Steve Smith was at his bizarre best on day three in Sydney, grinding England into the dust with his scintillating strokeplay and trademark oddness.

Travis Head’s third century of the series and Steve Smith’s first guided Australia to a 134-run first-innings lead over England by stumps on Day Three of the fifth and final Ashes Test here. Head resumed on Tuesday at 91 and was out for 163 from 166 balls,

Usman Khawaja has made an impressive 82 for Australia after being a late call-up to the team for the third Ashes Test as a replacement for Steve Smith.

Australia’s stand-in skipper Steve Smith has defended selection chair George Bailey following the furore that unfolded when former fast bowler Stuart Clark issued a stinging critique of backroom staff midway through the Sydney Test.

Steve Smith has scored over 200 runs in the ongoing 2025-26 edition of The Ashes. Smith led Australia in 4 Test matches in the ongoing series

Brook moved up three spots to No.2 in the world, only behind England teammate Joe Root. Head and Smith were both bumped down a spot to 4 and 5 respectively (behind Kane Williamson), despite outperforming Brook throughout the Ashes.

It was not quite as blunt as saying that Bazball actually worked for once but Smith said the scoresheet did not lie, with the aggressive Brook top-scoring with 41 runs from 34 balls in the first innings before finishing unbeaten on 18 in the second.