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

Australia knows how to host an event. The opening day of this final Test featured a appropriate remembrance to the sufferers and heroes of the Bondi tragedy, and on the third day the Sydney Cricket Ground was turned into a wave of pink to once again collect money for the McGrath Foundation.

Between the wickets, however, Australian charity was in far shorter supply. Across three sessions their batters dominated the English bowling, dispelling any doubts about their drive since securing the Ashes and posing a few more regarding their vanquished foes.

Visibly weary from the effort, Ben Stokes and his team walked off at stumps exhausted and overwhelmed. Steve Smith’s 37th Test century, 129 not out from 205 balls, had come after the concluding stages of Travis Head’s blistering 163 from 166, and with it Australia had attained 518 for seven from 124 overs. The lead sat at 134 runs overnight and looked an threatening one.

The legendary Neil Harvey, 97, shared his thoughts in a delightful interview.

I've been unimpressed with England. I think the way they handle the batting side of things, they get too careless, nobody seems to want to build an innings, like a Cowdrey or a Boycott.

It might work against average opponents but when you get a class side like Australia it's a completely different proposition. 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 style it lessens the probability of winning an important Test. I'd like to see them rein themselves in.

Shortly after the start of a gloomy morning at the Sydney Cricket Ground, Matt Potts came into the England attack from the Randwick End, and immediately began trying out his different deliveries.

His first ball was sprayed down the leg side and smashed through cover by Travis Head. His second ball was both back of a length and outside off and hacked over gully by Travis Head. His third ball was short and straight and pulled past midwicket by Travis Head. His fourth ball was defended with a show of concentrated care, 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 height of his batting skill, when “best since Bradman” was used with confidence. 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 enduring for 20 years. Lots of players reach the top for a time, no other has remained there.

The combination of those phases, though, elevated him to a rare position on the third day. In the annals 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 conquer. 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 heading for a fitting conclusion. Australia are on course to defeat comprehensively England at Sydney and win the series 4-1, a scoreline not even the most one-eyed Pom could argue with.

It's been a triumph of maturity, discipline, discipline, skill and Travis Head. His audacious 123 at Perth exposed English frailties that have yet to mend; four Tests later he is happily compounding their misery. 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 comfort that is hard to understand. 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 desired a greater challenge.

The last rites will be conducted either this evening or tomorrow. There's a chance of a total collapse when England bat, just as there was in the last knock of 2013-14 and 2021-22. Their bodies are exhausted, their confidence shattered, their spirit dented. It's nearly time for everyone to go home.