has failed to complete, and he doesn't play any other cricket these days. He missed England's series against Sri Lanka and their first Test in Pakistan last year with a hamstring injury, then picked up another one in his 37th over of their third Test in New Zealand. He then missed the fifth Test against India in their home summer with a shoulder injury, and has now left the field and handed the captaincy to Harry Brook in Australia.
It is a worrying trend for Stokes, whose body is no longer responding in the way he would like it to at the age of 34.
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50 for Webster
Beau Webster works Ben Stokes away for a single through mid-on which takes him to 50, his fifth half-century in only his eighth Test. It has been a strange summer for Webster, who has spent a lot of time on the field as 12th man after doing very little wrong in his previous seven appearances, but he has been impressive on his return to the side.
This is the first - and quite possibly the last - time that he has batted as low as No. 9 in first-class cricket, pushed down by the nightwatchman, but he has a fantastic opportunity to press his case for further inclusion with a maiden Test hundred here - not least with Cameron Green's spot under sustained scrutiny through this series.
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England's Overton window
Jamie Overton would likely have been playing in Sydney ahead of Matthew Potts this week had he not decided to put his red-ball career on hold towards the end of the English summer. He was in action at Adelaide Oval last night, hitting speeds of 90mph/145kph and winning Player of the Match against Sydney Thunder...
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A Sydney scorcher
Steven Smith is set to resume on 129 this morning with Beau Webster for company on a baking-hot day in Sydney. Smith laid out a simple gameplan for Australia last night as they look to build on an overnight lead of 134, with three first-innings wickets in hand:
"Slug [Webster] came out and batted beautifully... Hopefully, we can put a little partnership together in the morning, get up over a 200 lead and the wicket starts to play a few more tricks."
Smith was at his theatrical best on day three, with all his usual mannerisms and eccentricities. He also revealed how much he had enjoyed batting in the slipstream of Travis Head, who said last night that he thinks it "likely" he will continue as an opener after three centuries in this series.
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