Key events
Lunchtime reading
Lunch: Australia trail by 103 runs
65th over: Australia 281-3 (Head 162, Smith 16) Another over, another dropped catch. Travis Head smashes the ball back towards the new bowler Will Jacks, who tries to claw the ball down with his left hand but can’t hang on. Unlike Jacks’ earlier chance, that was really tough.
Head salts the wound by edging/steering one last boundary before lunch. It’s been another dominant session for Australia, who added 114 runs in 30.5 overs for the loss of the nightwatchman Michael Neser.
England dropped four catches, missed a run-out chance and used up their last two reviews. They are entering a world of pain.
Smith dropped on 12 by Crawley
64th over: Australia 272-3 (Head 156, Smith 13) Steve Smith is put down on the stroke of lunch. He turned Tongue round the corner towards leg slip, where Crawley dived to his left but couldn’t hold on to a very tough low chance.
“This English bowling attack is looking pretty limp for a pitch which has a bit of life in it,” writes Byron”. Very much missing the pace and brutality Archer, Wood and Atkinson brought on day one in Perth.
“In my imagination, the English selectors are yearning to see that again (and maybe Jack Leach’s spin too). They’ll probably be tearily playing Jeff Buckley’s classic song ‘Lover, You Should’ve Come Over’ reminiscing on the plane back to the mother country after losing the series 4-1.”
I’m not so sure. They’re a positive bunch so I’d imagine they’ll be listening to this bubblegum pop song. It’s the sound of summer!
63rd over: Australia 268-3 (Head 155, Smith 10) Potts continues to bowl well to the right-handers, beating Smith with a lovely full-length delivery that seams past the edge.
Later in the over, Head has two let-offs in as many balls. Duckett misses a run-out chance from midwicket, then Head drags Potts into the ground and just over the stumps.
Travis Head probably doesn’t get enough credit for the intelligence and detail of his batting. His risks are always calculated; he is brilliant at targeting particular bowlers or certain parts of the field depending on conditions. Fearless, relentlessly positive and deceptively brainy: he’s the platonic ideal of Bazball.
Another 150 for Travis Head!
62nd over: Australia 266-3 (Head 154, Smith 9) Head slashes Tongue over slip for four to reach his seventh 150+ score in Test cricket – an excellent ratio given he has 12 centuries overall. His highest score is 175 against West Indies in 2022-23 (I won’t insult your intelligence by telling you on which ground he scored it), so this is a helluva chance for Head to make his first Test double-hundred.
61st over: Australia 260-3 (Head 149, Smith 8) Goodness me. Travis Head channels his inner Babe Ruth, slugging a short ball from Potts into the crowd at midwicket. That’s the first six of the innings.
Head’s treatment of Potts has been barely legal: 46 balls, 64 runs, including nine fours and that six. It’s a Test match, mate, show some decorum.
60th over: Australia 253-3 (Head 142, Smith 8) A bit of width from Tongue allows Smith to flash a cut to the boundary. England are in so much trouble it’s not even funny.
59th over: Australia 248-3 (Head 141, Smith 4) Potts, who has already bowled seven overs this morning, changes ends to replace Carse. He caused Smith problems in the ODI series in 2024 so maybe that’s part of England’s thinking.
Potts has an LBW appeal turned down after going wide on the crease to jag one back. Decent shout, probably a bit high. England have no reviews left anyway.
Replays confirm it would have bounced over the top. A maiden from Potts, who has bowled pretty well to the right-handers today.
58th over: Australia 248-3 (Head 141, Smith 4) No surprise to see Josh Tongue, who has a terrific record against Steve Smith, return to the attack. Smith drops a single on the off side to get off strike.
“Not wanting to rub any salt in,” begins Chris Dwyer, “but the review lost in the 53rd was England’s last review. Lost one against Labuschagne and then (crazily) two against Neser.”
57th over: Australia 247-3 (Head 141, Smith 3) Head clears the front leg and mangles Carse through midwicket for four. Despite the violence it was a perfectly placed shot that bisected the two fielders on the boundary.
“People like Michael Neser are the reason why Australia is such a tough/terrible place to tour,” says Will Ellen. “Cummins, Hazelwood, Lyon and their combined 1000+ Test wickets missing? No problem, a 35-year-old journeyman many people in England haven’t heard of will come in and not just do a job, but perform beyond what anyone could reasonably expect of them.
“There’s such a pride and determination to their late career cameo appearances – they know time is short. But if they perform brilliantly for their country, they know for the rest of their lives if they stroll into a dusty outback bar in back of beyond Willaballong Creek they will get a nod of approval, maybe even a beer bought by one of the grizzled regulars. Must be a nice feeling.”
Australia use inexperienced thirtysomethings a lot better than England, don’t they? That’s been the case for a while: Adam Voges, Chris Rogers, Stuart Clark, Mike Hussey, Andy Bichel, Tim May and the rest.
56th over: Australia 239-3 (Head 136, Smith 0) Head flick-pulls Potts sweetly round the corner for four. It was in the air but beat the diving Brook close to the boundary.
55th over: Australia 234-3 (Head 131, Smith 0) England’s reward for taking a wicket: the arrival of Steven Peter Devereux ‘Steve’ Smith. Hard to believe that he hasn’t made a century at home to England since 2017.
Carse beats Smith with a superb delivery that straightens off the seam. Depending on how this Test pans out, Carse could become the first England bowler to take 25 wickets in a series in Australia since John Snow in 1970-71.
WICKET! Australia 234-3 (Neser c Smith b Carse 24)
Michael Neser snicks a good outswinger to the keeper to give the indefatigable Brydon Carse his 20th wicket of the series. He’s the first England bowler since some medium-pacer in 2013-14 to achieve that feat in Australia.
54th over: Australia 232-2 (Head 130, Neser 24) Head has so much time to lean back and uppercut Potts over the keeper’s head for two. It feels like Australia are moving inexorably towards a 4-1 series victory. Which, let’s be honest, they deserve given their dominance.
53.3 overs: Australia 229-2 (Head 127, Neser 24) It’s a bit of a surprise that England haven’t had a look at Will Jacks, whose selection in this series may come to symbolise England’s loss of nerve after the shock of Perth. He has batted well at times but you can’t be picking a specialist No8 who bowls a bit. They’d probably be better off with Matthew Fisher in this game.
Neser, who was hit on the elbow last night by Stokes, takes another blow from Potts and has called the physio on.
“I mean,” says Niall Mullen, “I’ve seen more downbeat OBO intros.”
53rd over: Australia 227-2 (Head 126, Neser 24) Neser digs out a beautiful yorker from Carse – but the bowler is convinced it hit the boot first and pleads for LBW. It’s given not out and, though Stokes doesn’t look sure himself, he trusts Carse and decides to review the decision.
Carse is correct that it brushed Neser’s boot before hitting the bat. Trouble is, the impact was fractionally outside off stump so Neser is not out and England lose another review. They have one left.
“Is it a bit pessimistic,” begins Yac, “to point out that an Aussie nightwatcher once made a Test double hundred?”
And Neser is a slightly better batter than Jason Gillespie.
52nd over: Australia 226-2 (Head 126, Neser 24) Sound the Short Ball Ploy klaxon. Ben Stokes has had enough and sets a field for Potts to ram the ball in halfway down. Nothing much happens, though a lot goes on.
“Quite a stark change in where Head is taking guard,” notes Abhishek Chopra. “He is well outside leg stump now, presumably looking to bash the short stuff coming his way. The fact that he is doing all this when this is not some last-10-overs-before-new-ball period and with Aus still 150+ in arrears tells you how crazy good this man is right now.”
And also how brave and flexible the modern player is when it comes to making changes within an innings.
Drinks: Australia trail by 159 with eight wickets remaining
A nice email here from my mum Robert Wilson.
Smiddy, you melancholy legend. The last couple of years I’ve watched you from afar, standing joyously firm against sledgers, whiners, and cavilling curmudgeons of all kinds. In cricket and footie, you’ve stood like the boy on the burning deck, defending flair, talent and entertainment against accountant-like haters delighting in the failings and flailings of gifted players. Brought many a tear to the eye as you doggedly reminded everyone of the even-in-hindsight unbelievable high points of the Bazball era.
And now you plop out this Eeyore preamble, defeated and tasting metallic in the mouth. Don’t tell me this series has rubbed out that adamantine little spark of fierce joy in you. We can’t do without it, Smiddy, we can’t. Lemme fight the good fight for you.
We’re all gonna die and life is often cruelly hard. But then there’s Test cricket. Head, Carey and Starc have been a delicious pleasure (Carey simply out of sight, a standard unseen for decades). Tongue has got something, Brook’s a laugh and I don’t think I’ve ever liked Root so much. The most bog standard Test match can bring you pleasures that make the dreary task of living more than bearable. My only quibble with this series is that it seems to have lasted 15 minutes. I could have taken ten matches of it with grateful glee.
Come back to us, man. You’re an aesthete and a seer. You know Bethell makes you feel all hot and trembly. You know it.
Look, mate.
Thanks for such a sweet email (I think);
While the preamble may have given the impression of a man who left his will to live in 2025, it’s just lack of sleep. I remain joie de vivre incarnate. And most importantly,
I’ve still pencilled in a 7000-word beauty on this Test match ahead of the 2035-36 Ashes.
51st over: Australia 225-2 (Head 126, Neser 23) Neser. square drives Carse for another eye-catching boundary. He’s been the dominant partner in the last 20 minutes: after scoring 6 from his first 60 deliveries, Neser has hit 17 from the last 18.
“Neser has now faced more balls than Crawley and Duckett combined,” writes Nath Jones, “and I think that means it’s bedtime.”
Arf. He is, we should stress, a pretty good player: five first-class centuries, average of 21 in his short Test career. But yes, it’s definitely bedtime.
50th over: Australia 219-2 (Head 125, Neser 18) Head is dropped again, though this time there’s no blame attached to the fielder. It was a sensational effort from Carse at third man. Head backed away, Potts followed him and Head flashed an uppercut down towards the boundary. Carse charged in, got his left hand under the ball just above the ground but couldn’t hang on. It would have been one of the catches of the series.
Poor Potts continues to go the distance, with Neser lashing an emphatic boundary through extra cover. Potts has grisly figures of 11-0-84-0.
49th over: Australia 214-2 (Head 124, Neser 14) Carse, who along with Starc and Stokes is the only quick bowler to play all five Tests, is starting to work up a head of steam. But so is Neser, who gets four more with a fabulous back cut. It was a good ball from Carse, which cramped Neser for room, but he leaned back and deflected it wide of backward point. Lovely shot.
48th over: Australia 209-2 (Head 123, Neser 10) Neser slugs Potts over midwicket for four to move into double figures. This is fast becoming one of those days for England, and we haven’t even reached the first drinks break.
Head dropped by Jacks on 121
47th over: Australia 204-2 (Head 121, Neser 5) And with that, the wheels came off. Head clouts the new bowler Brydon Carse to deep midwicket, where the usually reliable Will Jacks drops a simple chance. He almost punched the ball for six as well.
Jacks was backpedalling towards the boundary sponge and that must have put him off. Even so, by modern standards it was a sitter.
“It’s a shame the Richies aren’t out in force today,” writes Peter in Bristol. “There is a strong chance that chew chew chew for chew is coming up!”
46th over: Australia 202-2 (Head 121, Neser 5) Head larrups Potts through extra cover, but this time there’s a man on the boundary so he only gets one run. Later in the over he walks miles outside off stump and drags the ball onto his body. He’s basically taking the pith out of Potts; in the previous Potts over he left the ball with an extravagant, almost disdainful flourish.
“It has to be Herzog doesn’t it?” says Ruth Purdue. “He would have to try and find the ‘truth’. Would it be a drama or a documentary though?”
I find it hard to tell them apart these days, particularly since watching our in-house documentary ‘Nathan Barley’.
45th over: Australia 200-2 (Head 120, Neser 4) A maiden from Stokes to Neser, who now has 4 not out from 52 balls. Anyone else getting flashbacks to Carl Rackemann in 1991?
“How many of this England team do you reckon will contest the 2027 Ashes? In theory it could be all of them,” says Max Williams. “I guess Crawley is uncertain and you’d hope another bowler or two is unearthed but I can’t see much turnover.
“Also, considering home advantage and the aging Australian core, would you consider England to be early favourites? I would’ve done if our bowling hadn’t been so poor!”
Naming the XI for a fixed point in the future is a mug’s game. And I am that mug. These are the best players in England right now, and they should all be around in June 2027, but experience tells us plenty will change in that time.
All things being equal I would certainly stick with Crawley, who has a better record against Australia’s best bowlers than most of his teammates. The bowlers are harder to call: I guess at this stage you’d have Tongue as a starter, Carse in the pool, Potts and Jacks further down the pecking order. And Ollie Bloody Robinson taking the new ball with Jofra Archer.
44th over: Australia 200-2 (Head 120, Neser 4) Matthew Potts replaces Josh Tongue. He had a horrible day yesterday, bowling seven overs for 58, and it doesn’t get any better when Head belts his first three deliveries for four.
Potts’ loosener was banjaxed over extra cover with contempt by Head, who then slashed an uppercut for four and whipped imperously through midwicket. It’s marvellous batting, a deliberate attempt to target a bowler who has little rhythm and even less confidence. Potts, theoretically England’s most accurate bowler, has figures of 8-0-72-0.
43rd over: Australia 186-2 (Head 106, Neser 4) From Noosa to Neser, who continues to ride his luck by fresh-airing two big drives off Stokes. “This is some of the best shadow batting I’ve ever seen,” deadpans Graeme Swann on commentary.
42nd over: Australia 184-2 (Head 105, Neser 4) “It has to be Francis Ford Coppola’s Bazball Now with the accompanying Jeetan Patel making-of doco Pints Of Darkness: An Ashes Apocalypse,” says Chris Paraskevas. “For those willing, there may be scope for a Bazball Redux including a deleted scene where Ian Botham hosts a mid-tour team-bonding/mental reprogramming session in Noosa.”
This is my favourite suggestion so far. But surely the Noosa trip would be directed bt the guy who did Dude, Where’s My Car?
41st over: Australia 182-2 (Head 105, Neser 2) This has been an excellent start for Australia. Stokes and Tongue have bowled well, with little luck, but it does feel like Australia – who bat very deep – could have some fun as the day progresses.
“The empty promise of huge amounts of action, stylistic shots with little point, and ultimately no real substance?” says Matt Dony. “Ladies and gentlemen, Michael Bay. Although, that’s specifically this Ashes tour. Not Bazball in general, which I am very much in support of…”
Maybe we need different directors for each act. David Lynch could do act one, in which Jonny Bairstow inspired all those surreal run-chases. Imagine what Lynch would have done with the ‘Jonathan Marc Bairstow’ speech at Trent Bridge.
40th over: Australia 180-2 (Head 104, Neser 1) Neser is beaten by successive deliveries from Tongue. He has 1 from 31 balls, and the 31 is more important than the 1. By the time Smith comes to the crease, Tongue and Stokes – England’s best bowlers – will be due a break.
“Obviously there are many factors vying for prominence in explaining the series outcome, and Australia’s generally superior bowling clearly features large,” says Brian Withington. “But for all that, one key difference is the fact that one left-handed (surprise) opener has massively outperformed whilst another (settled) has had a very disappointing tour indeed.”
A very fair point, especially given the speed at which Head and Ben Duckett score their runs. Travis Head, though: I don’t know whether other England fans feel this way but I think he’s my favourite Australian cricketer since Shane Warne. Forget the numbers – the important of his runs, and the manner in which he gets them, makes him an all-time great. I’d sell my soul to be injected with his mindset.
Travis Head’s 12th Test century!
Australia’s main man pushes Tongue to the cover boundary to reach his 12th Test hundred, his third of the series and the ninth since his epiphany ahead of the 2021-22 Ashes. This one took just 105 balls and included 17 fours. And it has surely silenced the doubters who say Head only delivers in the really big games.
39th over: Australia 175-2 (Head 99, Neser 1) Head is getting ‘em in singles. He forces Stokes into the covers to move to 99, then Neser avoids a couple of sharp bouncers. He’s not scoring any runs but every over he survives will help the next batter Steve Smith.
He hasn’t faced a ball, sure, but Smith looks nailed on for a century today.
38th over: Australia 175-2 (Head 98, Neser 1) Head is beaten again, flashing at a back-of-a-length delivery from Tongue. A single to fine leg takes him to within two runs of where he wants to be, where we all want to be.
“Rob, when the inevitable movie about Bazball is made, which director should be entrusted with the chair?” wonders Kim Thonger.
Christopher Nolan
Wes Anderson
Quentin Tarantino
James Cameron
“I’m inclined to choose Tarantino. It seems like a natural sequel to Inglourious Bastards.”
I’ll chose Christopher Nolan, mainly because he’s the only one with a vague OBO connection: Jeremy Theobald, the lead in Nolan’s brilliant debut Following, was a regular back in the day.
37th over: Australia 174-2 (Head 97, Neser 1) It’s good to see Stokes continuing – you wondered whether he would complete his over from last night and then brings Potts or Carse on.
Head clips him through midwicket for four to move to 96, then bursts out laughing after being squared up by an utter jaffa from round the wicket. Stokes will be glad it missed the edge because it was a no-ball.
The next ball, a legal delivery, is a carbon copy that straightens past the outside edge. A whirling cut stroke takes Head to 97.
36th over: Australia 167-2 (Head 92, Neser 1) “It’s at least possible we’ll see the traditional England management shakeup after the Ashes,” says Ben Mimmack, “so who in the current squad do you think would welcome a change and who won’t? These are my guesses:
“(Like the) Status Quo: Crawley, Duckett, Stokes, Carse, Archer, Wood, Jacks, Atkinson, Fisher.
“(Tired of the) Cheap Trick: Bethell, Brook, Smith, Potts, Tongue, Bashir, Pope.
“(Doesn’t care because he’s) Mr. Big: Joe Root.
“I feel like some would have benefited from a change earlier (Pope) but several important names have moved into the change group on this tour (Bethell, Brook, Smith) which means things probably do need to change.
“What do you think?”
I haven’t had time to think! But it’s a very good question, upon which I’d like to dwell. I hope England give Brendon McCullum the chance to complete the regeneration of the 2023 team, but I suspect I’m in a minority on that.
Neser is not out! There’s a big spike on Snicko one frame after the ball passes the bat and at the same time the bat thumps into the ground. I’m pretty sure it’s the right decision but nobody knows for sure because of the leeway that is built into Snicko. Joe Root, for one, was sure thta Neser had hit the ground and edged the ball.
England review for caught behind against Neser Josh Tongue, the best of the England seamers not called Stokes on day two, opens the bowling. England think Neser has snicked a very full ball through to Jamie Smith. There was a noise, either bat on ground or bat on ball. I don’t think it was a bump ball.
35th over: Australia 166-2 (Head 91, Neser 1) Ben Stokes completes the over he began last night. The nightwatchman Neser almost drags a good delivery back onto the stumps. A maiden.
Incidentally Joe Root, who left the field with a back problem last night, is back on the field today.
“While I largely concur with your downbeat intro, I think 9/2 against an England win is, for once, generous,” says Gary Naylor. “Any kind of first-innings lead (getting Head out inside the first hour is critical) makes England favourites in my book. This pitch will be horrible in the fourth innings if Carse and co can find a fifth stump line slightly back of a length and England can catch. Yes, IF should be in bold capital italics, I know.”
Don’t forget Australia have Mitchell Starc batting at No10. I broadly agree, though; this pitch could be very unpleasant in the fourth innings.
The players are about to take the field for an extended first session that will last two and a half hours. If Travis Head is batting at lunch, Australia will be strapped into the box seat.
It’s Jane McGrath Day at the SCG, with everybody wearing pink in support of the McGrath Foundation. You can read about the Foundation’s commitment to cancer support or donate by clicking here.
Ali Martin
It was hard to know whether it was a message to Australia or his own bowlers. Ben Stokes signed off from a frustrating second evening in Sydney by swapping words out in the middle with Marnus Labuschagne. Seemingly reacting to something said by Labuschagne as the hosts made a rapid reply to England’s 384, Stokes was heard saying “shut the fuck up” at the end of the over he had just bowled. He then walked over and put an arm around his opponent’s shoulder to continue the exchange.
As the umpires, Ahsan Raza and Chris Gaffaney, moved in, Stokes walked away after giving Labuschagne a squeeze. As per the ICC code of conduct, the England captain could be reprimanded under clause 2.12 regarding “inappropriate physical contact”.
Geoff Lemon
When Shane Warne called his biography No Spin, it wasn’t a recommendation. Speaking for the dead is unacceptably presumptuous, but his record in life was loud and clear in backing his guild. Teams should always give themselves the option of spin bowling was his common contention.
Nor is allegiance of style the only factor. His old teammate Jason Gillespie, as pure a paceman as they come, had the same view watching the fifth Ashes Test in Sydney. “You need that variety,” he said on radio, shaking his head.
Australia didn’t have it. Instead, they had an innings of 97.3 overs with three specialist fast bowlers, a couple of curiously employed all-rounders and a sprinkle of part-time guff. They had an England innings that was allowed to pull away, with partnerships of 169, then 94, then 52, while Joe Root went on to his highest score in Australia of 160 and England their highest score of the series, 384.
It would have been helpful to turn to specialist spin when Root and Harry Brook were coasting on the first day. It would have been helpful to save Mitchell Starc from bowling a fourth spell. Or when Scott Boland was called back for the 71st and 73rd overs before taking the new ball in the 81st. Or when Beau Webster bowled a desultory over of off-spin, a garnish atop his few offerings of spongy medium pace. Those five overs were the total contribution asked of a man picked in a specialist bowling spot at No 8.
Preamble
Rob Smyth
Hello and welcome to live coverage of day three at the SCG. There’s a big first session comi- ah, I can’t be bothered. Sure, the first session will shape the rest of this match, and may tell us whether Travis Head is going to make a third matchwinning century of the series, but it’s impossible to escape the end-of-term feeling that has pervaded this Test so far.
We’re used to anticlimactic final Tests in an Ashes series, particularly when England play in Australia. This feels flatter than the rest, mainly there was such expectation ahead of the series. Two dead rubbers? It’s not what we thought, and it’s not what we pictured, when we were imagining the 2025-26 Ashes.
There isn’t even the jeopardy of a potential whitewash; the series will end either 4-1 or 3-2 to Australia. Right here, right now, 4-1 looks more likely. A poor bowling performance from England allowed Australia to charge to 166 for two, a deficit of 218, in only 34.1 runs. Travis Head is 91 not out from 87 balls; the nightwatchman Michael Neser has 1 from 15.
Neser was struck nastily on the elbow just before the close, a reminder that this pitch – though largely good for batting – is on the capricious side. If England, particularly Matthew Potts, find their length this morning they can force their way back into the game.
In the context of the match, this is a big first session. It’s just that the match isn’t as big as we hoped.
