Majestic Smith passes Hobbs to leave only Bradman clear on top of Ashes mountain | Geoff Lemon

There was a time, while Steve Smith was at the height of his batting prowess, when “best since Bradman” was used with confidence. The thing about that line is that even when the recipient has dominated for years, it gets applied too quickly, given the point of comparison is a career-lasting two decades. Lots of players reach the top for a time, no other has stayed as long. Smith was untouchable for six years before returning to the realm of the merely very good.The combination of those phases, though, took him to a rare position on the third day of the fifth Test in Sydney

The Breakdown | Rugby’s leaders should show courage of their convictions as Stephen Jones did

He never won an international cap nor played a single minute of professional rugby. So why did a national newspaper devote four and a half pages of its sports section to celebrating him at the weekend? There have been generational British & Irish legends who spawned less coverage than Stephen Jones in recognition of the latter’s 42-year stint as rugby correspondent of the Sunday Times.Just think about that for a second. Forty-two years of journalistic thunderbolts and lightning, some of it very, very frightening for those in the firing line. One or two world heavyweight champs have landed fewer career knockout punches than our mate Steve dished out in print every week

Bethell admits ‘tired’ England need to ‘graft’ after hitting Ashes wall in Sydney

England hit the wall on day three at the Sydney Cricket Ground, or at least the latest in a series of walls, at the end of which Jacob Bethell ­admitted mental and physical fatigue was understandably, playing a part. There were dropped catches and some scattergun bowling lengths as Australia batted all day to reach 518 for seven, 134 runs ahead on first innings.“This is proper Test cricket now in terms of the graft and the stuff that you have to put in,” Bethell said afterwards. “It was a tough day, but that’s what it’s about. We’ve got to come out tomorrow, take the three wickets early and get back in again

Conscript Potts is England’s paratrooper fighting a lonely Ashes war in Sydney | Barney Ronay

Forty-five minutes into a quietly overcast morning at the Sydney Cricket Ground, Matt Potts came into the England attack from the Randwick End, and immediately began running through his variations.His first ball was wide and smashed through cover by Travis Head. His second ball was both short and wide and hacked over gully by Travis Head. His third ball was short and straight and smashed past midwicket by Travis Head. His fourth ball was defended with a show of furrowed caution, to loud, mocking cheers from a crowd that had begun to tuck into the day

Smith and Head hit centuries to help Australia grind England into the dust

They do things well in Australia. On the first day of this fifth Test came a fitting tribute to the victims and first responders of the Bondi ­atrocity, and on the third day the Sydney Cricket Ground was turned into a sea of pink to once again raise funds for the McGrath Foundation.Out in the middle, however, Australian charity was in far shorter ­supply. Across three sessions their batters ground England’s bowlers into the dust, answering any questions about their motivation since ­securing the Ashes and throwing up a few more about their beaten opponents.Faces flush from the ordeal, Ben Stokes and his team trudged off at stumps seeing pink elephants

Nick Kyrgios may be resigned to tennis fringes as singles career fizzles out

Nick Kyrgios appears set for little more than a peripheral role during Australia’s summer of tennis after a brisk, anticlimactic and – for fans of the 30-year-old – worrying defeat at the Brisbane International in his first competitive singles outing in almost 10 months.The Canberran, who is recovering from knee and wrist surgeries and played only five times on the ATP Tour in 2025, offered little resistance against American Aleksandar Kovacevic in the first round at the Pat Rafter Arena on Tuesday. The 27-year-old American, ranked 58 in the world, breezed past the Australian 6-3 6-4 in just 66 minutes, without giving up a break point opportunity.The match disappointed the capacity crowd in Pat Rafter Arena, who had hoped a first singles ATP Tour match since March for the sport’s self-styled maverick would springboard Kyrgios back to relevance, after a promising doubles performance on Sunday. Instead, it vindicated the ongoing reluctance of Australian Open officials to hand the former world No 13 a precious place at the Melbourne Park grand slam starting on 18 January