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The cricketers are preparing to step onto the pitch for an lengthy first session that will last two and a half hours. If Travis Head is batting at lunch, Australia will be firmly in the driving seat.

A Pink Outpouring of Support

The SCG is observing Jane McGrath Day today, with spectators adorned in pink in support of the McGrath Foundation. The occasion commemorates the foundation's commitment to providing cancer support.

A fan dressed in all pink arrives at the Sydney Cricket Ground.

On-Field Tensions Bubble Over

It was hard to know whether it was a message to Australia or his own bowlers. Ben Stokes signed off a frustrating second evening in Sydney by exchanging remarks out in the middle with Marnus Labuschagne. Seemingly reacting to something said by Labuschagne, Stokes was heard saying “shut the fuck up” at the end of the over. He then walked over and put an arm around his opponent’s shoulder to continue the exchange.

With the officials intervening, Stokes walked away after giving Labuschagne a squeeze. As per the ICC code of conduct, Stokes potentially faces sanction for making improper physical contact.

Questions Over Australia's Bowling Tactics

Shane Warne's biography title 'No Spin' was not an endorsement of the tactic. It's presumptuous to speak for the deceased, but his lifelong stance was unequivocal in supporting fellow spinners. Sides should always retain a spin bowling option was his common contention.

Loyalty to a bowling type isn't the sole consideration. His old teammate Jason Gillespie echoed the sentiment watching the fifth Ashes Test. “You need that variety,” he said on radio.

Australia didn’t have it. Instead, they had three specialist fast bowlers, a couple of curiously employed all-rounders and some token part-time bowling. They had an England innings that was allowed to pull away, with substantial partnerships while Joe Root compiled 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 settling in. It would have been helpful to save Mitchell Starc from bowling a fourth spell.

Setting the Scene for Day Three

Hello and welcome to live coverage of day three at the SCG. There’s a big first session coming, but it’s impossible to escape the series finale atmosphere that has pervaded this Test so far.

Final Ashes Tests often prove anticlimactic, especially on Australian soil. This one seems particularly subdued, mainly because there was such expectation. Two dead rubbers? It defies our predictions when we were imagining the 2025-26 Ashes.

There isn’t even the jeopardy of a possible series sweep; the outcome will be either 4-1 or 3-2 to Australia. At this moment, a 4-1 scoreline appears probable. A poor bowling performance from England allowed Australia to charge to 166 for two, a deficit of 218, in only 34.1 overs. Travis Head is unbeaten on 91 from 87 balls; Michael Neser, who came in as nightwatchman has scored a single from fifteen deliveries.

Neser was struck nastily on the elbow just before the close, highlighting that the surface – though generally batsman-friendly – is on the capricious side. Should England's bowlers, namely Matthew Potts, discover the right length this morning they can force their way back into the game.

Regarding this specific game, the morning's play is vital. It’s just that the match isn’t as big as we hoped.