Stumps: Australia 518 for 7
A day of dominance from Australia. They lead by 134. A few dismissals they'll regret, but they are in a superb position through the centuries from Travis Head and Steven Smith. A lot of toil for England. They aren't completely out of it yet, but it's a long way back from here. Australia will want to push the lead towards 200 in the morning as the pitch is unlikely to be easy batting last.
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Australia build, and build
It's been a pretty grim day for England, although effort hasn't been lacking. Australia's lead is now over 100 with both Steve Smith and Beau Webster keen to come back tomorrow.
A nugget from Sampath: Seven fifty-plus partnerships in Australia's innings so far, the second-most in a Test innings, behind the eight by India against England at The Oval in 2007.
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Smith tons up
To stay it has felt inevitable would be to downplay how hard Steve Smith has worked, but it was little surprise when he brought up his 37th Test hundred - and 13th against England - with a paddle-sweep against Jacob Bethell late on the third day. There was a prolonged ovation from the crowd and Smith soaked it up, acknowledging all corners of the stadium. He didn't get a hundred in the 2021-22 series, so it's his first in a home Ashes since 2017-18. It's also the first time Smith and Joe Root have scored hundreds in the same Test.
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Green fails to cash in
The post around 20 minutes ago has not aged particularly well. Cameron Green has pulled a short ball to deep square leg where Ben Duckett has held on. Green had reached 37 and against an attack on its knees and a ball getting soft, he's left plenty out there. Green's position appears likely to be one of those debated intensely ahead of Australia's return to Test cricket in August. Alex Malcolm wrote about Green before the Test
That he's got started in four of his six innings has only added to the frustration. For so long the criticism has been that Green is a nervous starter. But those starts have only added to his nerves it seems. The missed opportunities in Perth and Brisbane, which were his only two innings in over a month between his last Sheffield Shield game before the Ashes and the third Test in Adelaide, saw him become nervous about not converting another start. It was evident in Adelaide and Melbourne that he was almost paralysed by that fear, leading to a quartet of bizarre dismissals, the nadir of which was running himself out on Boxing Day to gift England a freebie on a pitch where no freebies were needed.
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Right out of the coaching manual...
Did Bradman do it the same way?
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Green settling
This is an important innings for Cameron Green at the end of a lean series and he's starting to settle in against a weary England attack. He has used his power and long levers (he's tall, you know) to pull Ben Stokes over deep square leg for six. The stand with Steve Smith is building at a good pace as Australia extend their lead, with Smith closing in on his century having becoming the second highest run-scorer in Ashes history.
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Head reflects on hundred
Travis Head spoke to Fox Cricket during the tea interval. Here are some highlights
On making 600 runs for the series
"It's probably 400 more than I expected. [A] new role obviously in this series. Felt like I'm batting well. Nothing's ever guaranteed but, yeah, I just want to try and be as consistent as I can be. No doubt at the start of the series I wouldn't think that I'd peel together three hundreds and be 600. It's normally Smithy or Marnus and I sort of come in and peel them off at the end and put the cherry on top. But, yeah, it's been nice to lead, I guess, from the front a little bit and take a bit of ownership.
And I'm just pleased with where I've been getting in, getting big scores. So, again, today with the position that we're in on a wicket that looks like it would deteriorate in the first innings is so important. So, yeah, to be able to do a job in the fifth test of the summer as well, we haven't played a lot of cricket,
but mentally when you're going into these things and you're prepping up for it, you want to perform throughout the whole series. So, again, it's very pleasing to be able to get some runs in the last test as well.
On first SCG century
"I've tripled my runs at the SCG. It's always a tricky place to play, I think, at five. It's been a slow wicket, a flatter wicket. Normally coming in ... we're sort of 3for 300 and I've always found that quite difficult to then try to push the tempo of the game.
I think my only real score here was against South Africa a few years ago where I come in and sort of chanced my arm a bit. So, yeah, it's a place that I've found difficult to sort of push that style. And I think opening the batting here it's like new ball, [and a] really good wicket. Nice to be able to make the most of it.
"But pleasing, [it's] to such a cool place to sort of tick off and be on the board with a couple of the other guys is always a nice thing.
"I'm looking at the [honours] board and Uzzi's got three on the bounce and Smudge's got a handful of them. There's some pretty cool names on that board, and it's nice. There's still heaps of gaps, so it doesn't look like they'll change the board for any time soon. So my name will stay there a little bit until they get a fresh one. So, yeah, that's a cool moment."
On England's tactics to him
"I sort of take the approach of [being] a bit of a moving target. I'll move a lot around the crease. I'll just stand outside leg and try and give [them] not as much room to bowl down the leg side. I've got out and caught down the leg side a few times, so trying to stay as leg side as I possibly can.
I mean, different for different bowlers. I can pull Potts a little bit better because the ball speed's not as high. Someone like Tongue I find really difficult to pull. So playing different styles and then taking my chances where I think's right and put pressure back on them because, one, you can get through it and put time in legs, but also I want to put pressure back on the scoreboard. So there's different times of the game where I want to put pressure on the scoreboard, see if I can get them away from that plan again.
"Sort of got out the back of that, so I'm pretty disappointed to get out, to be honest. I felt like I had 10 overs to get to the new ball ... and I got away from that plan. So I thought I'd done the hard work to sort of then be able to go out and express myself for another 10 overs before the newie. So a bit disappointed to get out when I did."
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Tea: Australia 377 for 6
The game has moved on a bit. Australia are closing in on a lead but England have chipped away. Steven Smith looks very secure and Cameron Green played a perfect cover drive just before the break. The use of Michael Neser as nightwatchman means Beau Webster is at No. 9 and Mitchell Starc at No. 10. Australia could still push towards 500, but England could also be batting again in the last session.
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Not again, Alex!
Some of England's plans have worked in this series. For the third time, they have had Alex Carey taken at leg slip, this time flicking Josh Tongue firmly off his pads to Jacob Bethell. Carey had looked in superb touch until that lapse. It is an area he will need to work, it's certainly not a one-off.
3rd Test, Adelaide
78.2 Glanced off the armpit... straight into the leg trap! No twin tons for Carey! Again Stokes is the inspiration for England, even if it is all too little too late. Banged into the body, manages to get enough life from the deck to hurry the set batter, and Brook pouches it low to his left
4th Test, Melbourne
31.2 Pinged off the pads to leg gully! Carey, one of Australia's main men of the series, falls to the leg trap for the second time in the series! Crawley with the safe hands as Stokes kept aiming full, into the toes, inviting the flick round the corner. England are in business now!
5th Test, Sydney
88.1 Glanced straight to leg slip! Carey falls for it again! Third time in the series! Half volley angled down leg, he plays an instinctive leg glance and flicks it straight to Bethell who is placed there.
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Khawaja departs. Is that it?
Usman Khawaja has fallen lbw to Brydon Carse, missing a full toss that would have taken the base of middle stump. He wasted a review; perhaps you get one in your final Test. The crowd stood to applaud him as he walked off but there was no big wave of the bat around the ground. He may get one more innings. There is an interesting scenario: say, for example, Australia were chasing a small target, would they think of promoting Khawaja to open for a final hit?
Back in the moment, England have a small opening that they must take. Carse's first ball to Alex Carey was a good inswinging yorker but the next delivery was cracked away through point. Australia could be around level, or perhaps in the lead, by tea.
Meanwhile, a great spot by Matt Roller. "Classic Smith, demanding Carse puts his sunnies on the back of his hat at mid-off."
And a stat: Carse's 21 wickets in the series are the joint-most by an England bowler in an away Ashes since James Anderson's 24 in 10/11. Stuart Broad also took 21 in 13/14.
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Smith in the zone
Steven Smith has brought up his half-century from 95 balls with a perfect on drive against Brydon Carse. He knew it was a good one, making a signal with his hand as he struck it and started acknowledging the applause before the ball reached the rope. Earlier in the over he driven a full, wide delivery through point. He'll want to finish the series with a century.
Meanwhile, Michael Vaughan has summed up England's situation on Fox Cricket. “England have gone with a tactic of using their worst two bowlers in this innings with a brand new ball. Twice," he said. This series is currently the third-highest economy rate for England pace bowling in a Test series.
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Second new ball: England's last chance?
We've reached the 80-over mark of Australia's first innings. England have held things pretty well since lunch through a combination of Ben Stokes (see post below), Jacob Bethell and Will Jacks. But they need quick wickets to keep any Australia lead within touching distance. Usman Khawaja, in his final Test, will get a chance to face the new ball, perhaps for the final time. Matthew Potts has been handed it. Can he find a change of fortunes?
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Stokes keeps charging in, because he has to
Ben Stokes has just ticked past 90 overs for the series and is still charging in after lunch, writes Matt Roller. If you had told England at the start of the tour that Stokes would be hitting 85mph/136kph on the third day of the Sydney Test – with 15 wickets at under 23 to his name in the series – then they would probably have assumed the series would still be live. Instead, he is flogging himself with the old ball in a bid to avoid a 4-1 scoreline, with no other bowler capable of offering him any control, with Mark Wood (knee), Jofra Archer (side) and Gus Atkinson (hamstring) all back home recovering from injuries.
Stokes has often looked short of ideas in the field throughout this series but the reality is that he has not had much to work with. Brydon Carse has leaked more than 4.5 runs per over across the tour. Josh Tongue’s effectiveness as a strike bowler is diminished by the fact that he is being asked to control the rate. Matthew Potts has been badly exposed in his first Test for over a year. A combination of Will Jacks and Jacob Bethell is a fairly desperate spin option. And when England have created chances, their sloppy catching has let them down.
As Nasser Hussain told The Cricket Monthly several years ago:
“A captain is pretty much only as good as his side, mainly only as good as his bowling attack, really. A bowling attack can make you look like a fantastic captain... You are pretty much as good as your bowling attack. They are the key ingredients. The rest is about two, five, maybe 10% captaincy.”
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Spin strikes!
They'll be no double hundred for Travis Head. He has been trapped lbw by Jacob Bethell, who started after lunch with his left-arm spin. It is the seventh time Head has fallen between 150 and 175, but he has done his job. Now it's for the middle order to cash in. Bethell's wicket is the 10th for spin in the series, meaning this Ashes now longer has the joint-fewest wickets for spin in a series of at least three matches in Australia.
As Head was cheered off the SCG, Usman Khawaja was greeted by a huge roar as he walked to the crease in his final Test. "Thank you, Usman Khawaja," was displayed on the big screen.
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Vote...
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Lunch: Australia 281 for 3
Travis Head's session. Again. He's gone large, and Australia are threatening to. So far Head has contributed 57.65% of the total. England have been all over the place, although have been a little better since Steven Smith came to the crease.
They could have removed Smith moments before the interval, but Zak Crawley couldn't hold onto a sharp chance at leg slip. The 15th drop of the series from England. That was followed by No. 16 in the final over of the session when Will Jacks couldn't hold a stinging return chance when Head crunched a drive.
Still 15 overs until the second new ball which could be their last chance to stay on even terms in this innings. There's a massive score on offer for Head if he can maintain his concentration. His career best is 175 against West Indies in Adelaide.
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From Sampath: Travis Head has converted seven of his 12 Test hundreds into 150+ scores. Only three batters had more 150+ scores across their first twelve hundreds - eight by Donald Bradman, Zaheer Abbas and Virender Sehwag, while Dennis Amiss converted eight of his eleven. Among Australians, only Bradman (8) and Steve Waugh (7) had seven or more 150+ scores across their first 12 Test hundreds before Head.
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Heading for a repeat?
Are there vibes of 2017-18 Sydney Ashes Test? On that occasion, England made 346 and Australia went miles past them with centuries from the Marsh brothers and Usman Khawaja. It was brutal for England. Look at some of those bowling figures.
Back in 2026, Matthew Potts' century has come up in his 16th over after Travis Head launched him for six.
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England out of reviews
England have used up their three reviews by the 53rd over with Australia two down. And two of them have been burnt against Michael Neser. There was a caught behind appeal early in the day when Neser hit the ground, and a few moments ago they used their last when Brydon Carse pinned Neser with a yorker. Carse pleaded with Ben Stokes to go upstairs, and it had it toe first. The problem was it stuck him outside the line. England couldn't believe it. They have also felt in necessary to resort to a short-ball field to the nightwatchman. We aren't at lunch, and it's going massively pear-shaped for England
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A full set
And additional note from Sampath on our stats team: four other players also scored Test hundreds at seven different venues in Australia - Steve Waugh, Justin Langer, Matthew Hayden and David Warner.
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From bad to worse
This could become a shocker for England. To compound the wayward bowling (Ben Stokes excepted), Will Jacks has now dropped a clanger on the deep to give Travis Head a life. England had spread the field far and wide fro Brydon Carse, but Head was in no mood to pull back. He took a short ball, top edging to Jacks at deep midwicket. He got under the chance, but his hands were in front of his face and it burst through them. Jacks will have wanted the ground to open up and swallow him. When he cleanly fielded a ball at cover a couple of overs later there were ironic cheers from the crowd. It could be a long day for him.
Meanwhile, Michael Neser moved into double figures from his 62nd delivery when he pulled through struggling Potts through the leg side.
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Potts' struggles
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It's been a tough return for Matthew Potts and his first over of the third day summed it up. His first three balls were crashed over cover, carved down to deep third and pulled through midwicket. After the over his figures read: 8-0-72-0. Eye-watering stuff. It's been a theme of England's bowling throughout the series that they've struggled to land two balls in the same spot. This is already feeling like a long day in the field for the visitors.
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Head's Ashes
3 Centuries in the series for Travis Head
Twenty-five minutes into the third day, Travis Head has brought up his 12th Test century and third of this season. It came with a crunching square drive from just his 105th delivery faced and he celebrated in trademark style: helmet placed on top of his bat handle as the crowd once to applaud him. It's been a spectacular series for Head amid his promotion to open the batting. He was already the first batter since Steven Smith in 2019 to pass 500 runs in an Ashes, and now he's the first since Smith in that same series to have three centuries. Five of his hundreds have come against England.
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Another opening bat-off?
Jake Weatherald played his part in a handy opening stand of 57 yesterday - his third half-century partnership with Travis Head this series - but fell for 21 having been given two lives. Australia don't play Test cricket again until August after this game. It feels like we are heading back into familiar areas.
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Head in sight of third century, eyes on SCG pitch
Hello everyone and welcome to day three from the SCG. It's Pink Day, raising money for the McGrath Foundation. It's always a fantastic occasion.
Travis Head will resuming needing nine runs for his third century of the series. He is already beyond 500 for the Ashes. England bowled poorly to him, again, and he took advantage. But there have been signs that batting won't get any easier on this surface. Michael Neser was struck late in the day by one that lifted sharply. Steve Smith spoke of the cracks on the opening day and they could play a significant part. Australia are still over 200 behind. A lead for either side will be vital.
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