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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.
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Christopher Nolan
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Wes Anderson
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Quentin Tarantino
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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.
