England have announced their playing eleven for the third Test of the Ashes 2025-26 scheduled to start on December 17 at Adelaide Oval. The visitors have replaced Gus Atkinson with Josh Tongue.
In the pink-ball Test at The Gabba, Brisbane, Atkinson claimed just one wicket in the first innings and conceded 114 runs. He took two consolation wickets of Travis Head and Marnus Labuschagne as Australia won by eight wickets. In the first Test at Perth, he had remained wicketless. His bowling average is 78.67 in the ongoing series.
Meanwhile, Tongue has claimed two matches since arriving in Australia. In the intra-squad game, he took one wicket each in both innings. In the pink-ball warm-up game, he remained wicketless against Prime Minister's XI.
No signs of Bashir making playing XI -
While Nathan Lyon is expected to return to the playing eleven after missing the second Test, England’s ‘no.1 spinner’ as Ben Stokes claims Shoaib Bashir to be has been benched again. Bashir has played just one game against Australia A and remained wicketless, conceding 115 runs.
England’s Playing XI for Adelaide 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.
Ahead of the third Test, vice-captain Harry Brook has admitted his mistake in Perth and Brisbane of playing unnecessary aggressive shots.
“I’ll admit that every day of the week, especially that one in Perth, it’s nearly a bouncer and I’ve tried to drive it. It was just bad batting,” Brook told the reporters when asked whether he would like to curb his aggression.
“The one in Brisbane, I’ve tried to hit it for six. That’s what I mean when I say I need to rein it in a little bit. I can almost just take that and hit it for one and get down the other end.”
Brook scored a fifty in first innings of Perth but is yet to cross the 100-run mark in the series.