England make one change to playing XI for Adelaide Test

England have backed in their misfiring batters for their crunch Adelaide Ashes contest with the solitary change to their side seeing a fresh fast bowler brought in for the third NRMA Insurance Test.

Josh Tongue will play for the first time in this series as England axed opening bowler Gus Atkinson and held firm with fellow quick Brydon Carse despite his expensive outing in their Brisbane defeat under lights.

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

But, as flagged by coach Brendon McCullum on Sunday, the visitors have stuck fat with their top seven despite only Joe Root holding a batting average above 30 through the first two Tests of the series.

"We know we haven't got enough runs so far in the series," said McCullum. "But for us to go on and win the series, it's not about throwing out what's been successful."

Tongue, the 28-year-old Nottinghamshire quick who has 31 wickets from his six matches, played against Australia in the 2023 Ashes, taking five wickets in the Lord's Test made infamous by the Jonny Bairstow stumping.

Nicknamed 'the mop' for his habit of picking up lower-order wickets, he memorably sent down a nine-ball over against India at The Oval mid-year that twice saw balls go for five wides after barely hitting the cut strip. He recovered to produce near unplayable deliveries later in the spell, underlining his undpredictable qualities.

Atkinson had collected just three wickets in his two Tests this series at an average of 78.66 from his 54 overs.

The right-armer went wicketless in the frenetic opening Test in Perth, and was expensive in Australia's first innings at the Gabba with 1-114 before picking up both Australian wickets to fall in the home side's run chase on day four.

Carse, meanwhile, went at 5.24 per over during the first innings in Brisbane, conceding 152 from 29 overs, but did take four wickets amid an up-and-down performance.

Captain Ben Stokes is believed to be a strong supporter of the lion-hearted South Africa-born seamer who is one of his county teammates at Durham.

Tongue has battled injuries throughout a stop-start career, notably a nerve problem in his right shoulder that required multiple surgeries and botox injections to rectify. He presents an awkward angle, good pace and targets the stumps, offering something new for England's attack.

They will desperately be hoping to emulate the precision of Australia's attack, which England vice-captain Harry Brook heaped praise on.

"They've been incredibly highly skilled, and they've nailed their execution," Brook told reporters on Monday.

"You can't take this bowling attack lightly. They very rarely miss. You've got to try and create your own bad balls. That might be me running down (the wicket), it might be me changing my guard or whatever.

"They don't miss often and you've got to tip your hat to them, they've bowled really well this series."

Stokes has demanded more from his teammates, declaring his dressing room is "no place for weak men", which Brook has taken to mean the side must rise in the big moments.

"There's them pressure situations, which we haven’t been really that good at so far," he said.

"When we're head-to-head, they've managed to be the better side and sneak in front. And everybody realises that.

"We've just got to stand up in them certain situations, read the game slightly better (and) just have a little bit of grit and determination about you."

2025-26 NRMA Insurance Men's Ashes

First Test: Australia won by eight wickets

Second Test: Australia won by eight wickets

Third Test: December 17-21: Adelaide Oval, 10:30am AEDT

Fourth Test: December 26-30: MCG, Melbourne, 10:30am AEDT

Fifth Test: January 4-8: SCG, Sydney, 10:30am AEDT

Australia squad (third Test only): 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

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