STAR CRICKET PREVIEW Tue: Ashes, 3rd Test

England’s miserable Ashes tour is on the brink of failure as they head into the last chance saloon at the Adelaide Oval, writes WILLIAM KEDJANYI.

Captain Ben Stokes wants England to “show a bit of dog” after two painful defeats, the first coming in a one day collapse before Australia outclassed England in the day/night test, especially when it came to batting and fielding.

With the urn looking sure to stay in Australia – England would need to stage a Pegasus like comeback to bring home the Ashes, which nobody believes is going to be the case bar maybe McCullum and Stokes themselves – the matter of England’s performance here is nearly as important as the result, with supporters desperate to see a contest and some fight in a series that the top hierarchy at the ECB have spent so long planning for.

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3rd Men’s Ashes Test
Adelaide Oval
Tuesday 16th December – Saturday 20th December
Daily Timings:
🏏 First ball: 11.30pm
🍔 Lunch: 1.30am – 2.10am
☕️ Dinner: 4.10am – 4.30am
🕚 Close: 6.30am – 7.30am
Live on TNT Sports HD, Discovery+ and BBC Test Match Special

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What Happened In Brisbane?

Australia tightened their grip on the Ashes with an emphatic eight-wicket win in the second Test, the day-night match at the Gabba. England batted first and were in crisis at 5-2 before Zak Crawley (76 & 44) and Joe Root (138* & 15) rebuilt the innings. Crawley’s fluent 76 steadied things and Root finally ticked off his first Test hundred in Australia, finishing unbeaten on 138 with late support from Jofra Archer (38 & 5*; 1-87 & 0-28). Even so, Mitchell Starc (77; 6-75 & 2-64) kept a lid on the scoring with a six-wicket haul under lights and England were bowled out for 334 – useful, but short of truly imposing in pink-ball conditions.

Australia’s response was a demonstration of depth and control. No one made a century, but runs came in layers: Jake Weatherald (72 & 17*) at the top, then Marnus Labuschagne (65 & 3), Steve Smith (61 & 23*) and Alex Carey (63 & DNB) through the middle order, before Starc’s 77 from No. 9 underlined his all-round influence. By the time Australia were dismissed for 511, they had built a lead of 177, leaving England needing to bat long in the toughest period of the match.

That resistance never really came. England’s top order was shredded again under lights late on day three and they ended the day six down and still behind. On the fourth morning Ben Stokes (19 & 50; 3-113) and Will Jacks (19 & 41; 1-34) offered a brief reistance with a stubborn seventh-wicket stand, but once Michael Neser (16 & DNB; 1-43 & 5-42) broke the partnership he ripped through the tail to finish with six wickets in the match. Australia knocked off the 65 required for the loss of just two wickets, Starc was named Player of the Match, and the hosts moved 2–0 up with ease in the end.

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☀️ Adelaide Guide 

With hot temperatures forecast for the first four days, short square boundaries, and a quick outfield with a dry surface underneath, Adelaide should be the most batter-friendly surface so far in the series. There have been some low-scoring tests – in line with the general trend over the last few years in Australia, including the 2024 test against the West Indies, when the highest total was 283, and India managed to defend 323 on their tour here – but it’s possible to make runs at a quick clip here.

The average first-innings score in Sheffield Shield day games is 235, although that’s skewered by a 93 all-out score for South Australia when Brendan Doggett tore through Queensland on what was a green pitch – Tasmania could only post 101 in reply.

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Team News

The big news – as expected – is that Pat Cummins returns after overcoming a significant back problem, whilst Nathan Lyon returns with spin expected to play a part in the latter stage here on a dry pitch. Michael Neser and Brendan Doggett, perhaps unluckily, miss out. Travis Head stays opening the batting after the hosts decided against recalling Usman Khawaja, who has been hampered by a back injury and missed the second Test in Brisbane.

🇦🇺 Australian XI: 1 Jake Weatherald, 2 Travis Head, 3 Marnus Labuschagne, 4 Steve Smith, 5 Cameron Green, 6 Alex Carey (wk), 7 Josh Inglis, 8 Pat Cummins (c), 9 Mitchell Starc, 10 Nathan Lyon, 11 Scott Boland

England have stuck with their top seven batters and made only change from Brisbane, with fast bowler Josh Tongue replacing Gus Atkinson. All-rounder Will Jacks, who did in and showed fight in the second innings under the lights, has again been preferred to spinner Shoaib Bashir, who has been badly mismanaged considering how much importance was placed on this tour for him.

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 English XI: 1 ⁠Zak Crawley, 2⁠ ⁠Ben Duckett, 3⁠ ⁠Ollie Pope, 4⁠ ⁠Joe Root, 5 Harry Brook, 6⁠ ⁠Ben Stokes (c), 7 ⁠Jamie Smith (wk), 8 ⁠Will Jacks, 9 Brydon Carse, 10 ⁠Jofra Archer, 11 ⁠Josh Tongue

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🏏 Match Verdict

A match price of ? for Australia (pre toss) with starsports.bet. is fair based on what we’ve seen in both test so far, especially the day/night affair.

Conditions here – more typical of what Australian cricket is known for with a hard surface that allows for fast runscoring if the batters can find a foothold – present an opportunity for the English batting lineup who should be much happier against the red ball than the pink one, but their shot selection, fielding and bowling has been second best by a good distance so far and whilst Will Jacks obdurate effort was promising in Brisbane, there’s no obvious sign of a reversal in fortune here even with the potential for one of their batters to make a lot of runs in suitable conditions.

Those looking for optimism on the visitors side could point to the fact that they are more acclimatized to conditions now – having played two tests, albeit short ones – and hopefully the more in form batters will have their eyes in.

That said Australia, who are very much deserving of favouritism, had a first innings lead, and the highest first innings opening partnership when they won at the Gabba and the 15/8 with starsports.bet. that they repeat the fear is tempting, given the gulf between the two sides so far since the first innings in Perth.

The special offer of 11/2 on Marnus Labuschagne & Travis Head to Score 50+ 1st Innings runs each is also eye-catching. Head (79.25) and Labuschagne (70.88) have great first innings records here and batted well, better than their final scores would suggest, at the Gabba.

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Batters – Australia 🇦🇺

Bar the first innings in Perth on a spicy wicket, the Australian batters have hit a nice vein of form and there’s the potential for plenty of runs in the first innings, considering that they scored 511 at the Gabba.

The new ball has its dangers but opening here should be the easiest – comparatively – test of the series so far and that could mean another good outing for the top order. Travis Head fell for 33 at the Gabba but had played better than the score suggested and he’s worth backing for a first innings 50 along with Steve Smith. Head’s average in Adelaide has already been discussed whilst Smith would have scored far more than 23 not out if Australia had a target to chase in the second innings when he had Jofra Archer’s measure, having made 61 in the first before a sensational catch from Will Jacks prevented a likely century.

I wouldn’t put anyone off backing any of the Australian top order for runs here – Jake Weatherald has found confidence and touch, whilst Cameron Green and Alex Carey could feast on the soft ball, and the in-running lines with starsports.bet will be of interest.

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Batters – England 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿

Lost in all of the despair last week was the fact that Zak Crawley made decent runs with 76 and 44, and both he and Ben Duckett could go well here. This is on paper England’s best chance for runs, and it’s another opportunity for Joe Root to make another big impact on the series.

Root’s 138 in changing conditions and with a crumbling top order around him finally gave him a hundred on Australian soil and there will be few players who will benefit from a true and sound pitch more than him. With time in the middle, a ground that provides scoring opportunities and hopefully more protection from the new ball, the boosted 15/8 with starsports.bet that he makes a first innings 50 has to be worth having onside.

Add the 3/1 that he’s the top first innings runscorer also. Ollie Pope is also big at 7/1 (and I wouldn’t put anyone off backing him at all) but otherwise Harry Brook must improve against the short ball and restrain his driving, Jamie Smith’s confidence is gone, the openers do have it tougher than anyone else and Ben Stokes, dealing with the captaincy, may be his closest rival.

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Bowlers – Australia 🇦🇺

Ante-post readers will be in a fine position with Mitchell Starc, who’s 11 wickets clear of Scott Boland for the top Australian wicket taker standings and 9 clear in the overall. 2/1 for him to be the leading first innings wicket taker is fair, although Pat Cummins will have his backers at 11/4 on his return. Nathan Lyon is well worth considering for the second innings top wicket taker, where his record is very strong, but this might be worth leaving.

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Bowlers – England 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿

As ever, this is tight and a small chance is taken on Josh Tongue. He comes in fresh after a couple of warm ups and he took 19 wickets in three games against India this summer when his strike rate was better than Ben Stokes and Jofra Archer. His record against the tail is excellent and at 3/1 with starsports.bet he’s fairly priced in what’s admittedly a tight race.

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RECOMMENDED BETS – Match
BACK Australia to Win, Lead after 1st Innings & Highest 1st Innings Opening Partnership 2 pts at 15/8 (⭐️ ? CLICK TO BET NOW)
BACK Marnus Labuschagne & Travis Head to Score 50+ 1st Innings runs each 1 pt at 11/2 (⭐️ ? CLICK TO BET NOW)

RECOMMENDED BETS – Batters
BACK Travis Head 1st Innings Runscorer 1 pt at 10/3 (⭐️ ? CLICK TO BET NOW)
BACK Travis Head To Score 50+ 1st Innings Runs 2 pts at 6/4 (⭐️ ? CLICK TO BET NOW)
BACK Steve Smith To Score 50+ 1st Innings Runs 2 pts at 6/4 (⭐️ ? CLICK TO BET NOW)
BACK Joe Root To Score 50+ 1st Innings Runs 2 pts at 15/8 (⭐️ ? CLICK TO BET NOW)
BACK Joe Root Top England 1st Innings Runscorer 1 pt at 10/3 (⭐️ ? CLICK TO BET NOW)

RECOMMENDED BETS – Bowlers
BACK Josh Tongue Top English Wicket Taker 1 pt at 3/1 (⭐️ ? CLICK TO BET NOW)

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PROFIT/LOSS (DEC 2025): +11.34 points

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