England have confirmed three changes for the home side, with Moeen Ali, Chris Woakes and Mark Wood brought into the XI
Three changes for England ahead of must-win third Test
England are sticking true to their attack-at-all-costs approach with Harry Brook elevated to No.3 for their must-win third Test against Australia at Headingley.
Jimmy Anderson and Josh Tongue have both made way but the Ashes hosts have bolstered their bowling attack with an extra fast bowler, recalling Mark Wood and Chris Woakes, while also bringing back Moeen Ali.
Rather than replacing incumbent first drop Ollie Pope with the squad's spare batter Dan Lawrence, England have promoted Brook from five to three with Moeen and Woakes coming in to then strengthen the lower-order.
England XI: Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Harry Brook, Joe Root, Jonny Bairstow (wk), Ben Stokes (c), Moeen Ali, Chris Woakes, Stuart Broad, Ollie Robinson, Mark Wood
Brook has averaged 67 in Test cricket since storming onto the scene last year. Whether his ultra-aggressive approach now can pay off that high up in the batting order against Australia shapes as a fascinating sub-plot for the rest of the series.
"It was pretty simple for us to be honest," Stokes said of the decision to promote the 24-year-old who has managed scores of 50, 4, 32 and 46 in the first two Tests of this series.
"When you've got a player like Brooky you feel like he could slot into any position. If something was to happen last summer (before he was in the team) from 1-6, Brooky would have come in in any position.
"We feel that Brooky is the type of player who will just take the responsibility and just crack on with it.
"We want to keep Joe (Root) at four, because he's a remarkable player and Jonny moving up to five was just to get him into the game earlier."
Anderson drops out of the squad having labelled the first two Test pitches as his "kryptonite" (Edgbaston) and "frustrating" (Lord's), but Stokes tipped England's all-time leading Test wicket taker to return for his home Test in Manchester next week.
Mark Wood will play his first game of the summer and adds an extra dimension to the England attack. The right-armer was his team's best bowler on their tour of Australia 18 months ago and his hostile pace commands huge respect in the visitors' dressing room.
Woakes struggled down under in the 2021-22 series but has a much better home record (94 wickets at 22.63) compared to abroad (36 wickets at 51.88). His overall Ashes record (27 wickets at 46.44) suggests he has rarely been at his best against the Aussies though.
Like Australia, England are pursuing a rotation policy with their pace battery.
"We were very open and honest and clear before the series started that it would be a tough ask for every bowler to play every game this summer," said Stokes.
"It's a good chance for Jimmy to have a rest up and then get ready to charge in from the Jimmy Anderson End at Old Trafford next week.
"It's great to have Woody fit, he's firing and really ready to go this week. Looking forward to seeing him get going here."
England have surprisingly not picked a replacement vice-captain for Pope, with Stokes instead saying he will rely on his bowlers to set their fields if he is forced from the field at any point.
"I've been off the field a few times and just given the responsibility of the bowlers to set their fields and do what they want to do," said Stokes.
"I think they're all very aware of how they want to operate even without me there.
"I find myself talking less and less now to the team because everyone just sort of gets it and sort of understands how I want us to play our cricket with the ball.
"That's just thinking about wickets all the time. How do you need to bowl to get a wicket? What kind of fields do you need to bowl to maybe influence a mistake from the batter?
"So if I do find myself off the field, I'll be very confident that whoever's bowling will be able to still implement the plans that I would do anyway."
2023 Qantas Ashes Tour of the UK
First Test: Australia won by two wickets
Second Test: Australia won by 43 runs
Third Test: Thursday July 6-Monday July 10, Headingley
Fourth Test: Wednesday July 19-Sunday July 23, Old Trafford
Fifth Test: Thursday July 27-Monday 31, The Oval
Australia squad: Pat Cummins (c), Scott Boland, Alex Carey (wk), Cameron Green, Marcus Harris, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Josh Inglis (wk), Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Mitch Marsh, Todd Murphy, Michael Neser, Matthew Renshaw, Steve Smith (vc), Mitchell Starc, David Warner
England squad: Ben Stokes (c), Rehan Ahmed, James Anderson, Jonathan Bairstow, Stuart Broad, Harry Brook, Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Dan Lawrence, Jack Leach, Ollie Pope, Matthew Potts, Ollie Robinson, Joe Root, Josh Tongue, Chris Woakes, Mark Wood