Joe Root’s bittersweet Australian redemption campaign continued as he equalled Ricky Ponting’s mark of 41 Test hundreds, before the home side’s battering ram Travis Head rounded on his third century of the series as he helped wipe off close to half of England’s advantage in rapid time.
Root’s 160 crafted over almost seven hours across the opening two days of Sydney’s dead-rubber fifth Ashes Test could have tallied higher still if not for his teammates’ wasteful approach in arguably the best batting conditions of the series.
That was already coming back to bite Ben Stokes’ men less than three hours into Australia’s reply in which time Head pummelled 91no from 87 balls and took his team to 2-166 from just 34.1 overs when stumps was called.
Where Root confounded Australia with guile and late-cutting flourishes, Head responded with brute force as he bashed England’s depleted pace attack to now be eyeing off his 12th Test ton.
The dashing South Australian walked off under dark evening clouds flanked by Michael Neser after the nightwatchman copped nasty blow to his arm off a Stokes lifter that required medical attention. Umpires eventually gave up on trying to restart play with only minutes left in the day.
Labuschagne, having earlier engineered an unfathomable dismissal of Jamie Smith, had gotten under Stokes’ skin during his 105-run partnership with Head in an antagonistic late flashpoint.
England’s captain appeared incensed at something Labuschagne said after Head squeezed a boundary past fine leg – his second in as many balls – with the pair sharing some not-so-friendly words. Stokes also put his arm around the batter at one point, as if to hear him better, in an exchange that had both umpires hovering nearby.
Stokes had the last laugh when Labuschagne overreached and edged to gully two runs short of a half-century with the allrounder giving the departing batter a pointed stare.
It summed up a frustrating day for the visitors who overall failed to capitalise on Root’s brilliance. Harry Brook, dismissed 16 short of a first century in Australia as many balls into day two, was the only other England batter to pass fifty.
But Smith’s exit to a Labuschagne half-tracker was the most egregious example of England’s carelessness.
The commentary on Smith’s hack to deep cover, described by pundits from either side of the Ashes divide as “brainless” (Steven Finn), “dumb” (Justin Langer) and “filthy” (Brett Lee), was topped only by the portrayal of the sub-130kph Labuschagne bouncer as “rubbish” (Mark Taylor).
It was a frustrating drag on Root’s first ton against a red ball in Australia (his 138no at the Gabba earlier in the series was against a pink one), while it marked his highest score in the southern hemisphere (after his 226 in Hamilton against New Zealand in 2019) and the 17th time he has passed 150 in Tests.
The crowning achievement was drawing level with Ponting into equal third among the game’s all-time century makers. Only Jacques Kallis (45 Test tons) and Sachin Tendulkar (51) are now above Root, who is less than a week into his 36th year and showing no signs that his retirement is imminent.
Despite the sense more was in the offing for both Root and his team, England’s 384 marked their best score from their last 21 attempts in this country dating back to the 2017-18 Boxing Day Test.
Michael Neser’s 4-60 from 18.3 overs stamped him as Australia’s standout bowler, though both Mitchell Starc (2-93 from 23) and Scott Boland (2-85 off 26) toiled equally well.
Head’s blitz came only after Jake Weatherald attempted his own with less success; the Tasmanian could only smile after both Root and Ben Duckett dropped him in his first 18 balls either side of some sizzling cuts.
The feeling this has been an ‘almost’ debut series for Weatherald lingered when he was adjudged lbw for a fourth time in nine innings, this time off Stokes, his review proving futile. His score of 21 replicated exactly what his Test average (20.85) coming into this match rounded up to.
Australia’s fifty had come up in just 56 balls and Head’s own took one fewer as the absence of injured speedsters Mark Wood, Jofra Archer and Gus Atkinson all proved telling.
Only Neser’s exemplary job as nightwatchman, facing all but four of the final 19 balls of the day, could stop Head from scoring a second ton inside a single session this summer after match-winning 123 in Perth.
Brook resumed the morning six runs ahead of Root but the happy-go-lucky approach that got him into trouble several times the previous day saw him finally run aground three overs into Monday’s action.
Boland’s impeccable angle of attack was Brook’s undoing as the right-hander fended at a wide ball that jagged wider still as Steve Smith took a sharp head-high catch off the resulting edge.
Starc’s equally probing first-up spell was then rewarded as Stokes was dismissed by the left-armer for the 14th time in Test cricket, and for a fifth occasion this series, as the Snickometer revealed a faint outside edge from a vicious lifter.
Cameron Green’s rough series was summed up when Jamie Smith received two reprieves in as many balls off the allrounder’s bowling.
After a front-foot no-ball meant Smith’s drive straight to Labuschagne at cover went unpunished, the wicketkeeper then nicked an even more ambitious stroke only for the oblivious Beau Webster to fail to sight the opportunity from first slip, perhaps due to the pink shade of the digital advertising hoardings honouring the McGrath Foundation.
Smith’s particular brand of consequence-free batting always seemed certain to offer another opportunity, though even Australia could not have dreamt he would give away his innings this easily after some crisp early strokes.
As Steve Smith turned to Head and Labuschagne’s part-time spin and seam respectively to tie the Aussies through to the second new ball, his namesake backed away from a telegraphed short ball and miscued a bewildering attempt at a forehand down the ground.
It was a sharp contrast to the risk-free, measured aggression of Root, who looked untroubled until his teammates’ casual departures forced him into a flick off Neser that found his leading edge and allowed the athletic Queenslander to reel in a diving catch off his own bowling.
It was the penultimate blow in England losing 4-9 to throw away a shot at a 400-plus total.
2025-26 NRMA Insurance Men’s Ashes
First Test: Australia won by eight wickets
Second Test: Australia won by eight wickets
Third Test: Australia won by 82 runs
Fourth Test: England won by four wickets
Fifth Test: January 4-8: SCG, Sydney, 10:30am AEDT
Australia squad (fifth Test): Steve Smith (c), Scott Boland, Alex Carey, Brendan Doggett, Cameron Green, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Todd Murphy, Michael Neser, Jhye Richardson, Mitchell Starc, Jake Weatherald, Beau Webster
England squad: Ben Stokes (c), Harry Brook (vc), Shoaib Bashir, Jacob Bethell, Brydon Carse, Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Matthew Fisher, Will Jacks, Ollie Pope, Matthew Potts, Joe Root, Jamie Smith (wk), Josh Tongue
