There were flickers of hope for England on the third day in Adelaide but, like some of the murmurs thrown up by Snicko during this pivotal third Ashes Test, they were never entirely convincing. Instead, courtesy of Travis Head’s hometown hundred, Australia secured a position of outright dominance.
At stumps the hosts had reached 271 for four for a lead of 356 runs. And, as a 53,700-strong crowd filtered out, the majority were beaming. Head had only furthered his cult status in these parts, an unbeaten 142 from 196 balls having ensured England would need a record chase on this ground to prevent a slide to 3-0 down.
