The Baggy Greens v The Three Lions – The Final Ashes Test, Day Four: Action Unfolds

Australia knows how to host an event. The opening day of this final Test featured a moving homage to the sufferers and heroes of the Bondi incident, and on the third day the Sydney Cricket Ground was became a sea of pink to once again raise funds for the McGrath Foundation.

Between the wickets, however, Australian benevolence was in far scarcer quantity. Across three sessions their batsmen ground England’s bowlers into the dust, dispelling any doubts about their incentive since securing the Ashes and posing a few more regarding their vanquished foes.

Visibly weary from the effort, Ben Stokes and his team trudged off at stumps battle-weary. Steve Smith’s 37th hundred in Tests, 129 not out from 205 balls, had succeeded the latter part of Travis Head’s sizzling 163 from 166, and with it Australia had reached 518 for seven from 124 overs. The lead stood at 134 runs overnight and looked an ominous one.

The renowned Neil Harvey, 97, offered his perspective in a charming interview.

I've been let down by England. I think the way they handle 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 average opponents but when you get a top-tier team like Australia it's a completely different proposition. I used to score runs relatively quickly, and everyone gets a lot of satisfaction out of it, but when you try to play this aggressive approach it takes the odds away from winning an important Test. I'd like to see them show more restraint.

Almost an hour into 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 different deliveries.

His first ball was wide and hammered through cover by Travis Head. His second ball was both back of a length and outside off and slashed 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 jeering shouts 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 prowess, when “best since Bradman” was used with certainty. The thing about that description is that even when the recipient has dominated for years, it gets granted too quickly, given the point of comparison is a career lasting two decades. Lots of players attain greatness for a time, no other has maintained that level.

The combination of those phases, though, propelled him into a uncommon position on the third day. In the record books of the game there are achievements, then there are peaks. For a long time in Smith's Ashes-heavy career there have been two peaks looming ever nearer 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 overtook on Tuesday.

The latest Ashes series, perhaps the most disappointing series in the 144 years since Fred Spofforth made history at The Oval, is staggering to a suitable finale. Australia are set to defeat comprehensively England at Sydney and win the series 4-1, a result not even the most partisan Pom could dispute.

It's been a triumph of know-how, discipline, discipline, skill and Travis Head. His daring 123 at Perth exposed English frailties that have yet to recover; 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 resume on 129 after making a century that looked inevitable even before he faced his first ball.

Australia, despite a number of faultlines in their team, have won the series with an comfort that is hard to understand. Maybe that's an Anglocentric view. It's not Australia's fault that England did not show up – even if, on some level, they probably desired a greater challenge.

The last rites will be administered either this evening or tomorrow. There's a chance of a complete blowout when England bat, just as there was in the concluding effort of 2013-14 and 2021-22. Their bodies are exhausted, their confidence shot, their spirit broken. It's nearly time for everyone to go home.