England confirm their playing XI for 3rd Ashes Test in Adelaide, make one change for do-or-die clash
England have made one change for the third and must-win Ashes clash against Australia in Adelaide. Australia are 2-0 ahead in the series, having won the first two games in Perth and Brisbane and one more win will mean that the urn will remain in Australia.
England have named their playing XI for the third Ashes Test against Australia, while making just one change. Pacer Josh Tongue has come into the side, replacing Gus Atkinson in the only change for England in the third Test in Adelaide. Josh Tongue, who was England's leading wicket-taker in the India series earlier this year, will get his first opportunity for the series in place of Atkinson, who did get the only two wickets to fall in the fourth innings at the Gabba, but largely remained ineffective across the first two Tests.
Tongue's awkward action and angle will be an interesting challenge to counter for Australia, who also have a couple of selection calls to make, with captain Pat Cummins back fit and veteran opener Usman Khawaja also recovering ahead of the Adelaide Test.
England retained Brydon Carse and Jofra Archer for the third Test, while also rewarding Will Jacks as the spin all-rounder, who impressed with his ability to grind with the bat in the lower order. The batting order also remains the same, with Ollie Pope retaining his spot at No 3, despite returning scores of 46, 33, 0 and 26 in the four innings and hence, Jacob Bethell continued to warm the bench.
"It hasn't been an ideal series," Brook, who has been under the scanner for his appraoch, said on Monday, after England trained at Adelaide Oval. "Sometimes, I've got to rein it in a little bit: learn when to absorb the pressure a little bit more, and realise when the opportunity arises to put the pressure back on them. I feel like I haven't done that as well as I usually do. I just haven't identified those situations well enough.
"Most of the time when I've been overly aggressive is when we've lost early wickets and I've tried to counter-punch and put them back under pressure. I tried to do that in Perth in the first innings: I played quite nicely and gloved down the leg side.
England 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