Steve Smith scored his first hundred of this Ashes series and Travis Head scored his third as Australia punished England’s dropped catches to open a 134-run lead after the third day of the fifth and final Test at the Sydney Cricket Ground.
Smith (No. 129) hit his 37th Test ton and 13th Test ton against England after being grazed by Zak Crawley with a slip of the foot in the 12th match. He surpassed England legend Jack Hobbs in Ashes cricket and became the second highest scorer behind Australian great Donald Bradman.
Head (163 of 166) was spilled by Will Jacks at 121 and 156. The first miss, deep at midwicket, was shocking. The hosts did everything in their power to outrun England’s 384 runs, aiming for a 4-1 series victory.
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Nasser Hussain and Michael Atherton look on at England’s poor fielding in Sydney (including a howler from Will Jacks)
Jacks respond after Travis Head is deducted for 121 due to on-field error
Australia finished the match on 518-7 and the fact that England’s part-time spinner Jacks and Jacob Bethell looked most likely to take wickets at the end of the day spoke volumes about the tourists’ flagship attack as Matthew Potts, making his first Test appearance of this series, saw the pace drop and his figures rise to 0-141 from 25 overs.
Head’s record in this Ashes is 600 runs off 685 balls at an average of 66.66, and the left-handed bowler has cracked a ton at the top of the order since taking over following a back injury to Usman Khawaja, who retired in the first Test at Perth.
However, Smith had endured a fairly quiet series so far, missing the Adelaide Test due to vertigo and posting a record score of 61 in Brisbane during the day and night, but he was in his unique form when he tormented England at home.
The 36-year-old, who is also the second-highest run-scorer in all SCG Tests after Ricky Ponting, hummed to himself after failing what he called a ‘throwdown’ from Bethel, was distracted by the movement behind the bowler’s arm and the glare of Brydon Kearse’s sunglasses, and performed a roly-poly past Josh Tan’s bouncer before reaching triple figures. He got three runs off Bethel during an inning where he showed class.
Smith pulled off the big trick while escaping Josh Tan’s bouncer in Sydney
Head continues to master England in the Ashes
Head hit three consecutive quads from Potts after a ton, but restarted at 91 and with his team trailing by 218 points at 166-2, when a sharp catch-and-bowling chance disappeared, he was inexplicably dropped by Jacks deep on the leg side and was glassed by the same player.
The left-hander, who was ultimately beaten out against Bethel (1 win, 50 losses), became the first Australian Opener since Matthew Hayden in 2002-03 to score 300 points in the Ashes series, his first Test century against England in five Tests, and also hit heavily in Hobart and Brisbane in the 2021-22 season when the home team won 4-0.
Head became the first Australian opening batsman to score 300 runs in an Ashes series since Matthew Hayden in 2002-03.
Head and nightwatchman Michael Nessel (24 out of 90) frustrated England in the first session, stretching the stand to 72, but Nessel was clipped by a leaky Curse (3-108) shortly after the tourists burned the final review for the Queenslander LBW. England also previously wasted another review on Nasel.
Three wickets fell in the afternoon, with Head out for a sweep as Bethel took the first Ashes wicket, Khawaja (17) in what could be his last Test innings but wasting a review trying to save himself lbw to Kearse, Alex Carey (16) flicking the tongue (1-89) to Bethel at leg slip (1-89), and that was where Crawley fired the same bowler’s dive to the left to Smith.
Australia started the night six down and were seven points behind, but as Smith and Cameron Green (37) threaded together a 71-run stand to wear England down, the latter lost concentration and deftly hacked a short ball from Kearse into Ben Duckett at midwicket.
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Nassar and Athers break down England’s bowling record and explain why they feel sorry for Matthew Potts, who finished wicketless.
Beau Webster (No. 42) then combined with Smith to add an unblemished 81 runs with eight wickets. England have been forced further into the dirt in Sydney, the pitch is showing signs of mild collapse and batting at number three may not be easy for Ben Stokes’ weary side.
“I would have mortgaged Smith getting 100 points.”
Michael Atherton of Sky Sports Cricket:
“I would have mortgaged Steve Smith getting $100.
“He had a quiet series and missed a good batting appearance in Adelaide due to illness, but he loves his home base in Sydney and is a great Ashes player.
“He has hurt England many times, but he may not be at the level he was in 2019 yet. I love watching him bat. He is full of quirks and is probably the best Test batsman of his generation.”
Steve Smith’s SCG century was his first of this Ashes series and his 13th overall against England.
Bethel: England is still fighting.
Mr. Jacob Bethell from England:
“This is proper Test cricket now. It was a tough day in terms of having to graft, but it was a big day.
“Everyone is still very motivated to leave Australia with three wins and two losses and that is the main reason why everyone is fighting so hard.
“I think the players who have played five Tests are tired mentally and physically, but that’s what happens when you play five Tests in a row.
“In any Ashes Test you want to give your all. They’ll be tired, but the players have been through it before and know how to deal with it.”
It doesn’t seem like he’s too concerned about it. We just said, “Good luck, guys drop it.” I don’t think he takes it to heart. I thought he bowled very well after that and I imagine he’ll bat very well the second time as well. He is a confident man.
Jacob Bethell talks about Will Jacks’ drop catch
Ashes Series in Australia 2025-26
Australia leads with 3 wins and 1 loss in 5 consecutive matches
