Smith & Head push England towards final Ashes loss

Fifth Ashes Test, Sydney Cricket Ground (day three of five)

England 384: Root 160, Brook 84; Neser 4-60

Australia 518-7: Head 163, Smith 129*; Carse 3-108

Australia are 134 runs ahead

Scorecard

England's horrific Ashes tour is lurching towards a final defeat after a remorseless Steve Smith century followed Travis Head's spectacular 163 on the third day of the fifth Test.

On a day to rival any of England's ineptitude from the previous seven weeks, both Head and Smith were dropped in a calamitous opening session in Sydney.

Smith went on to make an unbeaten 129, in doing so passing England legend Jack Hobbs to go second on the all-time list of Ashes run-scorers, behind only Australian great Donald Bradman.

At the end of it all, Australia reached 518-7, leading by 134 and on course to complete their Ashes triumph with a 4-1 scoreline.

The Sydney Cricket Ground turned pink for the Jane McGrath Foundation and the travelling supporters sang constantly through the afternoon, all while England were slow-roasted.

Will Jacks was the culprit for the Head drop and Zak Crawley put down Smith. In total, England have missed 17 chances of varying difficulty across the series.

Captain Ben Stokes bowled himself into the ground in an attempt to mask the deficiencies of new-ball pair Matthew Potts and Brydon Carse.

Perhaps the only saving grace was England's batters did not have to face a tricky session late in the day.

When they do come to bat, it will take a remarkable rearguard to avoid a fourth defeat of a desperately disappointing series.

Even after England surrendered the Ashes inside three Tests, all of Stokes, head coach Brendon McCullum and director of cricket Rob Key insisted they wanted to remain in their posts.

A 3-2 margin might make that more possible, but a 4-1 scoreline would certainly bring McCullum and Key into sharper focus, especially after such a dispiriting Tuesday in Sydney.

England were well in the contest at the beginning of the day - Australia were 218 behind on 166-2. By the end, the hosts' lead was significant, yet even that does not reflect quite how strongly Australia bossed proceedings throughout.

The morning session, when Potts was flayed by Head and the catches went down was a throwback to the great England wheels-off Ashes horror shows.

Somehow, England must regroup overnight to find some fight with the bat when Smith eventually allows them to begin their second innings.

It is perfectly plausible that this match, the series, and the Bazball regime are ended on Wednesday.

This was the perfect storm for England to be flattened - the colour of the McGrath day, Head poised on 91 overnight, Smith hungry in his final Ashes Test on home soil and a makeshift visiting attack primed to be taken apart on a flat pitch.

Head simply picked up where he left off on the previous evening, cashing in on any width. Michael Neser used up 90 balls for his 24 and England burned two reviews on the nightwatchman before Carse finally had him caught behind.

Head had completed his third century of the series and was on 121 when Jacks dropped a dolly on the leg-side boundary. Head swiped at Carse, Jacks was conscious of stepping on the rope and took his eye off a simple chance.

Head could have also been caught by Carse at third man, albeit off an incredibly difficult diving chance, and belted a return catch back at off-spinner Jacks, who put down a one-hander. Crawley's miss at leg slip off the bowling of Josh Tongue when Smith had only 12 should have been taken.

Head finally missed a sweep at Jacob Bethell to be lbw just after lunch, bringing Usman Khawaja to the crease for what could be his final innings in Test cricket. Screens at the SCG read, "Thank you, Uzzy", in honour of the 39-year-old's last Test before retiring.

Curiously, Stokes burned through his own overs and gave the second new ball to Carse and Potts, but at least Carse trapped Khawaja lbw for 17.

After Tongue had Alex Carey caught at leg slip, Smith added 61 for the seventh wicket with Cameron Green.

This was Smith's 37th Test hundred, 13th in Ashes Tests and first against England since the second Test at Lord's in 2023. It was full of his idiosyncratic movements, frustrations of the opposition and punctuated with sweet drives through the covers. He twice hit Bethell's left-arm spin for straight sixes.

When he reached 84, he went past Hobbs' Ashes tally of 3,636 to nestle behind Bradman, then went to three figures with a paddle off Bethell for three.

Green holed out to deep square leg to give Carse his third wicket of the day, yet Australia's elongated batting order had all-rounder Beau Webster arriving at nine to provide yet more support to Smith.

The eighth-wicket pair have added an unbroken 81, with Webster on 42 not out. Potts was asked to bowl one more futile spell of bouncers, with the maddening Smith playing tennis-style smashes and signalling a wide to the umpires.

The ground emptied, Australia passed 500 and the Barmy Army chanted with unlimited energy. Theirs was comfortably the most impressive performance of England's day.