With Steve Smith bullying England again, normal service has resumed

Good evening and welcome to live coverage of day three of the fifth Ashes Test which starts with Australia on 166 for two, 218 runs behind England with five balls to go of the 35th over, the umpires ending play when the nightwatchman Michael Neser copped a horrible blow on the right elbow that had him hopping about like Rumpelstiltskin. If yesterday was a tale of missed opportunities because of the carelessness of Harry Brook and Jamie Smith, both of whom are touched by otherworldly talent kept in check by a so far ineradicable insouciance, and the new-ball buffet bowling of the Durham duo, Matt Potts and Brydon Carse, today, as so often on day three, offers one last chance to grab the match by the slack of its pants and pull it England’s way.

Having watched all but a couple of sessions of the series so far, it is hard to say if England can do that. They are irredeemably unpredictable in that they have players who suddenly click having hitherto bowled like drains – hello Mr Carse – or play sublimely for a while having previously looked like a walking wicket – hello Mr Crawley – but they need big contributions from bowlers and fielders, who have simply not been up to snuff on tour, and they need them now, otherwise I suspect we’ll be watching the elegant Usman Khawaja, the glorious Travis Head and old Norman Pitkin himself, Steve Smith, grind them into the dirt.

There is always a reckoning after an Ashes defeat and if you are the batting coach, after the treatment of Graham Gooch in 2014, Mark Ramprakash in 2018 and Graham Thorpe in 2022, your jaicket is already hanging on a shoogly peg. But players too have been ditched for good and ended their Test careers at Sydney, not by choice, from the great, such as Kevin Pietersen and Gooch, the very good, Andy Caddick and Mike Gatting, the decent, John Crawley, Michael Carberry and Chris Read, and the desperation picks Scott Borthwick, Boyd Rankin and Mason Crane. Make no mistake, careers are on the line.