Ben Stokes talked this week about “grit, determination and fight” and his England team certainly put in a shift on a red-hot day in Adelaide, but their shortcomings were also on show as Australia slipped from their grasp again.
Alex Carey stroked the first Ashes hundred by a wicketkeeper in Australia since Brad Haddin in 2013-14; his busy, energetic batting blunting England with the help of the “Snicko” gizmo failing to pick up an edge when he was on 72. It added controversy to another day fizzing with energy in this high-octane series.
Carey played superbly for his 106 on his home ground, stabilising Australia when they wobbled at 94-4 after losing two wickets in three balls after lunch, and it was a nice moment when he reached his hundred in front of a record attendance for cricket at the remodelled Oval of 56,298, the crowd rising for the country boy from South Australia.
Alex Carey brings up his century on his home ground in Adelaide! 🏏
Australia were 94-4 when he arrived at the crease – what a brilliant knock! 👏 pic.twitter.com/dOB5HpCxvk— Cricket on TNT Sports (@cricketontnt) December 17, 2025
He fully deserved the acclaim on an emotional occasion; the day started with a minute’s silence and a rendition of True Blue by Australian folk-singing icon John Williamson to remember the victims of the Bondi Beach attack.
Usman Khawaja grabbed his unexpected opportunity when he benefited from Steve Smith’s withdrawal with illness an hour before the toss to make 82, potentially extending his Test career for another couple of weeks. Both sides are still in it with Australia scrapping their way to 326 for eight and if the England batsmen can finally do their bit on a good deck, they can put themselves in a position to win the game. If, is a big word for this England batting line-up.
In temperatures of 35C and after losing the toss on a flat pitch, England could have melted but the bowlers showed great heart, wiping away the sweat in their eyes to prevent Australia from batting them out of the Ashes. If they had been a bit more consistent they could have really taken the upper hand because Australia’s shortcomings were on show with five batsmen in a row gifting wickets before Carey came to the rescue.
Jofra Archer was excellent all day but there was a significant drop-off at the other end. Will Jacks bowled exactly like the part-time spinner he is and leaked runs as Australia targeted him. He did not let his head drop and on a dry pitch did turn a few – worrying for England with Nathan Lyon back in the Australia side and bowling last on this pitch – but the Shoaib Bashir question looks like it will haunt this set-up.
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Archer has been a lightning rod for Australian criticism since the second Test, some of it very unfair, because he has been the standout England bowler despite not taking the wickets he deserved.
You only have to look at the respect he is paid by the Australian batsmen, who were content to just survive when he was running in from the Cathedral End, the grassy bank behind him claimed as a corner of England by the Barmy Army.
He bowled five maidens and conceded runs at 1.81 an over while maintaining his pace for most of the day and struck twice in the first over after lunch just when England needed a breakthrough. Even when his speed dropped in his final spell after tea, he still shook up Australia with accurate short balls and posed questions. He finished with three for 29 from 16 overs and earned wickets for others, batsmen making errors against lesser bowlers because of the pressure he exerted.
Marnus Labuschagne is removed by Jofra Archer straight after lunch! pic.twitter.com/zvGxJoaS8B
— Cricket on TNT Sports (@cricketontnt) December 17, 2025
Green falls for a duck as Jofra Archer claims his second wicket in the opening over after lunch! pic.twitter.com/HwlJNu224L
— Cricket on TNT Sports (@cricketontnt) December 17, 2025
Josh Tongue’s first and last spells were good and sandwiched a loose one in the afternoon. He did his bit in his first Test away from home. Ben Stokes was economical but did not really threaten wickets while Brydon Carse was wasteful, bowling too short and conceded six no-balls.
Jacks spent most of the day travelling at six an over before Carey slowed as his hundred beckoned and a holding pattern emerged before the second new ball. Jacks took two for 105 including Carey and Khawaja off slog sweeps, but he was unable to bowl a consistent length for long enough.
CAREY FINALLY GOES ☝ #TheAshespic.twitter.com/oiKnopWK3g
— Cricket on TNT Sports (@cricketontnt) December 17, 2025
The seamers, apart from Archer, too often bowled short and allowed Khawaja in particular to pick off fours behind square on a ground with long straight boundaries. There was good energy in the field with Zak Crawley taking a world-class catch to remove Travis Head at cover in the ninth over.
Zak Crawley takes a spectacular catch to remove Travis Head! 👏 pic.twitter.com/bgReGCxJA3
— Cricket on TNT Sports (@cricketontnt) December 17, 2025
But Harry Brook spilt Khawaja on five at second slip off Tongue with Australia 50 for two and it robbed England of momentum as well as costing 77 crucial runs. It was another day when England were just not quite good enough in two disciplines – bowling and fielding – to end on top.
Carey is Australia’s leading Test run scorer this year and he has donned Haddin’s costume to be the battler who hurts England just when they think they have a sniff. He is a more natural batsman than Haddin, and less combative too, and there is no doubt his confidence at the crease has grown since his excellent keeping in Brisbane.
He was at England from the start, driving his second ball for four and was a run-a-ball at 26, giving Australia the lift they needed after a poor start to the afternoon session, coming in when Marnus Labuschagne and Cameron Green pulled back-of-a-length balls from Archer to midwicket, both soft dismissals.
It followed the pattern of the morning. Head drove loosely to Crawley off Carse, possibly surprised by him pitching one up with the new ball, and Jake Weatherald found himself in a flap against Archer’s bouncer, splicing a catch behind.
Jake Weatherald falls for 18 as Jofra Archer takes the opening wicket of the third Test! pic.twitter.com/Ghp3jHeuLC
— Cricket on TNT Sports (@cricketontnt) December 17, 2025
When England pitched up to Khawaja, he nicked it but Brook could not hold on at second slip to a chance high to his left. It felt as though England could ride that one out given Kahwaja’s form recently but he grew in confidence as the bowling dropped off.
He should have made a hundred, a fairy-tale return was there for the taking, but he swept Jacks to deep square leg, another unforced error. With Inglis playing on to Tongue the over after Australia had seen off another tough Archer spell, England were back in it.
In his next over Tongue appealed when Carey on 72 wafted and England thought they heard an edge. Carey had that guilty look on his face, but was given not out. England reviewed and Snicko cleared Carey, a small spike on the line appearing a couple of frames before the ball passed the bat. England were not happy and it may well be one of those moments that proves pivotal.
Watch: Carey survives caught-behind review
England were convinced that Alex Carey was gone, but what’s your take here?#Ashes | #DRSChallenge | @Westpacpic.twitter.com/g7bp7ptQXO
— cricket.com.au (@cricketcomau) December 17, 2025
Alex Carey’s reaction
[On the influence of his father Gordon, who died in September] I’m trying not to tear up. It was great to have Mum, brother, sister, Eloise [his wife], the kids here… it was a great moment. Dad played the biggest role in my cricket – he coached me all the way through to my teenage years. After that he would always shoot a message – ‘Put the reverse sweep away’, that kind of thing. I won’t go into too much depth but it’s a special moment for myself and the family too I reckon.
Alex Carey touches on his dad’s influence after an emotional day. #Ashespic.twitter.com/Z2lbi5I9vj
— cricket.com.au (@cricketcomau) December 17, 2025
Sir Geoffrey Boycott’s verdict
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England feeling the heat
It is a touch concerning just how exhausted England look after six-and-a-half hours in the field in brutal heat. They need to polish off these last two Australian wickets with a minimum of fuss tomorrow morning, with afternoon temperatures in Adelaide poised to reach 39C. How, after suspiciously light preparation, will their stamina hold up?
England reaction: ‘The technology needs to work better’
With the seamers presumably in the nearest ice bath, the bowling coach David Saker is on media duty.
I thought it was a good performance from our bowlers. It’s never easy, day one in Adelaide, and it was stinking hot. The boys toiled away; I thought it was a really good effort.
[On Jofra Archer] I think he had a point to prove. He sustained his pace really well and he attacked the stumps. It was a good performance from him and it was backed up by everybody.
We’ve had stints [in the field] where we’ve been really good but we know we were quite poor at times in the first innings at Brisbane. We knew what we had to do – get the ball in a really good area for long periods of time. It’s not rocket science. These guys are skilful bowlers and they’ve got pace; we just missed our length too often in Brisbane. I thought our lengths were better today.
[On whether England might have picked Shoaib Bashir] It was definitely discussed, but it’s out of my pay grade! I thought Will performed really well today.
[On Josh Tongue] He’s a different sort of cat – he’s hard to line up, particularly for the right-handers. He challenged the batters really well all day.
[On the Alex Carey review that was given not out] There was a spike, but it was really early or really late. Our boys were confident he hit it. That’s technology – they need to make sure it’s working better than it did today.
The game’s probably pretty even. If we were batting tonight, we’d have won the day, but that’s cricket and we’ll keep moving on.
OVER 83: AUS 326/8 (Starc 29 Lyon 0)
Stumps A maiden from Stokes to Lyon is the last act of a hard-fought day in the Adelaide heat. It’s been a pretty good one for England, who chipped away on a flat pitch and will fancy their chances of a first-innings lead.
Jofra Archer was the pick of the bowlers with admirable figures of 16-5-29-3. Will Jacks was expensive, conceding 105 runs from 20 overs, but he took the vital wickets of Usman Khawaja (who made 82 after a late call-up to replace Steve Smith) and Alex Carey (a superb 106 on his home ground).
OVER 82: AUS 326/8 (Starc 29 Lyon 0)
A slightly subdued over from Archer: five dot balls and then a loose delivery on the pads that is flicked for four by Starc.
There will be time for one more over tonight. On TNT Sports, Matt Prior says England “look like they’ve been in the field for three days”.
OVER 81: AUS 322/8 (Starc 29 Lyon 0)
In fact Stokes is going to continue with the new ball, presumably to avoid asking two of his seamers to loosen up for just a single over.
It’s a pretty weary over from Stokes, a maiden to Lyon that includes a play and a miss outside off stump. Jofra Archer is coming on at the other end to bowl what will probably be the last over of the day; he needs two wickets for his first Test five-for since December 2019.
OVER 80: AUS 322/8 (Starc 29 Lyon 0)
Jacks races through a maiden to Starc, which means Lyon will be on strike for the first over with the second new ball.
OVER 79: AUS 322/8 (Starc 29 Lyon 0)
Stokes continues to do the donkey work with the old ball. His 17th over, the most by any seamer today, passes without incident. That should be Stokes’s lot for the day – the new ball is available after the next over.
OVER 78: AUS 321/8 (Starc 28 Lyon 0)
Carey was angry with himself as he walked off, but in time he will reflect with enormous pride on a superb, potentially Ashes-winning – innings of 106 from 143 balls with eight fours and a six.
Wicket!
Carey c Smith b Jacks 106 Will Jacks takes the big wicket of Alex Carey, who reaches from a slightly wider delivery and launches a slog-sweep straight up in the air. Jamie Smith runs towards short leg to take the catch. FOW: 321/8
CAREY FINALLY GOES ☝ #TheAshespic.twitter.com/oiKnopWK3g
— Cricket on TNT Sports (@cricketontnt) December 17, 2025
OVER 77: AUS 321/7 (Carey 106 Starc 28)
Carey pulls Stokes for a single to bring up a rapid fifty partnership from 10.5 overs. Australia have recovered well from 94/4 just after lunch. England will be encouraged by how comfortable batting looks, even from the lower order, though it might be different against a specialist spinner.
OVER 76: AUS 319/7 (Carey 105 Starc 27)
With the exception of Cameron Green, all the Australian batters have reached double figures, which reinforces the feeling that this is a pretty good pitch. England’s much criticised top order have to deliver when their time comes tomorrow.
OVER 75: AUS 315/7 (Carey 103 Starc 25)
Starc pulls Stokes for four more. There’s half an hour’s play remaining, so England should get at least a couple of overs with the second new ball. There’s a case for bringing on Joe Root for Stokes so that they can rush through the overs.
OVER 74: AUS 311/7 (Carey 103 Starc 21)
Jacks replaces Carse and is milked for four singles, the third of which brings up his own century: his figures are 17-1-101-1. Not ideal, even for a part-time spinner, on a pitch that is already offering turn and bounce.
Carey offers blueprint for England
Huge roar as Carey reaches his hundred on his home ground in front of 55,000 on day one of the Adelaide Test. It is an innings that has saved his team and provided England with a blueprint for batting tomorrow by being aggressive without taking risks.
OVER 73: AUS 307/7 (Carey 101 Starc 19)
There it is! The local boy Alex Carey push-drives Stokes for three to reach a fabulous hundred, his third in Tests and his first against England. Australia were in trouble at 94/4 when he arrived, but you’d never really know the match situation when Carey bats. Whatever the score, he accumulates runs in such a calm, purposeful manner.
The camera cuts to the crowd, where Carey’s wife Eloise is weeping tears of joy.
Alex Carey brings up his century on his home ground in Adelaide! 🏏
Australia were 94-4 when he arrived at the crease – what a brilliant knock! 👏 pic.twitter.com/dOB5HpCxvk— Cricket on TNT Sports (@cricketontnt) December 17, 2025
Lack of killer instinct could cost England
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England have had a poor half-hour since the Cummins wicket. We won’t really know anything about Australia’s score until England have a bat, and they’ve been willing and hard-working today in oppressive heat. But they still lack a bit of killer instinct.
OVER 72: AUS 302/7 (Carey 97 Starc 18)
Starc mishits a pull off Carse that clears Jacks, running back from midwicket. It was a no-ball anyway, Carse’s sixth of the day.
OVER 71: AUS 296/7 (Carey 96 Starc 14)
Stokes comes on for Tongue, who has bowled better than figures of 15-1-63-1 would suggest. Carey calmly lap-pulls a single to move to 96; he doesn’t seem like the kind of character who will lose the plot in the nineties.
OVER 70: AUS 294/7 (Carey 95 Starc 13)
Carse goes too full to Starc and is lofted for two boundaries, the first over wide mid-on and the second straight down the ground. Carse is going at 5.38 runs per over in this series, the highest economy rate of anybody who has bowled at least 20 overs in an Ashes series.
OVER 69: AUS 284/7 (Carey 94 Starc 4)
England would love Josh Tongue to tuck into some rabbit pie as he did when cleaning up the Indian tail in the summer. Strictly speaking Mitchell Starc isn’t a rabbit, but he’s a Test No9 for a reason.
Starc takes a single off the fifth ball of the over; Carey does likewise off the last two keep strike.
OVER 68: AUS 282/7 (Carey 93 Starc 3)
Carey thumps Carse through the covers for four to move into the nineties. He almost falls next ball, mistiming a lofted drive that just clears the leaping Crawley at deepish cover. Crawley has already take one blinder today; that would have been an equally spectacular catch.
OVER 67: AUS 274/7 (Carey 86 Starc 2)
Carey takes a single off Tongue to move within 14 of his third Test century. The last hundred by a wicketkeeper in an Ashes Test was Jonny Bairstow’s 119 at the Waca in 2017-18. The last for Australia was Brad Haddin’s punishing 118 on this ground 12 years ago.
England picked two specialist spinners in that game, Graeme Swann and Monty Panesar, and it didn’t do them much good. In fact, that match pretty much ended both their Test careers.
OVER 66: AUS 271/7 (Carey 85 Starc 0)
For all his imperfections, Brydon Carse has taken 10 wickets in this series at an average of 29. Only the mighty Mitchell Starc has more.
Drinks
There’s still one ball remaining in Carse’s over but the umpires have called for drinks.
Wicket!
Cummins c Pope b Carse 13 Now it’s Brydon Carse who strikes in the first over of a new spell. Cummins gets a thin edge on the thigh and is smartly caught by Pope at short leg. He reviews the decision, presumably because Australia have three left, but there’s a clear spike and he’s on his way. Another timely breakthrough for England. FOW: 271/7
Pat Cummins is dismissed as England leave Australia on 271 for 7. pic.twitter.com/uwDX9Eu92S
— Cricket on TNT Sports (@cricketontnt) December 17, 2025
Should England turn to Joe Root?
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Would Joe Root be worth an over or two? He has a fine record against Alex Carey, dismissing him four times in Tests at an average of just 12, including at Adelaide before. Will Jacks has been willing and threatened at times, but also showed the dangers of picking a non-specialist spinner.
OVER 65: AUS 269/6 (Carey 85 Cummins 11)
Cummins tucks Tongue to fine leg for four more, then gloves a nasty short ball into the leg side for a single. Tongue, all arms and legs and awkward angles, is an unpleasant proposition for a lower-order batter.
OVER 64: AUS 262/6 (Carey 84 Cummins 5)
Jacks continues into his 18th over. That’s a helluva lot for a part-timer on day one, probably too many – especially he’s going at almost six an over.
Make that more than six an over. Cummins gets off the mark with a crisp cover drive for four, then Carey banjoes a slog sweep over long on. That’s the first six of the day.
OVER 63: AUS 250/6 (Carey 77 Cummins 0)
Carey, looking slightly rattled for the first time, charges Tongue and slashes over the slips for four. A single brings up Australia’s 250; they’ll want at least 150 more.
England review: Carey not out
England are convinced that Carey has under-edged Tongue to the keeper, but there’s nothing on Snicko so England lose another review. They have one left.
Hmm, that was curious – there was a noise as the ball passed the ba, and Carey’s body language suggested he was out. But if there’s nothing on the technology, the third umpire can’t overturn the on-field decision.
OVER 62: AUS 245/6 (Carey 72 Cummins 0)
Cummins defends solidly enough against Jacks – but there’s enough happening for the spinner to make Nathan Lyon’s mouth water.
OVER 61: AUS 244/6 (Carey 71 Cummins 0)
I forgot to say earlier that this is Alex Carey’s highest score in an Ashes Test, beating the 66 he made at Edgbaston in 2023 – a Test remembered for the batting of his new partner, Pat Cummins.
Wicket!
Inglis b Tongue 32 Josh Tongue strikes with the fifth ball of a new spell! Inglis, who edged for four earlier in the over, was followed by a good nipbacker and deflected the ball onto his stumps. That’s a key wicket for England, which ends a pesky partnership of 59. FOW: 244/6
In the team. In the wickets!
Josh Tongue has his first of the series and Josh Inglis is gone for 32.
🇦🇺 2️⃣4️⃣4️⃣-6️⃣
pic.twitter.com/QtQvZVXIOJ— England Cricket (@englandcricket) December 17, 2025
OVER 60: AUS 238/5 (Carey 71 Inglis 26)
Carey lofts Jacks over midwicket for four, which makes it 84 runs from Jacks’ 14 overs. You fear that England are going to regret the lack of a proper spinner as this match progresses because there is already a bit of turn.
OVER 59: AUS 231/5 (Carey 66 Inglis 24)
Archer continues to bowl a tight, probing line to Carey from around the wicket. Carey winces after being hit on the thigh by another nipbacker.
That might be the end of Archer’s post-tea spell. It’s been high-class stuff: 5-3-6-0.
OVER 58: AUS 231/5 (Carey 66 Inglis 24)
Inglis slog-sweeps Jacks high to deep midwicket for four more. It’s the job of a No7 to counter-attack, whether they’re the wicketkeeper or not, and Inglis has sped to 24 from 31 balls.
Jacks’ last ball turns sharply and is defended by Inglis. Nathan Lyon could have a lot of fun in the first innings, never mind the second.
OVER 57: AUS 225/5 (Carey 65 Inglis 20)
This is a game of patience for England’s bowlers. The pitch is very good for batting so England have done well to pick up five wickets already.
Archer gets a bit of movement back into Carey, who drags a thick edge towards square leg. He follows up with a sharp bumper that Carey gloves wide of slip for a couple. It bounced short anyway but it was a beautiful piece of bowling.
OVER 56: AUS 222/5 (Carey 62 Inglis 19)
Carey inside-edges Jacks for two, then walks down the track to clip past Archer at mid-on for four. Not the best piece of fielding from Archer, though you can forgive him a bit of stiffness given how well he has bowled.
Jacks is going at exactly a run a ball: 12-1-72-1. It might be worth a look at Joe Root, who is a canny bowler and has a good head-to-head record against Carey.
OVER 55: AUS 213/5 (Carey 54 Inglis 18)
Carey works Archer off the pads for a single,which makes him Australia’s leading runscorer in Tests in 2025. He’s just ahead of Steve Smith and around 30 runs in front of Travis Head.
Two singles from Archer’s over. On a flat pitch, his figures are quite outstanding: 13-4-21-3.
OVER 54: AUS 211/5 (Carey 53 Inglis 17)
Another reverse sweep for four by Inglis off Jacks. England put a fielder at third man so Inglis played it a lot squarer than in the previous over; that’s an excellent shot.
At the moment England have no control when Jacks is bowling.
OVER 53: AUS 203/5 (Carey 52 Inglis 10)
Archer is bowling very straight, looking for either the LBW or a mistimed drive. It almost pays off when Carey is dropped by Carse at extra cover, an exceptionally tough chance low to his left. That was pretty similar to the brilliant catch that Zak Crawley took earlier in the day.
🏏 Watch: Zak Crawley pulls off sensational catch of the serieshttps://t.co/zFdTh3szxs
— Telegraph Cricket (@TeleCricket) December 17, 2025
England review: Carey not out
Archer pleads for an LBW when Carey pushes around his front pad. It’s given not out but Ben Stokes has taken the matter upstairs. I suspect it’s umpire’s call at best for England.
In fact it was missing on height, so Carey survives and England lose their first review.
OVER 52: AUS 203/5 (Carey 52 Inglis 10)
Carey paddles Jacks for three to reach a terrific half-century from 75 balls, an innings full of purpose and control. Inglis then jumps into a reverse-sweep that yields his first boundary.
Australia are not letting Jacks settle at all. He has figures of 10-1-55-1 – but that one, the wicket of Khawaja, could prove crucial.
Archer’s speed down after tea
Jofra Archer’s speed seems to be dropping off a touch. All six deliveries in his first over tea are below the 140kph (86.9mph) mark. Signs that the 35C Adelaide heat is taking a toll on England’s premier strike bowler.
OVER 51: AUS 194/5 (Carey 48 Inglis 5)
Archer has only one slip for Josh Inglis, but that isn’t as defensive as it might sound. This looks a typical Adelaide pitch, with catches in the cordon less likely than usual.
Inglis leans into a drive that is well stopped by Root in the covers. Everything else is defended or left, so Archer starts his spell with a maiden.
The evening session
Here come the players for what will be an extended evening session: two and a half hours. Jofra Archer, who has outstanding figures of 10-2-19-3, will start after tea.
Tea verdict
Three for a 100 runs in that session and it is nip and tuck. Neither side has played well enough to grab hold of the day. England’s bowling has been pretty average with Jofra Archer the exception.
There is a huge drop off when the others are bowling but Australia have been very generous with all three wickets in the session on a flat pitch caused by errors.
The first two – Labuschagne and Green – were nothing shots to midwicket and showed the frailties in this Australia side, making it all the more frustrating that it has taken England two Tests to expose them.
Usman Khawaja was holding on to an unexpected Test career lifeline, profiting from some poor bowling that fed his strengths behind square on the off side with England bowling too short after the two breakthroughs.
A stand of 91 was only broken when Khawaja swept Jacks to deep square leg from nowhere. This is a 400 first innings pitch, especially with the boiling heat as well, so England can get ahead here if they can string together one good session, something that has been beyond them all series.
TEA: AUS 194/5
Three wickets in the session. England were good in the middle of the morning session and poor either side. This time they’ve been very good at the start and finish though Australia have gift-wrapped all five wickets having opted to bat first on a 400= pitch.
OVER 50: AUS 194/5 (Carey 48 Inglis 5)
Carey paddles the off-spinner fine for two after Inglis had drilled a drive for a single through point. Carey cuffs a shorter one for a single through midwicket. Two catchers in front of the wicket at bat-pad and short midwicket for Inglis plus Root at leg slip and Brook at slip. But Inglis confidently knocks the last ball into the offside and strolls a single and keeps going to the sheds for a brew.
OVER 49: AUS 189/5 (Carey 45 Inglis 3)
England switch to a chin symphony from Stokes to Carey with men out on the hook. In fact for both. Carey steps to leg to swat a single down to third man, ducks and sway out of the road of three more after Inglis cloths a pull safely over midwicket for three.
There will be one more over before tea.
OVER 48: AUS 185/5 (Carey 44 Inglis 0)
Well, well, well. Sir Alastair was right. If they keep making mistakes, keep giving them opportunities to do so. Nicely taken by Tongue, sliding to gather. Wicket maiden for Jacks. There is drift and turn for him. Prior says had England lost all five wickets in this fashion there would be hell to pay. It’s true.
Wicket!
Khawaja c Tongue b Jacks 82 He’s thrown it away. Slog sweeping down deep midwicket’s throat. FOW 185/5
Usman Khawaja’s innings comes to an end as Josh Tongue takes the catch, reducing Australia to 185–5 on Day 1 of the third Test. pic.twitter.com/4hUWSIpPqZ
— Cricket on TNT Sports (@cricketontnt) December 17, 2025
OVER 47: AUS 185/4 (Khawaja 82 Carey 44)
Swann and Prior believe England have no plan, relying on getting the ball up there and hoping for mistakes. Sir Alastair Cook thinks that’s how they took the other four wickets and on this pitch its what you have to do. And after three full ones to Carey who gets off strike with a leg-bye, Stokes gets a bouncer up to Khawaja’s shoulder and he has a flap at hooking it. England gasp but there was no bat.
OVER 46: AUS 183/4 (Khawaja 81 Carey 44)
Matt Prior is advocating a silly point for Jacks to the left-handers but Stokes is being conservative today, as if he doesn’t trust his spinner. Fair enough given how little he’s bowled in first-class cricket recently but he does produce a couple of very good deliveries in the over that bounce and turn a little.
Two noisy lbw appeals highlight Ben Stokes’ desperation for a breakthrough here. Both looked optimistic: the first was a clear inside edge, while the second, coming when Usman Khawaja drifted far across his crease, was heading leg side. With the ball growing older and the conditions growing hotter, the captain is toiling. His team, too, are succumbing to England’s ingrained habit this series of not playing well enough for long enough.
OVER 45: AUS 180/4 (Khawaja 80 Carey 42)
Stokes’ siege of Khawaja is broken when he errs slightly wide and the left-hander carves a cut behind point for four. He resumes his probing of the knee roll and ululates an appeal when he pins Khawaja shuffling across his crease seemingly in front of leg stump but Smith tells him it was drifting down and indeed it was.
OVER 44: AUS 175/4 (Khawaja 76 Carey 41)
Jacks is stroked around comfortably for a pair of twos and a prial of aces. ‘No pressure,’ says Swann given the deep midwicket and point but says the fact that he didn’t concede a boundary in an age of T20 batting taking spinners down would be seen by modern captains as a win. The days of Anderson, Broad, Bresnan, Tremlett and Swann bowling ‘dry’ are long gone.
OVER 43: AUS 168/4 (Khawaja 71 Carey 39)
Par at Adelaide in day matches is above 400 in the first innings so England are still ahead if they can put a lid on this revival and, of course, if they can bat well, of course. Excellent over from Stokes, twice stifling appeals when finding Khawaja’s right knee via the feintest of inside edges.
OVER 42: AUS 167/4 (Khawaja 71 Carey 38)
Better from Jacks whose drift is commended by Graeme Swann and with more protection in the offside field. A single apiece is the only damage.
OVER 41: AUS 165/4 (Khawaja 70 Carey 37)
After probing, full length, targeting off stump and the pads, Stokes slips in an 88mph bouncer that Carey top-edges into his helmet and ricochets through third man for four. He’ll need a concussion test and a new lid. He is given a clean bill of health. “Person. Woman. Man. Camera. TV.”
Oh, there was no bat. It’s leg-byes.
OVER 40: AUS 160/4 (Khawaja 69 Carey 37)
Khawaja comes down the track to Jacks and although his feet are a long way from the ball and bat, a clean swing and strike tonks it over mid-off for four. Out comes the milking stool as they work a single each and then Khawaja dances down again but plinks it safely for two straight over the bowler’s head. This isn’t milking. This is Marks and Spencer milking.
Usman Khawaja reaches his half-century in Adelaide — on the very day he replaced Steve Smith in the squad! pic.twitter.com/VvED62OsJ0
— Cricket on TNT Sports (@cricketontnt) December 17, 2025
OVER 39: AUS 151/4 (Khawaja 61 Carey 36)
Stokes pins Carey on the knee roll from round the wicket with one that was angling down. Better length from Stokes after his first hotchpotch of a spell, testing Carey’s front-foot defence. He blocks four balls solidly then drives from the crease through point for two.
OVER 38: AUS 149/4 (Khawaja 61 Carey 34)
Australia had six partnerships of fifty or more in their first innings at the Gabba, England had three.
Jacks is coming back for his second spell. He has two left-handers to work with. A slip and an offside ring. Extra bounce finds Khawaja’s splice but he adapts well to pat it safe and they exploit his lack of consistency with length to milk him for three singles. Stokes is replacing Tongue at the other end.
OVER 37: AUS 146/4 (Khawaja 60 Carey 32)
Tongue has men out on the pull for Khawaja, coming round the wicket, and a more orthodox field for Carey, coming over the wicket. Matt Prior thinks it’s this, rather than the change of ends, that has eroded Tongue’s threat. Just one from the over, though, and on come the drinks.
OVER 36: AUS 145/4 (Khawaja 60 Carey 31)
Australia’s ability to rebuild was the biggest thorn in England’s side at the Gabba and now Khawaja brings up the fifty partnership, gorging on Carse’s width to smear a single. England are still smiling at each other and Root and Stokes urging the troops on. Stokes will replace Tongue soon, one would think. Excellent counter-attacking cameo so far from Carey. Can he buildit into something truly substantial?
No, Tongue will have another.
OVER 35: AUS 142/4 (Khawaja 59 Carey 29)
The Cathedral End is Tongue’s kryptonite. Now he serves one up on Khawaja’s pads and he skelps it fine for four then pushes the next too wide of off and Khawaja clubs it through point for four.
A running mix-up when Khawaja runs through ‘Yes, yes, no, sorry’ before heading back almost kebabs Carey but he dives to make his ground at the non-striker’s to beat Pope’s throw.
OVER 34: AUS 134/4 (Khawaja 51 Carey 29)
Khawaja brings up his fifty, his first in 12 Test innings, with a controlled push into the covers off Carse. After Carse’s fifth no-ball, Carey works a single off his pads. Carse comes back over the wicket to the two left-handers but again strays too close to middle and leg, allowing Khawaja to flick another away for one run. Carey times the pants off a check-drive into the gap between cover point and cover for two.
OVER 33: AUS 128/4 (Khawaja 49 Carey 26)
Tongue changes ends and starts with a pie, a long hop and Carey swats it through cover, cross-batted, for four. Tongue hasn’t bowled from this end before and his radar is off so far, spraying the next two on to the pads and both left-handers whisk them away for singles. Carey square drives another four, leaning back after taking half a step forward. No doubt he’s struggling to recalibrate his bearings from this end. Costly over.
Those two soft dismissals exposed the cracks in this Australian team which makes it all the more frustrating that it has taken England so long to expose them. The ground fielding has been so much better today and England do look sharper, apart from the Brook drop. Much better from Carse in this spell so far but it is going to be one of those days of chipping away and hoping for more batsmen errors.
OVER 32: AUS 116/4 (Khawaja 48 Carey 15)
Carey drives Carse through the covers for four, on the up but on a far slower pitch. Stokes hares after it and does pull it back before the boundary but only when his knee was on the rope. Carse continues round the wicket and angles a full delivery into Carey’s pads, hitting him on the ankle. He strangles his appeal, knowing it was heading down leg.
OVER 31: AUS 111/4 (Khawaja 48 Carey 10)
Archer stays on for a fourth over in this spell, Khawaja takes Australia to Nelson with a clip fine off his hip for two, closing in on a half-century following his reprieve.
OVER 30: AUS 109/4 (Khawaja 46 Carey 10)
Carse is given protection at deep backward point and Khawaja slaps it down there for a soft single after three dot balls. Carse goes fuller to Carey, scrambling the seam and moving it away from the keeper-batsman’s edge. No doubt Carse is far more comfortable with the older ball. He seems less exposed with this field, too.
OVER 29: AUS 108/4 (Khawaja 45 Carey 10)
Archer’s bouncer gets big on Carey as he uppercuts but the slowness of the pitch means it spoons over point for only two. At the Gabba and Perth that would have gone for six. Point goes back for that stroke and the offside bumper duly comes but Carey drops to his haunches.
Carse is coming back to replace Tongue.
OVER 28: AUS 106/4 (Khawaja 45 Carey 8)
Tongue contorts his face in frustration when he elicits a genuine edge off Khawaja’s forward press but the ball falls short of Root at slip. Khawaja steers a dab down to third man for two then chisels out the yorker. He is bowling beautifully.
OVER 27: AUS 104/4 (Khawaja 43 Carey 8)
Good from Archer again, over 90mph, using the short ball as a surprise weapon and screeching one over Khawaja’s right ear as he jerks out of the road. He has a couple of catching midwickets in again, hoping for lightning to strike twice, exploiting the mistiming of legside strokes. Carey whisks a two off his pads and slashes a single off the inside edge through square leg.
OVER 26: AUS 100/4 (Khawaja 42 Carey 5)
We’ve all seen countless Ashes matches in this circumstance saved for Australia by b—– Ian Healy, Adam Gilchrist and Brad Haddin. It’s so important they break this partnership early. Stokes goes with the morning’s other stand-out bowler, Tongue and he starts just as well as he finished, going for two singles, probing away all the time.
OVER 25: AUS 98/4 (Khawaja 41 Carey 4)
Wow! Bang! Bang! again and Archer finally gets the reward for his fine morning spell. Neither Labuschagne nor Green committed to their strokes, far too tentative and England are suddenly back in the game. Carey comes out and hammers a pull for four to get off the mark.
That is staggeringly soft from Marnus Labuschagne. His walk from the middle there was even slower than usual. An utter gift for England.
Wicket!
Green c Carse b Green 0 Amazing. Archer bags two in three, the second a superb catch from Carse diving to his right as Green, the IPL multimillionaire, also chucks his wicket away with an uppish whip off middle. FOW 94/4
Green falls for a duck as Jofra Archer claims his second wicket in the opening over after lunch! pic.twitter.com/HwlJNu224L
— Cricket on TNT Sports (@cricketontnt) December 17, 2025
Wicket!
Labuschagne c Carse b Archer 19 Blimey! Marnus is often skittish after a break and he played a weird shot, a cross-bat hoick to midwicket! FOW 94/3
Marnus Labuschagne is removed by Jofra Archer straight after lunch! pic.twitter.com/zvGxJoaS8B
— Cricket on TNT Sports (@cricketontnt) December 17, 2025
Listen
Lunch verdict
Australia edged the session thanks to England dropping Usman Khawaja on five just when they had a chance to snatch the ascendancy against an Australia team without Steve Smith.
Archer and Tongue were England’s most effective bowlers, Carse and Stokes again the weaker links. Jacks bowled two overs before lunch and Australia went after him with a view to making Stokes bowl his seamers in the hot afternoon session.
Archer was quick, hostile and accurate, knocking over Weatherald for the first breakthrough after Australia got off to a decent start. A screamer from Crawley at cover – roughly where Jonathan Trott was fielding when he ran out Simon Katich in the 2010-11 Ashes Test here – gave England a wicket from nowhere and one scarcely deserved for Carse who bowled too short and no balled four times in a loose opening spell.
Brook’s drop at second slip off Khawaja was the kind of chance England had to take bowling first on this pitch and it just robbed them of momentum. Khawaja went to bed last night thinking his Test career was over but Smith’s recurrence of vertigo has given him a reprieve that could provide a fairytale story for Australia.
England will need to show the mongrel Stokes called for before the game because it is going to be tough bowling in the afternoon on a good batting pitch.
Lunch: AUS 94/2
England again have much to ponder at a break. Yes, they have taken two wickets when losing the toss but Carse, Stokes and Jacks have been buffet fare for the batsmen while Archer and Tongue have created chances and caused problems. It’s a Janus-faced attack so far. Had Brook held on, lunch would have a far fairer complexion for England.
OVER 24: AUS 94/2 (Labuschagne 19 Khawaja 41)
Jacks with the last over before lunch and they milk him for three singles and then Khawaja collars a pull, flat, hard and in front of square. It’s a thankless task bowling spin on the first morning even at Adelaide but Jacks doesn’t have the reliable line to make it less painful. And after that he only goes and finds the edge when tossing it wider but Khawaja’s soft hands guide it down well before Brook at slip.
Funny old morning for England. They have been really poor again since Brook’s drop, after a decent period of pressure.
OVER 23: AUS 87/2 (Labuschagne 17 Khawaja 36)
Stokes gives himself a sixth. When Khawaja was recalled after three years for the fourth Test in 2021-22, he made 137 and 101* at the SCG.
Up comes the fifty partnership when Labuschagne tucks a single off his legs and then Khawaja pounces on Stokes’ short ball and pulls it off his waist for four. You can’t bowl there on this pitch. Stokes is frustrated with himself and resorts to a fuller length, sticking two dot balls in the scorebook.
Khawaja had five off 27 balls before he was dropped and 31off 24 from the drop onwards.
OVER 22: AUS 82/2 (Labuschagne 16 Khawaja 32)
The off-spinner comes round the wicket to Khawaja and, as in his first over at the Gabba, arcs it on to the left-hander’s pads and is flicked for two. Khawaja works the next ball with a big bottom-hand stir of the pot to mid-on for a single. Root hunts down a Labuschagne cover drive off a low full toss and claws it back from the rope. They run three. When Jacks again sprays one on to Khawaja’s pads, he sweeps him to deep backward square for four.
OVER 21: AUS 72/2 (Labuschagne 13 Khawaja 25)
Stokes does a Mark Wood and is bowled over in his followthrough, looking for extra bounce outside off to Khawaja from round the wicket. The left-hander takes a single and a two with midwicket clips and is square up when the last ball keeps low but still manages to push it wide of cover for a single.
Tongue won’t be given a sixth. Here’s Will Jacks.
OVER 20: AUS 67/2 (Labuschagne 12 Khawaja 21)
England post a man out on the hook but Tongue tries to diddle the batsman with a yorker that Khawaja chisels out. Tongue, perhaps tiring, gets his line wrong when he does offer up the short ball, hanging it outside off and Khawaja flays it over point for four. That’s five overs for Tongue, who should have had the wicket he has deserved. Can he manage a sixth in this heat? Seventeen minutes until lunch.
OVER 19: AUS 62/2 (Labuschagne 12 Khawaja 16)
Stokes drags one down from round the wicket to Khawaja who is in like Flynn to pull it hard and forcefully through square leg for four. Khawaja plays around the big dog of his front pad to push a single to mid-on for a single.
England go up in unison to appeal vociferously for leg-before when Stokes pins Labuschagne but there was a scratch of an inside-edge that Stokes signalled to his team-mates when they pushed him to review.
Usman Khawaja survives as Harry Brook fails to hold the catch! pic.twitter.com/W4v3mAjk7E
— Cricket on TNT Sports (@cricketontnt) December 17, 2025
A sense of foreboding as that chance, at a very catchable height, is spurned by Harry Brook. Even if Usman Khawaja, 39 tomorrow, is fighting for his career, England will be feeling the pain at dropping him on five. One of many problems in Brisbane was that they allowed every single Australian batsman to settle. A few ominous signs here of that pattern repeating.
OVER 18: AUS 57/2 (Labuschagne 12 Khawaja 11)
Tongue continues a very good spell with his worst ball of it, spraying the ball on to Khawaja’s toes and he flicks it with the lordly panache of Ranji for four. After ducking the bouncer Khawaja plays tip and run to cover. Coming over the wicket to Labuschagne, Tongue makes him defend with a nice tight line and a good, interrogative length.
Here’s the dropped catch
OVER 17: AUS 52/2 (Labuschagne 12 Khawaja 6)
Crawley goes to catching cover for Stokes bowling to Labuschagne. The England captain keeps probing on a good length on a fourth-stump line. The right-hander leaves a couple, defends a couple and watches a full-blooded drive stopped by Crawley. Maiden.
That was a fair way to Brook’s left at second slip, but he’s become such a fine slipper that I’d expect him to take it. Had there been a third slip, it probably would have been his catch. England were sloppy as hell in Brisbane and can’t afford to be dropping chances here too.
OVER 16: AUS 52/2 (Labuschagne 12 Khawaja 6)
Tongue continues round the wicket to Khawaja who gets a thick edge away through gully for two but he is surprising the left-hander with pace and bounce from round the wicket. Trying to leave, Khawaja is startled when the ball rears up and hits the edge but ricochets into the ground.
Then he flashes hard at a drive, nicks it and it flies to Brook’s left at second slip, He gets his hands to it but it knocks back his thumb and goes to ground. Dropped chance.
OVER 15: AUS 48/2 (Labuschagne 11 Khawaja 3)
Stokes finds a fuller length and is told by Labuschagne that he has delivered a good nut when he nips one back into the No3 as he left it. Two balls later, or rather one because one was a no-ball, Stokes strays on to the right-hander’s pads and he tickles it fine for four. Stokes reverts to full and fourth-stump and Labuschagne nails an off-drive, creaming it for four.
OVER 14: AUS 39/2 (Labuschagne 3 Khawaja 3)
Khawaja lets one go and then tries to climb into a pull but only succeeds in bottom edging it into his pads. This is good from Tongue. Having conceded a single to Labuschagne with too much angle across the right-hander, teeing up the pull fine to long leg, he makes Khawaja look very jittery indeed.
OVER 13: AUS 38/2 (Labuschagne 2 Khawaja 3)
Stokes replaces Archer who takes a breather with figures of 6-2-7-1 in contrasting opening spells, as Graham Gooch famously said: World XI one end Ilford IIs the other.
Labuschagne tucks a single off his hip and Khawaja Harrow drives for no run, the ball skewing off his inside edge. He’s bowling his natural length. If he could just get it a further six inches up.
OVER 12: AUS 37/2 (Labuschagne 1 Khawaja 2)
Good start from Tongue, round the wicket, high 80s, earning him a maiden to Khawaja, far fuller than Carse, wide on the crease but hitting the corridor reliably.
Time for drinks.
That Crawley catch gets better with each viewing. Magic, and redeems a filthy first spell for Carse. Time for Tongue, and his natural pitch-it-up length.
OVER 11: AUS 37/2 (Labuschagne 1 Khawaja 2)
Australia are suddenly very jumpy as he tests Khawaja’s diligence outside off. He takes a very risky single to get off strike as backward square-leg’s hoy at the stumps bounces over with Labuschagne looking short, then Archer squares the right-hander up as he skews one off a leading edge, taking a spawny single to point when he was looking for midwicket.
OVER 10: AUS 34/2 (Labuschagne 0 Khawaja 1)
There’s an example of how quickly you can turn round a false start. Enter Khawaja and after a couple of sighters, Carse comes back over the wicket to bring the slips into play and has Khawaja playing round his front pad hesitantly to get off the mark.
Wicket!
Head c Crawley b Carse 10 An absolute screamer at short cover low to his left. And England go bang, bang! He must have grazed his knuckles on the stubbly turf. Head went for the drive, rather frantically, lost his bottom-hand grip and flayed it low to short cover-point. FOW 33/2
Zak Crawley takes a spectacular catch to remove Travis Head! 👏 pic.twitter.com/bgReGCxJA3
— Cricket on TNT Sports (@cricketontnt) December 17, 2025
OVER 9: AUS 33/1 (Head 10 Labuschagne 0)
Archer is consistently in the 90s now, seam upright and, having bagged Weatherald’s wicket for the third time in the series, whistles one past Labuschagne’s stumps, makes him duck with a rocket of a bouncer and the finds the edge but Marnus’s soft hands drop it 3ft short of Root!
Good to hear David Lloyd’s unmistakeable Accrington vowels booming out of the Triple M radio commentary booth here in Adelaide. From speaking to him in York a couple of months ago, it was evident he could hardly wait to head out on tour again. It will need all his glass-half-full spirit to find the positives in England’s start.
Wicket!
Weatherald c Smith b Archer 18 Quick bouncer, 91mph, aimed at his right shoulder, only got up as high as his sternum and he gloves it while pulling and Smith takes the looping chance down the legside. FOW 33/1
Jake Weatherald falls for 18 as Jofra Archer takes the opening wicket of the third Test! pic.twitter.com/Ghp3jHeuLC
— Cricket on TNT Sports (@cricketontnt) December 17, 2025
OVER 8: AUS 33/0 (Head 10 Weatherald 18)
Carse starts with three dot balls but two of them are awful long hops that invite big cross-bat swishes from Weatherald that he fails to collar, playing and missing. This is as bad as De Freitas at Brisbane in 1994, utterly deflating opening spell.
Weatherald gets off strike with a flick off his pads and Head takes two with a back-foot flap over cover, throwing the bat injudiciously but safely. That was his fourth no-ball.
Very charitable of England to give Australia a 30-run head start. Archer nowhere near his best but at least economical. Carse has pitched it up occasionally, finding swing, but also dropped short regularly. He’s all over the shop.
OVER 7: AUS 29/0 (Head 8 Weatherald 17)
Sixty-seven per cent of England’s opening deliveries have been short.
Archer has the pace and earns himself a maiden from round the wicket, pitching a couple of them up and generally making Head hop around, targeting the pads when he bowls a full length.
Carse is continuing.
Durham and ‘dog’
Ben Stokes is a true friend because he stood by Brydon Carse when I think everyone else would have dropped him after bowling poorly in Brisbane. He has not repaid Stokes’s faith and it looks like a bad call from the captain. Carse bowled a sloppy opening spell: short, wide and three no balls as well to hand Australia momentum. Atkinson would have pitched the ball up and asked more questions, probably Matt Fisher and Matt Potts too.
OVER 6: AUS 29/0 (Head 8 Weatherald 17)
Ach! Carse gives Weatherald another one to cut and he accepts the invitation with clattering force, filleting point. Short and wide again from Carse next ball and the left-hander slices it brutally over point for four more. Finally, he pitches it up and gets it to whistle over off-stump as Weatherald leaves on length and then clocks him on the ear with a no-ball bouncer. He may have a big heart but he’s far too leaky for the new ball.
Carse ends hopefully his last over of the spell with another greasy pie, a wide half-volley that Weatherald creams through the covers for his third boundary of the over.
OVER 5: AUS 16/0 (Head 8 Weatherald 5)
Archer again breaches 90mph, Weatherald defends a couple then uses the angle to work a single through square leg on the hop. Head ducks the 92mph bouncer which he sees relatively late but evades and jabs one off his ‘abdominal protector’ with his glove when tucked up as he tried to fend it to leg.
Jofra Archer cranks it up to 93mph with the final ball of his second over, sustaining the hostility he showed in a hopeless cause at the end of the second Test in Brisbane. For all England’s failure to hit the ideal length so far, there is no doubting the intent. The question, with the dry Adelaide heat tending to intensify through the day, is whether the Archer barrage can be sustained.
OVER 4: AUS 15/0 (Head 8 Weatherald 4)
After swinging one in and giving Head the hurry-up, Carse tries to slip in the wobble seam one that snakes away but drags it down and Head scythes it off the back foot for four through point. To be fair to Carse he then gets the length right and causes Head some problems despite it being another no-ball.
No more volume from Smith than before. Stokes is hurling the ball in to him when he fields to add some aggressive intent. Carse ends the over again on a good length and Head withdraws the bat late after flirting with a prod in the channel.
Very early days, but England have been too short to start. A story as old a time for England in Australia. This is clearly a bat first day, but get it right in the morning session and England have a clear route into the game.
OVER 3: AUS 10/0 (Head 4 Weatherald 4)
Archer is accelerating but not much movement for him yet, compared with the swing and seam of Carse. They take a couple of singles off him and a leg-bye into gaps in the infield before Archer comes round the wicket and slips out a waist high full toss as he strains for the sandshoe-crusher that did for Waetherald in the first innings at Brisbane.. Weatherald taps it round the corner.
OVER 2: AUS 7/0 (Head 2 Weatherald 4)
Carse starts round the wicket to the two lefties and gets some nip in Head who pats it into the onside off his thighpad. The next ball is fuller and Head skelps it round the corner to backward square for a single.
Close shave for Weatherald, shaping to square cut one that was zipping in to him he chops it off the bottom edge into his back leg and knocks it away before it rolls back on to his stumps. He follows that with a big inswinger that strikes Weatherald on the box and then jags another back in, while overstepping, into his left leg, too high for an appeal and it was a no-ball anyway. Carse goes fuller still and Weatherald eases it off his toes through midwicket for four.
OVER 1: AUS 1/0 (Head 1 Weatherald 0)
Head takes strike. Three slips and a gully. Archer starts at 84mph, the ball moving away from Head, pitched up, flaccid bounce. Head lets it go through as he does to the next one which is similar in every respect. Archer tightens his line and gets a bit more bounce. Head closes the face early and pats it into the offside and takes a quick single to cover while aiming for midwicket.
The pace is going up, now 87mph, as Weatherald blocks the straight one, slightly back of a length then shoulders arms to the last two which are angled across.
Brydon Carse shares the new ball.
England are in a huddle
The openers run out to the middle. Jofra Archer will take the new ball.
Enhanced security at the Adelaide Oval
A minute’s silence for the victims of the Bondi meetings
Condolences are offered from both boards to the victims, their families and friend, the whole Jewis community and pay tribute to the brave souls who tackled the gunmen.
John Williamson then sings his anthem patriotic country anthem True Blue.
The players are out for the national anthems
And the opening ceremony, the welcome from native Australians and commemoration of the victims of the Bondi murders.
Michael Vaughan and Jason Gillespie bring out the crystal replica of the Ashes urn.
England’s preparation was exactly what they wanted
Interesting chat with Todd Greenberg, the Cricket Australia chief executive. He confirmed England were offered a state game or match against Australia A, possibly at the MCG as preparation at the start of the tour and that they could have used the Waca had they asked early enough. The point is, Rob Key, Ben Stokes and Brendon McCullum got the preparation they wanted – an intra-squad three day game and they didn’t really care where it was played. They have to own that decision.
The last time Steve Smith missed the third Test of an Ashes series?
Revised teams
Australia Travis Head, Jake Weatherald, Marnus Labuschagne, Usman Khawaja, Cameron Green, Alex Carey (wk), Josh Inglis, Pat Cummins (capt), Mitchell Starc, Scott Boland, Nathan Lyon.
England Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Harry Brook, Ben Stokes (capt), Jamie Smith (wk), Will Jacks, Brendon Carse, Jofra Archer, Josh Tongue.
Pat Cummins has won the toss
And Australia will bat first.
“Sun’s shining, it’s a good day to bat. Don’t need to get too funky”
He confirms that Usman Khawaja will bat at No4 in a straight swap for Smith.
Stokes says he would have batted as well.
The toss is at 11pm GMT
And a reminder that Ben Stokes has won six of seven tosses as captain.
Session times:
Morning 11.30pm – 1.30am
Afternoon 2.10am – 4.10am
Evening 4.30am – 6.30 but play can/will continue until 7am to make up the overs.
On Sunday the boards issued a joint statement about the Bondi murders
And both sides will commemorate the victims with black armbands throughout the match.
We stand together. pic.twitter.com/d0ZYICBBg6
— Cricket Australia (@CricketAus) December 14, 2025
Ben Stokes talks to TNT Sports
“This ground is unbelievable!”
Ben Stokes shares his focus and mindset as England prepare for the third Ashes Test 🎙️ pic.twitter.com/oDv9pzMtoE
— Cricket on TNT Sports (@cricketontnt) December 16, 2025
Smith is out of the Test
Official confirmation that he is leaving the ground with illness. Will revise the team news once we are told where Khawaja will bat in the order.
Effective confirmation that Smith is out: he’s just left the ground!
Steve Smith has just crossed the outfield from the dressing room with rucksack on, with team’s security. Appears to be leaving the ground #Ashes2025@7Cricketpic.twitter.com/dY8I7BHs13
— Alison Mitchell (@AlisonMitchell) December 16, 2025
Graeme Swann has offered a word of caution
He warns that the rumours have all come from Australian writers and could be misdirection. Swann, who was a TMS mainstay for a few years, now seems to work largely for the ICC and BCCI in-house teams.
Lazarus
If it’s true could it be reasons to be cheerful, part four: the equivalent of McGrath stepping on the ball in 2005?
If Smith is out of the Test
This will be the first time in an Ashes Test that Pat Cummins has captained the side without his right-hand man/ de facto captain in the field.
Australia injury scare
Word is that Steve Smith is out of this Test with a head injury; Usman Khawaja gets a stay of execution…
A reminder that before play starts
Tributes will be paid to the victims of Sunday’s Bondi terror attacks, and both teams will wear black armbands. Security is on show outside the Oval before play starts, but according to our team on the ground it did not appear heavier than normal when they arrived at the ground.
Pat Cummins on his accelerated recovery
[I’m] good to go. I’ve been bowling 100 per cent for a while. If I played in Brisbane I would’ve probably been on limited overs, but this week it’s just go and play like any other Test match.
I first found out [about the injury] in the West Indies. I got an initial scan that showed something brewing, and four weeks later I had another scan and it looked a bit more serious.
We know the pathway you need to come back from a stress injury like that. I had 16 weeks completely off bowling, making sure the bone healed really well. Normally from there it’s ramping up over three or four months, but that would have meant I miss the Ashes, so we settled on a pretty aggressive plan to get up in six or seven weeks. I haven’t had any hiccups and am feeling great, better than I would have thought. The back has healed well, so here we are.
I was asked a million times in the off season if I’d play, and I genuinely didn’t know. As long as everything tracked well, I’d be in this position, but I also knew I had to tread lightly around some of these injuries and if there was a flare-up or a set-back I wouldn’t have risked it. I feel I’ve been well managed and well supported.
Hell’s kitchen
Australia’s Bureau of Meteorology is predicting a cloudless day with highs of 35C rising to 37C tomorrow. It’s not as humid as Brisbane but devilishly hotter.
Selection analysis and the thoughts of Ben Stokes on the eve of the Test
Ben Stokes has labelled the third Ashes Test the most important of his captaincy but England’s hopes of levelling the series have not been helped by the rapid return of Australian captain Pat Cummins.
Cummins has been out since July with a back stress injury, but has returned to full fitness in Adelaide and will lead Australia, who lead 2-0. His team made two changes, with Cummins and Nathan Lyon returning in place of Michael Neser – despite his five-wicket haul in Brisbane – and Brendan Doggett.
That meant no place for Usman Khawaja, the opener who turns 39 on Thursday and has regained full fitness after missing the Brisbane Test with a back injury.
England confirmed two days out that they would make just one change, with Josh Tongue in for Gus Atkinson. Australian-born Dan Worrall, a Surrey team-mate of five members of the England squad, was a surprise net bowler alongside Stokes’s side at their final training session. Worrall, 34, has played three ODIs for Australia and played many years of state cricket in Adelaide, but now qualifies for England. Despite an excellent county record, he was overlooked for this tour.
Only one team – Sir Donald Bradman’s Australians of 1935-36 have ever won the Ashes having been 2-0 down, and Stokes said that the desperate situation meant he had “used his voice” more in the lead up to this game than at any other time in his captaincy.
“Yeah, definitely,” said Stokes when asked if this was the biggest game of his captaincy. “Throughout my career I’ve been involved in quite a few big moments. This is another one and I’m really, really looking forward to it. I’ve enjoyed the build-up, I’ve enjoyed the pressure of what this game means.
“As it’s come closer and closer, it’s become a lot easier. That’s how I deal with big things and big moments – look at it front on, take it on and deal with all the emotions that come with it, because what else are you supposed to do? Don’t let the moment overcome me or feel like it’s going to control me. I’ll go out, out all that stuff to one side and do what I need to do in every situation I get put in, and try my absolute best.
“There are a few things I felt the group needed to hear, but also a few things I felt like I needed to say to be able to go out there with a very clear head about this week. I’ve definitely left no stone unturned in terms of the mental side of the game, and what we’re going into. Expectations around what we want to see this week – I’ve spoken a lot about fight, determination and grit over the last couple of days. I hope we’re going to see a completely different thing, purely because of the situation we find ourselves in here.”
The teams were named yesterday
Australia Travis Head, Jake Weatherald, Marnus Labuschagne, Steve Smith, Cameron Green, Alec Carey (wk), Josh Inglis, Pat Cummins (capt), Mitchell Starc, Scott Boland, Nathan Lyon.
England Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Harry Brook, Ben Stokes (capt), Jamie Smith (wk), Will Jacks, Brendon Carse, Jofra Archer, Josh Tongue.
Preview: Reasons to be cheerful, part three
Good morning and welcome to live coverage of day one of the third Test of the 2025-26 Ashes series which begins, in a statement of the bleedin’ obvious, with Australia, just like they were in 2013-14, 2017-18 and 2021-22, 2-0 up with three to play. Having written brief previews for each of the six days’ play in the series so far and many of those on the three preceding tours Down Under, it is becoming increasingly more difficult to find the optimism required to sustain us on these long days’ journeys into night but here we go: Reasons to be Cheerful, part three.
It’s a day Test at Adelaide which makes it a more even contest from the start for a touring side who have barely played with the pink ball. England won here in 2010-11 when Kevin Pietersen made a double hundred and Alastair Cook 148, should have won there in 2006-07 after KP’s century and Paul Collingwood’s double hundred and would have done save for the last mesmerising performance vy the great Shane Warne in day five and won 1994-95 against a far superior side to keep the series alive. They may not have had any meaningful warm-up games before the tour but, as Ian Healy pointed out, they ought to be ready after two Tests, Adelaide should suit Harry Brook as much as it did Pietersen, Josh Tongue took five wickets in his only Ashes Test to date on a similarly flat Lord’s pitch, Ben Stokes knows it is Judgment Day for his team and their method, they have wone the third Ashes Test of the last two home series when behind, and Stokes and Jofra Archer, have shown their mettle in the fiercest heat before, most notably in the World Cup final.
But we cannot overlook that for England this is, as any Romans who were brought up in Govan may say, Hora Pigeri Foraminis. After 2013-14 it was the end for Graham Gooch and Andy Flower, in 2017-18 for Mark Ramprakash, in 2021-22 for, tragically, Graham Thorpe and ultimately Chris Silverwood and Ashley Giles. If they love Baz, Ben and Bob so much, if 2022-25 has empowered them and allowed them to play fear-free cricket, as it has on so many glorious occasions, a handful of cricketers who owe their Test careers to being backed all the way must not fail them now.
