Thanks for following along today as Australia moved to within sight of an Ashes series-sealing victory at Adelaide Oval. Here is Ali Martin’s report from day three of the third Test:
Barney Ronay on Will Jacks:
And reaction:
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Travis Head put Australia on the front foot in these Ashes with a swashbuckling century in Perth. Now he might just have finished England off slowly with a grinding ton on his home deck. His undefeated 142 came from 196 deliveries with 13 boundaries and two sixes, though the opener had to survive a dropped chance to Harry Brook in the gully when on 99 to reach his fourth consecutive hundred at Adelaide Oval.
Stumps: Australia 271-4
Travis Head (142 not out) continues his love affair with Adelaide Oval with a fourth century in as many matches at the venue, while Alex Carey (52 not out) has backed up his first-innings ton to put Australia in a commanding position with a 356-run lead. England gave themselves a chance when Ben Stokes and Jofra Archer picked up where they left off with the bat last night, but once again the tourists were unable to make the most of any momentum they might have claimed throughout the day. Curious bowling choices even when Australia were on the backfoot during their second innings have left England with it all to do tomorrow if they are to keep their faintest of Ashes hopes alive.
65th over: Australia 266-4 (Head 138, Carey 50) Tongue continues to test Carey with a short-ball strategy but the Australia batter has stumps in his sights.
64th over: Australia 265-4 (Head 138, Carey 50) Jacks drops the ball in far too short and allows Carey to simply step back and crunch the ball back down the ground for four. He doesn’t need any help at the moment, and then brings up a fifty – to go with his first-innings hundred – with a quick single under next to no pressure.
53,696 have walked through the gates at Adelaide Oval today – the third highest crowd for a Test day at the venue – and the locals will certainly like what they have seen.
63rd over: Australia 256-4 (Head 136, Carey 43) Tongue goes around the wicket and dabbles in a shorter length to Carey. The in-form batter has little trouble working the ball onto the offside for two through point, then three more down the ground.
62nd over: Australia 251-4 (Head 136, Carey 38) Head dances down the track, opens up and smacks Jacks over cover for a boundary. He’s starting to pull out that same stroke once an over from Jacks. That brings up the 100-run stand for the South Australian duo.
61st over: Australia 243-4 (Head 129, Carey 37) Josh Tongue is back after picking up a couple of wickets earlier in the innings. It’s harder now with the ball 61 overs old and the legs perhaps feeling the effects of a decent stint in the field. Carey sends a sublime drive through cover and Stokes sets off on a chase but is unable to prevent the boundary. The England captain was at least moving freely there.
60th over: Australia 237-4 (Head 128, Carey 33) Head has had his breather and is again looking to attack. He steps down the pitch to lift Jacks over mid-on for four then ends the over with two runs to the other side of the off-spinner. The lead is out to 322.
59th over: Australia 230-4 (Head 122, Carey 32) It’s hard to tie down Travis Head for too long and he flicks Carse through midwicket for two, then guides the ball to third for a boundary. Root denies Carey a boundary at long-on with a desperate chase, as Head denies his partner four all-run from the same stroke as he is now barely breaking into a jog.
58th over: Australia 220-4 (Head 115, Carey 29) Jacks gets away with a full toss as Head mis-times a clip off his pads and has to settle for a single. That’s the first time the Australia opener has shown any sign of frustration since the teabreak at least.
57th over: Australia 219-4 (Head 114, Carey 29) The Australia pair are set and seem to have no intention of letting England back into the game with little more than half-an-hour to play before stumps. Head eases Carse down to third for a single before Carey defends four deliveries with a classically vertical bat.
Guy Hornsby is right on the money with all the talk of England “drifting”.
“Feels like the game is drifting here,” he says. “Not that it was in our hands much at any point, but the tail end batting and getting Australia to 149-4 felt hopeful of something. It would be no surprise if Stokes was carrying a niggle at least, because so much rests on him anyway, even before his batting and bowling this Test. You have to wonder what happens when (not if) we lose this Test. We may shuffle bowlers, but there’s no jeopardy for the batting line up.
“I’d like to see Bethell, but I could see McCullum bloodymindedly pick the same top 7 all winter. Which, I’m afraid, is part of the problem when you have deliberately cultivated a group with no real alternatives for so long. Sigh.”
At least Freddie knows where he is heading. Joshua Keeling seems to be all over the place …
“Am I mad for thinking England can still win this*? *Yes I am.”
Will Jacks has one for 77 from his 14 overs in this innings while England edge closer and closer to the point where they might be left to ponder what might have been. Freddie Simon has perhaps already reached that destination, before he sets off on a bike in Berlin …
“I see Will Jacks being thwacked for 5.75 per over, and think of those hundreds of overs that Liam Dawson bowled for less than 2 per over in this year’s County Championship, and my brain starts to overheat. I just don’t vibe with the reasoning that players who are not particularly good at domestic long format cricket will magically be good at Test matches.
“About to cycle through the dark to work in Berlin and feeling grateful for the Australian summer; there is heat and warmth somewhere in the world.”
56th over: Australia 218-4 (Head 113, Carey 29) Head has been playing within himself even after reaching an 11th Test century. Now he begins the over dancing down the track to crack Jacks over cover for four. He pulls out a sweep for a single and Carey needs little invitation to do the same.
55th over: Australia 211-4 (Head 107, Carey 28) Carse continues to Head as the Australia opener mis-times a couple of square drives before finding a gap in the same area for one.
54th over: Australia 210-4 (Head 106, Carey 28) Jacks is back and bowling around the wicket to Head. The off-spinner keeps the batter guessing with varying length before Heads ends a cautious over with a single to point.
53rd over: Australia 209-4 (Head 105, Carey 28) Carse replaces Archer who was unable to find a breakthrough during an otherwise impressive five-over spell. Head sneaks a single but if he unloads over the next hour the game could be taken out of England hands.
52nd over: Australia 208-4 (Head 104, Carey 28) Travis Head soaks up the applause as he makes it four centuries in as many consecutive Tests at Adelaide Oval. Head was unusually nervous in the 90s, but the floodgates could open from here.
Travis Head reaches a century
The hometown hero is done waiting as he smacks a fuller delivery down the ground to bring up his fourth century in as many Tests at Adelaide Oval with a boundary. It has been more of a fighting hundred than one for the highlight reels, but that has made it all the sweeter. Head has faced 146 deliveries and hit eight boundaries and two sixes. He bows down and kisses the turf in the middle of his home ground.
51st over: Australia 202-4 (Head 99, Carey 27) Head dropped on 99! He slashes hard at a wider ball from Archer and picks out Brook at gully. Brook didn’t even need to move as he crouched down but the ball popped out of his hands. The Australia opener has faced eight deliveries and been given a life since moving to just one run short of a ton.
50th over: Australia 201-4 (Head 99, Carey 26) Head starts the over with a crunching drive for two to move to within one run of a century. The field moves in and Root ties Head down to make him wait a little longer. Australia move past 200 but the crowd is full of voice waiting for another particular milestone.
49th over: Australia 199-4 (Head 97, Carey 26) Head works a shorter delivery away for a single to midwicket that brings up the 50-run partnership for the hometown duo. And that’s drinks with Australia leading by 284 runs.
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48th over: Australia 197-4 (Head 96, Carey 25) Carey is in sublime touch and deserves more than one run from a late cut. Stokes cops a bouncing ball on the bonce and ends the over racing from the field.
47th over: Australia 193-4 (Head 93, Carey 24) A quality over from Archer to Carey. The England quick almost cuts the in-form batter in half with a delivery that jags back from outside off.
Brian Withington has tuned into the game during his morning only to find what he describes as “horrible viewing”. He’s not done there …
“This passage of play after Green’s dismissal has been as disappointing as I can recall in recent years. I truly hope appearances are deceptive but England look resigned to inevitable defeat with scarcely a flicker of resistance.”
I have to agree that there have been a lot of strange bowling choices this afternoon, from persisting with Jacks for too long, to England taking their time to throw the ball to Archer. And then there is Stokes, who is yet to bowl in this innings with the Ashes genuinely on the line. Maybe the captain has a niggle or more, after all.
46th over: Australia 193-4 (Head 93, Carey 24) Carey brings out his trusty sweep to start the Root over with two runs to fine leg. The Australia pair then rotate the strike three times without any real danger.
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45th over: Australia 188-4 (Head 92, Carey 20) Archer pushes beyond 140km/h as the England quick forces both batters to play watchfully. The tourists needed to stop the flow of runs if they are to keep their Ashes hopes alive, and the threat of Archer looks like their best bet to do that at this stage. Carey ends the over with a single to deep point.
44th over: Australia 187-4 (Head 92, Carey 19) Head steps down the track and looks to clip Root onto the legside but is beaten in flight to slice the shot just short of long-off. It’s almost like Head gets a bit bored when the runs aren’t flowing but he ends the over with a relatively composed 92 runs from 130 deliveries.
43rd over: Australia 182-4 (Head 90, Carey 16) Jofra Archer returns for just his sixth over of the innings after a long stint at the crease while reaching a first Test fifty earlier in the day. A loosener down leg clips Carey’s thigh and flies out of the reach of Jamie Smith to the boundary. Archer ends the over nudging closer to 140km/h but might take a little while to get going.
42nd over: Australia 177-4 (Head 90, Carey 15) Root takes over from Jacks with England increasingly desperate to shake up the Australia innings. Three singles from the over all picked up to midwicket.
41st over: Australia 174-4 (Head 89, Carey 13) This has been an impressive spell from Josh Tongue but Alex Carey, in the form that he’s in, doesn’t need much to go wrong for the bowler to punch a drive through cover to the boundary.
Hard not to agree with Gervase Greene as England let the game drift along again even after snaring a couple of quick wickets.
“Any reason why Ben Stokes isn’t bowling? Fair enough he’s not quite the great bowler he once was, but 238 Test wickets suggests he knows a thing or three about the caper. I get that his gutsy batting this morning required some recuperation, but this game is on the line right now. He can’t afford to wait for the new ball … and for that matter nor should Jofra.”
I’m led to believe that Stokes is fit to bowl. And I therefore have no real answer to Gervase’s query.
40th over: Australia 169-4 (Head 89, Carey 8) Jacks has a partnership-breaking wicket to his name but surely must be ready for a rest. Not much on offer for the England spinner as Australia pick up seven runs without any real effort. It would’ve been a couple of runs worse but for a desperate dive on the rope from Ben Duckett to end the over.
39th over: Australia 162-4 (Head 85, Carey 5) Alex Carey is coming off a first-innings ton and looks just like a batter in form as he gets off the mark with an exquisite square drive to the boundary. Josh Tongue trying to cramp Carey with a fielder under the lid on the leg side.
38th over: Australia 156-4 (Head 84, Carey 0) SIX! Travis Head ignores any suggestion that the pressure is back on Australia as he steps down the pitch to crack a straight drive over Jacks and the rope.
37th over: Australia 149-4 (Head 77, Carey 0) A ripping over from Josh Tongue and an overreach from Cameron Green brings England right back into the game. A pair of South Australians are now at the crease together and will have other ideas.
WICKET! Green c Brook b Tongue 7 (Australia 149-4)
One brings two and back-to-back failures for Cameron Green as he is caught at slip after driving away from his body. The Australian was almost out the previous ball playing a similar shot but in the end a sharp catch from Brook diving to his left sends Green on his way.
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36th over: Australia 147-3 (Head 76, Green 7) Jacks might never be a frontline spinner but he has again shown that he can, somehow, pick up a wicket against the run of play. That was as much, if not more, down to Khawaja’s lack of footwork before his full-blooded cut shot. Cameron Green comes to the crease on a pair but is gifted a freebie first ball that he sends through cover to the rope.
WICKET! Khawaja c Smith b Jacks 40 (Australia 139-3)
Oh, Usman, what have you done? Khawaja swipes at a half-tracker from Jacks that spins far and wide of the off-stump, but a top-edge flicks the ball into Jamie Smith’s gloves. A nightmare dismissal.
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35th over: Australia 139-2 (Head 75, Khawaja 40) Head fights his instincts as Tongue continues bowling bouncers before finally giving into temptation with a hook. A top-edge lifts the ball into the air but it falls safely short of the fielder on the rope. That might be a warning to Head though.
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34th over: Australia 136-2 (Head 74, Khawaja 38) Head is being somewhat contained by the short-ball strategy but the shackles are off at the other end. An on-drive almost collects Khawaja on its way to the boundary before Jacks bounces back as he finds a better length and some turn.
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33rd over: Australia 132-2 (Head 70, Khawaja 38) Josh Tongue takes the ball from the opposite end and tests Travis Head with a series of shorter balls. No surprise that Head is up for the fight, moving all around the crease. He finally makes proper contact for a single to deep point.
32nd over: Australia 131-2 (Head 69, Khawaja 38) I’m going to need someone to explain to me why on earth England have thrown Will Jacks the ball to begin the third session? The part-time spinner has the ball pitching all over the place as Khawaja immediately finds two through midwicket then plunders back-to-back boundaries. 12 from the over and an ideal way for Australia to resume their innings after tea.
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England gather around the boundary as they prepare for the latest in their long list of “sessions that will define their series”. But this time it feels real, as only a string of wickets that help contain the Australia lead can keep their Ashes hopes alive. Here we go …
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Travis Head’s love affair with Adelaide Oval continues as he adds a fifty to the three centuries he has made in as many previous visits to his home venue. The Australia opener has moved up and down through the gears in his composed knock, and put on 63 runs from 89 balls during the second session as the hosts built on their lead. Usman Khawaja has discovered a new freedom since moving to No 4 for this Test and after a quick start looked comfortable while easing to 27 not out at tea.
Josh Tongue picked up the only wicket of the session with Marnus Labuschagne caught in slip for a hard-earned 13, but Brydon Carse was the most threatening of the England bowlers at least until he returned to a short-ball strategy.
Tea: Australia 119-2
31st over: Australia 119-2 (Head 68, Khawaja 27) SIX! Travis Head takes on the shorter ball even with tea in sight as he lifts Carse behind square and beyond Zak Crawley standing on the rope. That takes Australia’s lead to 204 runs as Head continues to attack Carse without any further reward. The hosts lose one wicket for the session as they pull away to an ominous lead.
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30th over: Australia 113-2 (Head 62, Khawaja 27) Joe Root races through another over to ensure England sneak in one more before tea. Khawaja clips two off his pads before both batters pick up a single on the off-side.
29th over: Australia 109-2 (Head 61, Khawaja 24) England stack fielders around the boundary on the legside with Carse digging the ball in short to Head. The Australia opener ducks under a couple then punches a single to cover. Khawaja cops a nasty delivery that rises sharply off a good length but manages to keep the ball down to sneak a single. A better over from Carse.
28th over: Australia 107-2 (Head 60, Khawaja 23) Joe Root joins the attack with England needing a spark - let alone a wicket - on the cusp of tea. Head comfortably cuts the first ball through point for a single, as both batters add one more to their score without too much concern.
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27th over: Australia 104-2 (Head 58, Khawaja 22) Carse continues and is back to digging the ball in short too often. A curious tactic when England need wickets to stay in the game – and series. Head picks up a single on the offside as Joe Root spins the arms.
As this innings begins to show all the signs of drifting away from England, Edward poses an interesting question from Germany: “5C here in Mannheim and missing the Australian heat. Quick question: is Australia the worst test team in reviewing decisions both in terms of success rate and when deciding to review?”
Without having the stats around that to hand, the eye test (and fading memory) certainly suggests there is plenty of room for improvement. Weatherald failing to review his dismissal earlier in the day seems likely to be down to a lack of confidence from the new kid on the block – perhaps an easier issue to address that processes under pressure in the middle.
26th over: Australia 103-2 (Head 57, Khawaja 22) Time for a change as Jacks loses his length and the Australia pair punish anything dropping short. But Head almost presents Root with an improbable chance at first slip as he slices a late cut off a top-edge. The ball races away to the boundary and Australia take 10 from the over.
25th over: Australia 93-2 (Head 51, Khawaja 18) Fifty for Travis Head for the sixth time on his home deck at Adelaide Oval. The local hero swivels on the back foot to crack the ball through mid-on to bring up his milestone with a fifth boundary of the innings. Carse has been better while bowling fuller in this innings, but Head shows how fine the margins are when punishing anything just back of a good length.
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24th over: Australia 88-2 (Head 47, Khawaja 17) Will Jacks continues as Ben Stokes unusually holds himself back even with the Australia pair looking increasingly comfortable. Three singles from the over without any real risk taken.
23rd over: Australia 85-2 (Head 46, Khawaja 15) Brydon Carse replaces Tongue after being the pick of the England bowlers early on. Jofra Archer understandably started the second Australia innings bowling a bit off his top pace, after a long stint at the crease and a first Test fifty, but he is right in the contest and dives at mid-off to prevent a likely boundary.
22nd over: Australia 83-2 (Head 45, Khawaja 14) A better over from Jacks but England need wickets and the off-spinner is barely threatening either batter. A couple of singles from the over.
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21st over: Australia 81-2 (Head 44, Khawaja 13) Head hammers a drive through cover and his wry grin is almost the exact opposite of Ben Stokes’ anguished face as the ball sits up in the air just long enough to give England a glimmer of hope. But the Australia opener is finding the gaps now and he almost adds another boundary with a straight drive if not for the ball crashing into the stumps at the non-striker’s end.
20th over: Australia 76-2 (Head 40, Khawaja 12) Head goes searching outside his off-stump as Jacks gets a ripper to drift and turn away from the left-hander. That was very nearly something out of nothing! Four singles from the over as both batters ease away anything directed towards their pads.
19th over: Australia 72-2 (Head 38, Khawaja 10) Head has been getting into his groove for a while and now controls a slice over slips to the deep third rope. Both batters look comfortable knocking Tongue away for singles as the runs flow for Australia even with a new batter at the crease.
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18th over: Australia 64-2 (Head 32, Khawaja 9) England persist with Will Jacks even with a new batter at the crease. The spinner continues to leak runs, just as he did in the first innings, and Khawaja doesn’t let a loose delivery down the leg-side go to waste as he sweeps to the boundary.
17th over: Australia 57-2 (Head 30, Khawaja 4) Josh Tongue gets the breakthrough after several close calls for Marnus Labuschagne to bring Usman Khawaja to the crease at the unfamiliar No 4 spot. The now 39-year-old seemed comfortable batting in the position during the first innings, and this time is allowed to get off the mark when punishing a wide delivery with a cut to the rope.
Thanks Rob. We actually have a contest on our hands – which, I must admit, is far from what I was expecting this morning, and certainly would not have predicted this time yesterday. England have had their tails up even after being dismissed for 286 with Brydon Carse in particular finding a nice rhythm with the ball while Travis Head and Marnus Labuschagne had to dig in after lunch. This is the sort of scenario that England have too often failed to make the most of throughout this series, but with Labuschagne on his way the momentum might just be about to swing once again.
I’ll be guiding us through to stumps. Send us your predictions, thought bubbles and other musings with an email or find me @martinpegan on Bluesky or X. Drinks are done, here we go …
Drinks With that, I’ll hand you over to Martin Pegan for the rest of the day’s play. Thanks for your company, see you soon.
WICKET! Australia 53-2 (Labuschagne c Brook b Tongue 13)
Josh Tongue strikes with a ripper! Labuschagne was surprised by some extra bounce and fenced the ball to slip, where Brook got both hands under the ball to take a lovely catch.
The umpires checked the catch, a wise course of action in this game, but it was clear from the first replay that Brook took it cleanly. Australia lead by 138 and England are still fighting.
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16th over: Australia 53-1 (Head 30, Labuschagne 13) Another mixed over from Jacks – but when he gets it right, he is a real threat. Head pushes nervously at a lovely offbreak and edges fractionally short of the diving Brook at slip. That was close.
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15th over: Australia 50-1 (Head 29, Labuschagne 11) Head is beaten by a ball from Tongue that keeps a bit low. The follow-up bounces too much and is called wide on height; that brings up the Australia fifty.
“There’s a lot of (rather polite) chat on TMS about how close (or, indeed, not close) Jamie Smith is standing, particularly with reference to that edge from Labuschagne right after lunch,” writes Tom Hopkins. “They seem to be slightly dancing around the point that a better keeper would have turned that half volley into a regulation catch.
“This is 100% old-man-shout-at-cloud, but it strikes me that those intangibles that a really good keeper gives you (pressure on the batter from standing up, confidence spreading through the slip cordon…) don’t get captured in a stat so they get overlooked. Right here, right now, however they feel like kind of a big deal.”
Especially when Smith isn’t getting any runs himself. I still prefer a No 7 who can make Test hundreds at game-changing speed, but it’s a very difficult thing to evaluate because, as you say, you can’t quantify certain aspects of keeping – or of seizing the initiative from No 7. Australia seem to have found a pretty good solution.
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14th over: Australia 47-1 (Head 27, Labuschagne 11) Will Jacks replaces Brydon Carse, who bowled a threatening spell of 6-1-19-1. His first ball turns extravagantly, if slowly, and is pushed for a single by Labuschagne. The next delivery is filthy, down the leg side and spinning through the legs of Jamie Smith. Brook saves four byes with a good bit of anticipation.
If Jacks was more accurate he’d be a serious proposition because he gets appreciable turn and bounce.
“The Kiwis have had a wee collapse,” writes Ruth Purdue. “It can even happen to proper batters!”
13th over: Australia 45-1 (Head 26, Labuschagne 10) There’s no real movement for Tongue though his pace is up around 90mph. Australia are busily stockpiling ones and twos, with Head biffing the occasional boundary, and their lead is now 130. You never quite know against England but Australia will be extremely confident of victory if they set anything over 300.
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12th over: Australia 41-1 (Head 23, Labuschagne 9) Carse is mixing things up to Head: round the wicket, then over, then back round. Head just watches the ball and hits it, in this case with a wristy clip to the midwicket boundary. He’s starting to look dangerous.
“Reading with morbid fascination in British Columbia (Vancouver Island),” writes David Marriott.
British Columbia? Don’t suppose you need a cat-sitter for, say, the next 30 years?
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In case you missed it, this is well worth a read.
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11th over: Australia 33-1 (Head 16, Labuschagne 9) Josh Tongue comes on for Jofra Archer, who strained unsuccessfully for rhythm in an opening spell of 5-1-10-0. Head slashes a back cut for four, with Jacks in the deep almost losing his balance as he tries to run round the boundary.
Head could take this game away from England very quickly, just as David Warner often did in the third innings when Australia had a lead. In fact, a few weeks ago Stuart Broad called Warner “the best third-innings batter I faced”, mainly because of his foot-on-the-throat batting in the 2013-14 Ashes.
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10th over: Australia 26-1 (Head 10, Labuschagne 8) Labuschagne is almost turned round by a good delivery from Carse, who is bowling probably his best spell since the first innings at Perth. A cracking over ends with a menacing lifter that bursts past Labuschagne’s defensive poke. This is the Carse we saw in New Zealand a year ago. I was starting to think I’d imagined it.
9th over: Australia 25-1 (Head 9, Labuschagne 8) Head has a superb record on home ground: he averages 72 from eight Tests and has made hundreds in the last three games, including a mighty 140 against India a year ago.
Archer’s fifth over is okay, no more or less. He’s still bowling a bit too short. I’d be tempted to give him a break because he has no rhythm and is grimacing a bit as he walks back to his mark.
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8th over: Australia 24-1 (Head 8, Labuschagne 8) Stokes was annoyed with somebody, possibly Smith or Carse, for dithering when he asked for their opinion on whether to review. In the end it would have been better for England if they had run out of time.
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Labuschagne is not out!
There was a murmur on Snicko but it looked like there was clear daylight between bat and ball so Labuschagne survives.
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England review for caught behind agianst Labuschagne!
Stokes almost ran out of time but eventually made the signal with one second remaining. Labuschagne pushed at a length outswinger from Carse, then snapped his head round to follow the ball into the gloves of Jamie Smith. That’s often a tell-tale sign.
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7th over: Australia 23-1 (Head 7, Labuschagne 8) It can take Archer a little while to rev up, and at the moment his pace is around 84mph. Labuschagne and Head milk four runs without much difficulty.
6th over: Australia 19-1 (Head 6, Labuschagne 5) Brydon Carse comes this close to a wicket in the first over after lunch. Labuschagne thin-edges a beautiful delivery that reaches the keeper Smith almost on the half-volley. He signals that it may have bounced short; the umpires go upstairs and the first replay confirms as much.
A good over from Carse, bowling a much fuller length than he has for most of this series.
Ben Stokes leads England onto the field, followed by the Australian batters Travis Head and Marnus Labuschagne. Let’s crack on.
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“I was in the middle of emailing you about Weatherald before he got out,” writes Chris Paraskevas. “I think he brings something a little different to an opening pairing: he’s compact, reasonably well organised (especially on the offside) and has a punchy, no-frills style of attack.
“He reminds me of Chris Rogers in his temperament, the way he builds an innings, and I think they should persist with him for the rest of the series: he might be well suited to English conditions if he can refine his ability to play the ball late.
“Perhaps he’s missing a bit of aggro and dog in his batting. There’s the foundations of a solid Test player in there...”
I like his tempo as well, though I guess that’s less important when he bats with Travis Head. At the very least I’d give him this series.
Lunchtime reading
Lunch: Australia lead by 102 runs
5th over: Australia 16-1 (Head 5, Labuschagne 4) Head and Labuschagne see off Archer’s third over to take Australia to lunch only one down. They are still in contrrol, leading by 102, but the batting of Ben Stokes (83) and Archer (51) has given England hope of another crazy fourth-innings chase.
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4th over: Australia 16-1 (Head 4, Labuschagne 4) Labuschagne gets off the mark with a fine delivery, flicking an overpitched delivery from Carse to the midwicket boundary.
There will be time for one more over before lunch.
3rd over: Australia 9-1 (Head 1, Labuschagne 0) Australia won’t want to lose another wicket before lunch. The third innings can do funny things to a batting line-up, especially when they are or were in control of the game.
A maiden from Archer to Labuschagne. His line was much better but the length was far too short.
“Such a rookie error from Weatherald,” says Andy Roberts. “Has he not seen Carse bowl this series? The guy puts the ball all over the place; there was always every chance it would have pitched outside leg. Frustrated on his behalf that he wasn’t confident enough to review it.”
Quite, and it’ll add to the growing* pressure on him, especially if Khawaja gets runs in this innings.
* Unfairly IMO
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2nd over: Australia 9-1 (Head 1, Labuschagne 0) Weatherald did discuss a review with his opening partner Travis Head before walking off. It’s done now. England plead for another LBW when Labuschagne plays across a very full delivery from Carse. That time it was missing leg stump.
WICKET! Australia 8-1 (Weatherald LBW b Carse 1)
Brydon Carse strikes third ball! Jake Weatherald, falling over to the off side, plays around a sharp nipbacker and is given out LBW. It’s a lovely delivery – but replays show it pitched just outside leg stump and would have been overturned on review. Well well.
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1st over: Australia 8-0 (Head 1, Weatherald 1) Jofra Archer’s first over isn’t the best. It includes two no-balls, four byes down the leg side and a single apiece for the Australian openers.
“Time to strap in for something special?” says Brian Withington. “Talking of Kevin Keegan’s Newcastle, I would just love it, really love it…”
Some scenes from around the ground in Adelaide.
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The players are back on the field. There should be time for five overs before lunch; I think Josh Tongue is going to take the new ball with Jofra Archer.
“Heart says we’ve given ourselves a chance of a miracle,” writes Max Williams. “We were further behind at Headingley in 2019. Head says a 100+ ninth-wicket partnership proves this is still a lovely batting surface and we’ll be chasing 400 at a minimum. Head also says Head (Travis) will shortly rip out the heart with an 80 ball century.
“I’m going with the head. I’ve learned the hard way.”
It feels like England need to batting tonight to have any chance.
Australia lead by 85 runs on first innings. Unless they are bowled out for 129 in 73 overs second time round, that advantage should be decisive.
WICKET! England 286 all out (Archer c Labuschagne b Boland 51)
All over. Scott Boland comes on for Cummins and gets the job done with a full delivery that Archer snicks to second slip. Archer batted for 153 minutes, a noble effort; now England just need him to take a quick seven-for.
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87th over: England 286-9 (Archer 51, Tongue 7) An inswinger from Starc to Archer hits the pads and runs away for four leg-byes. Australia will have expected to be batting by now, but they won’t lose sight of the bigger picture – on a pitch that should break up, they are in a fabulous position. They lead by 85 runs.
86th over: England 279-9 (Archer 50, Tongue 5) “Were people happy with the Bashir selection?” asks Martin Whitman, referring to the comments about England’s squad in the 71st over. “I thought grudging acceptance was the most positive reaction I saw. And having brought him I am glad they didn’t feel forced to use him when he’s clearly not up to it. But less so that they didn’t realise that a year ago.”
I didn’t hear much criticism of Bashir’s selection – nervousness, certainly, but not criticms. I suspect they planned to play him from Adelaide onwards but have decided, from his form in the nets and tour games, that it’s too big a risk. That can happen, as it did with Steven Finn 12 years ago, but they should have had an experienced back-up. They don’t fancy left-arm spin in Australia at all, which complicated the potential selection of Jack Leach or Liam Dawson, and I think it would have been far too soon for Rehan Ahmed.
85th over: England 275-9 (Archer 50, Tongue 1) That wicket was Starc’s 19th of the series. Only Brydon Carse, with 11, has even half as many.
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Australia review! England 274-9 (Tongue not out 0) Josh Tongue survives a very tight LBW review after playing around a classic Starc inswinger. It swung late and would have clipped leg stump – umpire’s call, so the on-field decision of not out was upheld. I don’t think it’ll be long before Starc wraps this up.
It was a cracking delivery from Starc, a nipbacker that went through the gate to hit the top of off stump as Stokes tried to drive. Stokes’ reaction feels like an appropriate end to an innings of furious defiance: 83 from 198 balls with eight fours. But he wanted at least 50 more.
WICKET! England 274-9 (Stokes b Starc 83)
Mitchell Starc makes the breakthrough! Ben Stokes screams with frustration, and keeps shouting at himself all the way off the field. Jofra Archer runs all the way to the boundary edge to pat him on the back.
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A maiden Test fifty for Jofra Archer!
84th over: England 274-8 (Stokes 83, Archer 50) Well played Jofra Archer! He drives Cummins for a single to reach his maiden Test fifty from 97 balls, a beautifully judged innings. This time yesterday he and Stokes were arguing when Archer took a wicket; today a beaming Stokes walks down to congratulate him.
“You can keep your T20s and whatnot, the first hour from Adelaide has been absolutely riveting cricket,” says Tony Hughes. “Test matches are alive and well!”
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83rd over: England 272-8 (Stokes 82, Archer 49) A loose stroke from Archer, who chases a wide tempter from Starc and is beaten. He plays and misses next ball too, though that time it was a beautiful delivery. Archer steals a single to mid-on to bring the deficit down into double figures.
“Watching Archer bowl (for the most part) and bat in this match, you can’t help but think what might have been without the injuries,” says Paul Lakin. “With all the talk of how England’s bowling attack lacks leaders and nous, I wonder what Archer might be like now, if he’d had four or five years sharing a pitch (and conversation) with Anderson and Broad.”
That last point is especially pertinent. But his career’s not over yet: he’ll be 32 when Australia arrive from the 2027 Ashes. And that, as anybody familiar with Wernham Hogg will tell you, is the real quiz.
Drinks: England trail by 101 runs
82nd over: England 270-8 (Stokes 81, Archer 48) Wow, what a start to Pat Cummins’ spell. His first ball is short and pulled almost dreamily for four by Stokes. Cummins responds with an absolute jaffa next up: it takes the inside edge, flies past leg stump for four more and knocks Stokes off his feet.
Stokes screws his face up in frustration at his inability to middle absolutely everything. The man’s an animal. And so is Cummins, who swevrves a cracking delivery past the edge and then has an LBW appeal agianst Stokes turned down. Too high but lovely bowling.
That second boundary from Stokes brought up the century partnership with Archer. This is fascinating stuff, an unyielding contest being played under the shadow of Headingley 2019 and Lord’s 2023. Australia will almost certainly win this game. But when Stokes is batting like this – if not quite in the zone then certainly in the same postcode – there are no guarantees.
“Maybe it’s pretty straightforward; it’s difficult to win in Australia,” writes Mike Morris. “They’re not the mid-noughties team but they’re handy. Atkinson, Carse, Bashir, Brook, Duckett and Smith are all out of nick. Wood’s injured.
“But the thing that’s made England compelling isn’t the fast scoring or the strokeplay, it’s the sense that you can’t write this team off ever. Nor, for that matter, are they ever home and hosed. They can lose eight wickets for 50 or chase 380 in the 4th innings. It’s never safe but it’s always possible...
“...until this tour, when each defeat has seemed grindingly inevitable. A year ago in this position I’d be thinking ‘England could get another 60-odd from the last two wickets, knock em over for 250, chase 350.’ This seems laughable now. I think the weird confidence of this England team has annoyed a lot of people, but I loved it and I miss it.”
Amen. What’s that old quote about Kim Hughes? “I most admired him because he had the courage and the ability not to become ordinary.”
For good and bad, there’s never been a team quite like them. They remind me a little of Kevin Keegan’s Newcastle, though I’d probably want to think more deeply about that comparison before airing it in a public forum.
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81st over: England 261-8 (Stokes 72, Archer 48) Batting allrounder Mitchell Starc, who is still hunting his first wicket of the game, takes the new ball. Archer is cut in half by a spectacular inswinger that somehow misses everything. He then survives an LBW appeal – missing leg – and plays and misses at a delivery that goes across with the angle. Lovely bowling.
“Ginger?” sniffs Mac Millings in reference to my comment in the 74th over. “You can only be classed as ‘ginger’ if you have actual hair.”
Are you there yet?
80th over: England 260-8 (Stokes 71, Archer 48) Archer guides Lyon for two and calmly plays out the rest of the over. The second new ball is due. And so, if you’re an England fan, is this old friend. There may only be the merest soupçon of hope, but that’s more than England had an hour ago.
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79th over: England 257-8 (Stokes 70, Archer 46) A gratuitous throw from backward point, possibly by Labuschagne, gives Archer an overthrow. When Green strays onto the pads later in the over, Archer flicks him fine for four.
Archer is four runs away from becoming only the third England No10 or 11 in the last 50 years to make a half-century against Australia. The others were Paul Allott at Old Trafford in 1981, a vital innings on debut, and Stuart Broad at the MCG in 2017-18.
78th over: England 250-8 (Stokes 68, Archer 41) Archer misses a big heave at a ball from Lyon that bounces over the stumps and runs away for three byes. There should only have been two really but Stokes forced the issue. Not for the first time, his blanket refusal to accept an apparently inevitable defeat brings a lump to the throat.
Later in the over Archer misses an attempted cut and Carey claims the ball up to the stumps. “Gotta review that, haven’t you?” deadpans Sir Alastair Cook on commentary.
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77th over: England 244-8 (Stokes 67, Archer 41) Two from Green’s over. Apologies, I’m struggling to keep up with play this morning for some reason. Getting barely four hours sleep probably has something to do with it.
Anyway, England have reduced the deficit to 125 runs. They are still just about in this game, but realistically they will struggle to chase much more than 200 agianst Nathan Lyon in the fourth innings.
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76th over: England 244-8 (Stokes 66, Archer 40) Stokes opens his legs and shows his class, hammering a reverse sweep over backward point for four. Lyon is getting pronounced turn, but it’s pretty slow off the pitch and England are stockpiling runs with relative ease. It must be a pretty hard watch for the top order, who could be filling their boots this morning.
“Hi Rob,” writes Onno Giler. “I for one am happy Niall brought up the 1997-98 season, as it was one of my favourite memories. I turned 8 and my father brought me to the only match I ever saw at Highbury. Gilles Grimandi scoring in a 1-0 win against Crystal Palace. Found out much later it was a key point in a Double-winning season, one of my best memories as an Arsenal fan.”
It was a really important goal, wasn’t it? I still have no idea whether he meant it.
75th over: England 239-8 (Stokes 61, Archer 40) Cam Green replaces Scott Boland and will do a bit of donkey work before the second new ball is available. Jofra Archer continues to defend with skill and common sense. He’s currently averaging 44 with the bat in this series, which puts him behind only Joe Root for England.
“Thank you for the clip (70th over)!” writes Sarah Bacon. “And a mahoosive fistbump to Dechlan Brennan for sharing it.”
74th over: England 237-8 (Stokes 60, Archer 39) “On the point about extreme heat, people also underrate its capacity to bring out the best/worst in cricketers,” writes Chris Paraskevas. “An old Australian folktale I heard as a kid was of the late great Dean Jones’ puking and cramping at Madras in ‘86 on account of using Solo to hydrate.
“Of course, this was just a relative embellishing a famous tale to warn of the perils of refined sugars and reinforce the importance of hydration on a long batting vigil, which is something I never really got to practice.
“Anyway, some years later for Summer Hill Cricket Club (at the lowest grade possible) I was batting against a team that only had five fielders. It was very hot and basically a dead rubber on a big suburban dustbowl, so I did the right thing and really went after the ‘bowling attack’ to bump my average up.
“A philosophical argument sparked between myself and the wicketkeeper. At one point we squared up and it was looking really dicey. And then, a miracle: he walked back to his mark, turned to the boundary and relieved himself right there on the pitch to gasps/laughter/scattered applause. What a wonderful game cricket is.”
Chris, it’s very generous of you to tell a story that evokes the days when England routinely won Ashes series home and away.
And on the heat, of course I agree they shouldn’t play when it is dangerous. I just have no idea where the safety threshold lies: for someone like me (pale, ginger, lived in Orkney for six years), 18 degrees is a stretch.
73rd over: England 234-8 (Stokes 59, Archer 38) Stokes threads Boland between extra cover and mid-off for four, a shot of the highest class. He’s denied another boundary Starc, who makes an outstanding sprawling stop at deep backward point.
England are still miles behind, 137 runs to be precise. But after Headingley 2019 and Lord’s 2023, Australia won’t feel truly comfortable in the box seat until they get rid of Stokes.
“The Black Caps are 419 for 3 against West Indies,” writes my erstwhile colleague Paul Cockburn. “Devon Conway has a double ton; Tom Latham hit three figures yesterday. Yes, it’s another match (and series) that’s only going to go one way, but at least everyone avoided the tragic levels of hype optimism in the build-up. I never understood how overrated the Ashes were until I moved here.”
You should have tried going to JJs in Sittingbourne on New Year’s Eve circa 1999.
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72nd over: England 226-8 (Stokes 51, Archer 37) Lyon tosses one up to Archer, who accepts the invitation and smokes an imperious six over wide long-on! Amid the ruins of this series, watching Jofra play Test cricket – and finally do justice to his batting talent – has been a joy.
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Snicko latest
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Fifty for Ben Stokes
71st over: England 218-8 (Stokes 50, Archer 31) Stokes touches Boland for a single to bring up a movingly defiant fifty from 159 balls. There’s no real celebration, just a sheepish raise of the bat.
Here’s a statgasm for you: the two slowest half-centuries of the entire Bazball era have been made by Stokes in the last two games: 159 balls here, 148 at Brisbane last week. Thanks to Yas Rana, host of the utterly brilliant Wisden podcast, for that.
“We have heard a lot of about Bazball’s man-management, which, even from an Aussie, seems really good and a long way from the days of 29 players in the 1989 Ashes,” writes Dechlan Brennan. “But do you think the handling of Bashir will impact him? Supported for two years and then discarded on wickets that cry out for a spinner. I don’t think it is Jacks’ fault he went for six an over, but I wonder if Bashir has been treated poorly and what the impacts will be for him.”
I think it’s a fiendishly complicated situation – lotta ins, lotta outs, lotta what-have-yous. More than anything it’s sad and, while it could impact him, England have to pick the team they think gives them the best chance of winning. I think they’ve handled it pretty well publicly (eg nobody has called him “unselectable”) but I’d also argue they made a mistake by not bringing Liam Dawson in the squad. Easy to say now; most of us were happy with the squad when it was announced.
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70th over: England 218-8 (Stokes 49, Archer 31) Nathan Lyon from the other end, with a slip and short leg in place for Archer. He gets some pronounced turn but Archer defends diligently and it’s a maiden.
In other news, thanks to Dechlan Brennan for sending in this video, as requested by Sarah Bacon.
69th over: England 218-8 (Stokes 49, Archer 31) Stokes couldn’t tee off last night due to cramp. How will he play it this morning? Just answer the question, Claire. By walking down the track to guide Boland through extra cover for four, that’s how. Gorgeous shot.
“The moaning is understandable,” says Niall Mullen. “Not because of anything inherent to Bazball but because the premature ending of the Ashes as a contest prolongs the winter misery and god knows we could do with any help in shortening it. That’s why I’m watching Premier League Years right now. It’s 1997-98. Roy Keane has just injured his knee at Leeds and Alf-Inge Haaland seems to be trying to console him. That’s nice.”
You bring that season up, on today of all days? You [redacted].
Enough talk, Scott Boland is about to bowl the first over of day three. It’s much cooler in Adelaide, around 26 degrees.
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“Honestly, it’s not England’s batting – that’s pretty much on par with Australia’s,” writes Andy Roberts. “The glaring difference is the bowling. If Australian batters look better, it’s because they are getting a lot more bad balls to hit. England couldn’t score any faster yesterday because the bowling was consistently accurate and tested the batter’s technique and concentration over after over, with no weak links. Compare that to England, with Jacks and Carse sending down rubbish time and time again.
“Carse looks like he wouldn’t get a game in the Sheffield Shield. If Australia’s batters were facing the Australian bowling attack, you’d probably see a lot of them with lower scores and averages too. The only English bowler who really tests batters consistently is Archer, despite the fluctuations in his speeds. Thoughts?”
I kind of agree, though I do think England have batted poorly as well and I would argue the most important passage of play in the series remains that collapse on the second afternoon at Perth. Brydon Carse’s performances have had me scratching my big bald noggin. I did various graveyard shifts a year ago when England won in New Zealand and he was fantastic: hostile, accurate, penetrative and skilful. Will Jacks is slightly different as he just isn’t a Test spinner.
“Will you ever give your opinion about just how dangerous it is to play in that heat?” adds Julian Menz.
I’m rapidly forming an opinion on something.
“I have mentioned this to you and fellow OBO journalists, and I have brought the issue up on various other platforms…” says Julian Menz. “I fully get why the issue is hidden/ignored, but playing hour after hour in dangerous heat is not only perilous to the players’ health short term, it is potentially life-threatening. I would appreciate it if you could open up the issue to the OBO readers.”
We can’t publish every email, and it wasn’t a deliberate decision to ignore you. I think play would have been stopped yesterday had the temperature reaches a certain level, and the ECB have an extreme heat guidance for the recreational game. I can’t comment on the minutiae of that guidance because I don’t know the subject well enough. (Insert your own joke here.)
Tanya Aldred wrote this on the subject in 2022.
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For Nathan Lyon it had been a case of wait and wait and wait. It was 6 July this year when he took a return catch from Jayden Seales, wrapping up the second Test against West Indies in Grenada with his career worth 562 Test wickets. Right behind Glenn McGrath’s 563, Lyon might have anticipated a week before moving to second place on the all-time Australian list, an off-spinner of modest flair and self-belief sitting behind the market leader in both those traits, Shane Warne.
Instead, Lyon was left out in Jamaica, spitting plantain chips even as Australia’s four quicks humbled West Indies for 143 and 27. That meant four and a half more months until the next Test, the start of the Ashes in Perth. Never mind, he could pass McGrath in front of a home crowd. Nope. Two overs in the first innings, none in the second, England folding twice too quickly to need a spinner. Then to Brisbane, an angry Lyon left out for four quicks again.
He was back for Adelaide, but more waiting was imminent. Australia batted first. The second day was a stinker. A heartbreaker. A backbreaker. A bowler-breaker. The gauge nudged above 40, but the lived experience was well beyond numbers. The sun bit. It clawed. It was so hot that spectating in the shade with a cold drink was taxing.
The only contest was about which group of people were more mad: the cricketers in the middle, or the group of New Zealanders on the hill dressed as traffic cones. One lot were paid handsomely and looked after by medical professionals, the other were presumably rolled out of their tubes of fluorescent sweaty foam at the end of the day in a slurry of human sous vide.
There’s been a lot of moaning in the last 24 hours. A helluva lot. In fact, I’m pretty sure I heard some of it while I was trying to get to sleep at the end of yesterday’s play.
This series has been a thundering disappointment, NQAT. I still think that, while the Bazball era is coming to an end, it would be unfair and a bit dumb to lose sight of how much joy they have given us. All my life I wanted England to play Pakistan. In the last three and a half years, for richer and poorer, they have.
They’re the most attacking batting line-up in Test history, which counts for plenty even if has been accompanied by several costly brainfarts, and in the last 50 years only three England captains – Brearley, Vaughan and Strauss – have a better win/loss ratio than Ben Stokes.
On reflection, there have been two phases of Bazball.
2022-23 P18 W13 D1 L4 (win/loss ratio 3.25)
2024-25 P25 W12 D1 L12 (w/l 1.00)
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“Yesterday I saw a very entertaining clip of Beefy, Merv Hughes and anors watching Nathan Lyon’s sensational wicket-snaffling over,” write Sarah Bacon. “Their reactions were ... priceless. Unfortunately, it seems to have vanished from my ‘socials’ so if you, pretty please, can find it, this Aussie-in-Ingerland would be very grateful.”
Can anyone help? I’m not great with socials, I’m afraid, but can I interest you in some comedy cricket aggro from 1997?
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It’s a cruel, cruel summer. By the close of play in Adelaide, on the kind of superheated afternoon when just going outside basically involves setting fire to your own hair, it was clear this was the day the music finally died for England’s Ashes tour; even if that music has long since faded, like the tinkle of a haunted pianola in an empty house.
The start of day two had presented a familiar challenge. Here was another occasion where it was necessary to bat properly. And yes, it is always this day. The bat properly day. Do it. Do the batting. The proper batting. By now this seems to raise some very basic existential questions.
What is properly? What is batting? And what is this England team, when even losing a Test match seems to involve doing so without the qualities that were supposed to make it win: no panache, no boldness, no energy? There are only two things wrong with this England team. They can’t Baz. And they can’t ball.
On a sweltering second day in the so-called city of churches, faith appeared to evaporate. Faith in technology, certainly, a sentiment shared by both sets of players. But for England there was a broader loss of belief in their attacking philosophy after having it systematically dismantled by Australia.
This could have been the day that England finally made a statement with the bat in this Ashes series. It was a 40C (104F) furnace out in the middle for the bowlers, the breeze akin to a hairdryer. And the pitch, bone dry, had none of the bounce that proved England’s undoing during those sorry defeats in Perth and Brisbane.
And yet by stumps they had crawled to 213 for eight from 68 overs, still 158 behind, and a 3-0 scoreline in Australia’s favour was loading. Ben Stokes was unbeaten on 45 after three hours of bullish defiance but only one captain glowed with authority. Pat Cummins had led a remarkable display of bowling by the hosts with figures of three for 54 on a stellar comeback.
Indeed, for all the talk of England’s problems with the bat – and minds are now seemingly scrambled – the biggest difference has surely been with the ball. Even with key men missing Australia have been relentless all series and here, despite the sapping heat, they stuck their guests in a straitjacket of nagging lines and lengths, extracting every shred of movement on offer.
Preamble
Never mind the Christmas Test and the Boxing Day Test, the 2025-26 Ashes has become cricket’s equivalent of a New Year’s Eve night out. We’ve all been there, when the expectation of a classic night out gives way to the the reality of anti-climax and infighting. Given that every New Year’s Eve night out/England tour to Australia tends to follow the same pattern, we were thunderingly naive to think this would be any different.
This should be the midpoint of the series, the third day of the third Test. It was supposed to be 1-1, with both teams brawling for supremacy at Adelaide. Instead Australia are poised to go up 3-0 with two game to play for the sixth time in the last seven home series. Or, to put it another way, it’s 10pm on New Year’s Eve, the party’s clearing out but you’re stuck chatting to some clown with a kazoo and a bottle of 12% ABV product. Plus ça effing change.
England will resume on 213 for 8, still 158 runs behind, after succumbing to a merciless and forensic bowling performance from Australia on day two. They’ve recovered from even more precarious positions in the Bazball era, most notably at Edgbaston in 2022, but that was before their spirit had been crushed by the unique strains of an Ashes tour – and the near impossible challenge of beating Australia on their own patch.
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