Australia v England, third Ashes Test: match preview

Match facts

Who: Australia v England

 

What: Third NRMA Insurance Test, men's Ashes

 

When: December 17-21, first ball 10am local time (10.30am AEDT; 11.30pm GMT)

 

Where: Adelaide Oval

 

Live scores: Match Centre

 

How to watch: Channel Seven, 7plus, Kayo Sports and Foxtel

 

How to listen: ABC Radio, Triple M and SEN Radio. New this summer, the CA Live app has teamed up with NRMA Insurance so you can listen to radio and commentary streams in real-time with no delay to live play using zero-latency technology. Cricket Radio (both standard and real-time) is available anywhere in Australia in the CA Live match centre, however, some audio streams, such as TV commentary, may be exclusive to fans attending a match. Find out more here.

 

Buy tickets: Tickets are still available for day four. Get them here

 

Officials: Nitin Menon and Ahsan Raza Saikat (field), Chris Gaffaney (third), Shawn Craig (fourth), Jeff Crowe (match referee)

 

News and reactions post-play: cricket.com.au and the CA Live app. The Unplayable Podcast will also be dropping a new episode after each days' play during the Ashes. Join host Josh Schonafinger and Louis Cameron to recap all the action and talking points from the Gabba. And you can listen to the back catalogue of episodes below.

Listen on SpotifyListen on Apple PodcastsListen on iHeart Radio

Third Test session times

First Session: 10am – 12noon (10.30am – 12.30pm AEDT; 11.30pm – 1.30am GMT)

 

Second Session: 12.40pm – 2.40pm (1.10pm – 3.10pm AEDT; 2.10am – 4.10am GMT)

 

Third Session: 3pm – 5pm (3.30pm – 5.30pm AEDT; 4.30am – 6.30am GMT)

 

*An extra 30 minutes is available to complete daily overs

Full series schedule

First Test: Australia won by eight wickets

Second Test: Australia won by eight wickets

Third Test: December 17-21: Adelaide Oval, 11am AEDT

Fourth Test: December 26-30: MCG, Melbourne, 10.30am AEDT

Fifth Test: January 4-8: SCG, Sydney, 10.30am AEDT

The squads

Australia squad: Pat Cummins (c), Scott Boland, Alex Carey, Brendan Doggett, Cameron Green, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Michael Neser, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, Jake Weatherald, Beau Webster

Australia has made just the one change, but it's a big one. Captain Pat Cummins is back in the squad and all-but certain to play his first official match of any kind since the final Test of Australia's series against the West Indies in June. Who he would replace remains anyone's guess. Who off-spinner Nathan Lyon might replace is also up for debate, given the strong performances of all four pacemen the Aussies have used in the series so far. Usman Khawaja has been retained in the squad as he continues his recovery from the back spasms that saw him sidelined in Brisbane. Will he return? If he does, will he resume at the top of the order? Or would the selectors find a home for him further down? So many difficult questions for a side that is up 2-0 after two Tests, and the selectors will have a difficult task finding the right answers.

England squad: Ben Stokes (c), Harry Brook (vc), Jofra Archer, Gus Atkinson, Shoaib Bashir, Jacob Bethell, Brydon Carse, Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Will Jacks, Ollie Pope, Matthew Potts, Joe Root, Jamie Smith (wk), Josh Tongue, Mark Wood

The great shame for England is the loss of Mark Wood for the remainder of the series. The speedster will return home this week (after the Noosa beach getaway) after further issues with his left knee, having only contributed only 11 overs in the first Test in Perth. Surrey's Matthew Fisher has linked up with the squad in his place. Speculation abounds about the role Ollie Pope may play, given Jacob Bethell found himself in the runs with a second innings 71 for the England Lions against Australia A. From there, it will be a matter of England finding its right mix with both bat and ball after such a fitful start to the series, and the words of Ben Stokes after their Gabba defeat ringing in their ears.

Possible XIs

Australia: Travis Head, Jake Weatherald, Marnus Labuschagne, Steve Smith, Cameron Green, Alex Carey (wk), Josh Inglis, Michael Neser, Pat Cummins (c), Mitchell Starc, Nathan Lyon

Australia couldn't drop Michael Neser after a five-wicket haul, could they? With both Pat Cummins and Nathan Lyon seemingly certain to return to the XI, there's a big squeeze in the bowling department. It looks as if Brendan Doggett will be one of the unlucky two, with Neser's name also going to be floated. The other play could be to put Scott Boland on ice to allow him to be cherry-ripe for his home Test in Melbourne. Only Mitch Starc has bowled more overs than Boland in the series to date. Usman Khawaja has been pushing his fitness case over previous days, but would Australia want to tinker with a top order that piled on 511 in Brisbane?  

England: Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Harry Brook, Ben Stokes (c), Jamie Smith (wk), Will Jacks, Brydon Carse, Jofra Archer, Josh Tongue

Coach Brendon McCullum was adamant he would stick with the top seven batters for Adelaide when asked about their line up on Sunday. England don't have a lot of top-order options if they were to switch regardless; beyond Jacob Bethell their only other option to enter the top seven would be a promotion for Will Jacks, who showed in Brisbane he's a very capable Test batter. Off-spinner Shoaib Bashir, despite being on the outer so far this tour, is definitely in the mix with Adelaide expected to be hot (weather) and flat (pitch). The tourists also need to consider if they switch up their the pace attack, as Gus Atkinson and Jofra Archer have both claimed only three wickets apiece from the first two Tests. Josh Tongue would be the most aggressive option, he can hit high speeds and be wayward but is capable to producing unplayable deliveries.  

Players to watch

Travis Head: It might sound like an obvious call but Head's record at the Adelaide Oval, combined with his recent form, make him and irresistible pick for the player to watch. Head's played seven Tests at his home ground and hit three centuries, all while averaging 79.25 with the bat. In fact, he's tonned up in his past three matches here: 175 against West Indies in 2022-23, 119 against the same opponents in 2023-24 and last season's memorable 140 against India.

Harry Brook: After posting an ominous half-century on the opening day of the series, it's been an underwhelming series to date for the ludicrously talented Brook. Caught behind the wicket in all four innings, the Aussies have had success against the right-hander's outside edge, but Brook might be more suited to conditions found in Adelaide, especially if there's less sideways movement and less bounce. Brook has now gone 13 innings without a century against Australia, the one black spot on his Test record of 10 hundreds from 54 innings.   

Local knowledge

England has been involved in 33 Test matches at the Adelaide Oval, the past two of which have been day-night affairs. They lost both, taking their recent record to one win from their past seven starts at the venue.

Their Test last win in Adelaide came in 2010, to the tune of an innings and 71 runs. That remains their only victory in the City of Churches since 1995.

Australia, meanwhile, has won 46 of its 83 matches at the ground, and has lost only once since that aforementioned match in 2010. That loss was to India in December 2018, at a time when the Aussies were shorn of Steve Smith and David Warner.

Eight of Australia’s last ten Tests in Adelaide have been played with a pink ball. This Ashes bout will be only the third time since 2015 that a red Kookaburra will be employed at the ground.

Form guide

Past 10 matches, most recent first. W: win, L: loss, D: draw

Australia: WWWWWLWWWW

Form is no issue for Australia. In fact, with just the one loss from their past 11 outings, and a return to a happy hunting ground in Adelaide, the home side should not be light on for confidence.

England: LLLDWLWWLW

Things are patchy here for England. Two losses on the bounce to Australia follow a loss to India in a thriller at The Oval in August. Prior to that, the form line is a little kinder, but it has been four matches since England last enjoyed the taste of Test success.

World Test Championship

Australia has kept its perfect record in the new ICC World Test Championship intact, winning five from five to bolt to the top of the table. South Africa remains in second, while England languishes in seventh. They have played seven Tests but won only two, meaning there is much ground to make up if they are to get back in the hunt.

The top two teams, ranked according to their percentage of points won, then face off in the WTC final in England in mid-2027. Teams receive 12 points for a Test win, six for a tie and four for draw.

Rapid stats

• England are winless in their past 17 men's Tests in Australia (D2 L15) – their last win in the country was against Australia at the Sydney Cricket Ground in January 2011; New Zealand (18 matches) are the only visiting team with a longer winless run in the country in the history of the format.
  
  
• Australia have won six of their last seven men's Tests against England at Adelaide Oval (L1), including each of their last three; the last and only time they recorded a longer winning run against England at the venue was a five-match span from January 1895 to January 1908.
  
  
• England currently trail 0-2 in this men's Test series against Australia; the last and only time either side overcame an 0-2 deficit to win an Ashes series was Australia in Australia (3-2, December 1936 to March 1937).
  
  
• Australia have won each of their last five men's Tests; the last time they recorded a longer winning run in the format was a six-match span from November 2019 to December 2020.
  
  
• England have a collective batting strike rate of 71 in men's Tests in 2025, the best of any team; in addition, they've hit a boundary once every 11.5 balls faced – the most frequently of any team in the format this year.
  
  
• Australia have a catch success rate of 81.3 per cent (113/139) in men's Tests in 2025, the best of any team and are the only side to have made 100-plus catches (113) so far this year. They've also made four run outs and four stumpings when fielding, only bettered by one other side in each category (West Indies – 6 run outs, South Africa – 7 stumpings).
  
  
• Mitchell Starc (Australia) has taken 18 wickets in this men's Test series between Australia and England; the last pace bowler to log more for either team across the first two Tests of an Ashes series was Terry Alderman for Australia in England in 1989 (19), while the most recent bowler overall to do so was Shane Warne (20) in the 1994-95 series in Australia.
  
  
• Joe Root (160) is one away from equalling Alastair Cook (161) for the third most appearances for England in men's Tests (James Anderson – 188, Stuart Broad – 167); he's scored 698 runs at an average of 63.5 across his last 13 Test innings and has scored 60-plus in three of his last five Test innings at Adelaide Oval (87, 9, 67, 62, 24).
  
  
• Only New Zealand's Rachin Ravindra (15 per cent of 340 balls faced) has made a strong connection on a higher percentage of their balls faced in men's Tests in 2025 (min. 200 balls faced) than England trio Jamie Smith (13.8 per cent of 608 balls faced), Ben Duckett (13.5 per cent of 770 balls faced) and Harry Brook (12.9 per cent of 759 balls faced).