Ashes 2025-26: Australia Aim To Seal Series Against Bruised England.

Hosts Australia will aim to seal the Ashes series and retain the urn with 2 games to spare when they lock horns in Test Match Number 3 of 5 at the Adelaide Oval in South Australia. The match is set to commence from Wednesday 17th December, 2025 from 5:00 AM IST onwards. Australia have gone 2-0 ahead after playing just 6 days across two Test matches. The first one at the Optus Stadium was done and dusted in two days and the Brisbane Pink Ball Test was done in 4 days.

Australia welcome back their regular skipper Pat Cummins back into the playing XI alongside veteran spinner Nathan Lyon. The Aussies have already named their Playing XI with these two notable inclusions in place of unlucky Michael Neser and Brendan Doggett as they miss out despite doing well. The big talking point for many was the exclusion of Usman Khawaja despite being available for selection but Cummins said his career is not over and remains in the scheme of things.

England named their XI earlier than Australia and they made only one change to their line-up with Joshua Tongue replacing Gus Atkinson. Otherwise, their batting remains the same as previous Tests and Will Jacks gets a nod ahead of Shoaib Bashir on a pitch that may suit the spinners. The stage is set for an interesting contest one hopes between the two teams.

Overview. 

So, the stage is set for the 3rd Ashes Test to get underway off 5 as Australia and England are set to lock horns at the iconic Adelaide Oval in South Australia from 17th December, 2025. Australia are 2-0 up in the series and are well poised to drive home the advantage and seal the series 3-0 with two games to spare. With their regular skipper Pat Cummins back in the side, Australia will be stronger, but England won’t give up and must fight till tooth and nail.

Australia came to the Gabba for the Pink Ball Test, 1-0 up and buoyed with confidence. England won another toss on a beautiful day and batted first to post 334 in the first innings on the back of a splendid ton from Joe Root his first in Australia and 40th overall. He remained  unbeaten on 138 off 206 balls and with Zak Crawley also chipping in with 76 runs. Jofra Archer made a good cameo of 38 runs off 36 balls. Mitchell Starc picked up 6 wickets.

In reply, a combined batting effort from Australia led by Mitchell Starc’s 77, Jake Weatherald’s 72, Marnus Labuschagne’s 65 and Steve Smith’s 61 alongside Alex Carey’s 63 and handy contributions from others where everyone reached double figures took Australia’s total to 511 and a lead of 177 runs in the first innings. Brydon Carse got 4 wickets and Ben Stokes got 3 wickets. England in their second innings lost the plot under lights losing wickets at regular intervals.

People got starts and got out and that’s been the problem for England so far. Ben Stokes with his 50 and Will Jacks with his 41 showed resistance as they frustrated the Aussies a little bit. But Australia managed to breakthrough with Michael Neser picking up a 5-wicket haul and Mitchell Starc and Scott Boland picking 2 wickets apiece. Chasing 65 for the win, Australia came out all guns blazing. They were in a hurry to finish things off and thereby lost a couple of wickets in the process.

Travis Head made 22 off 22 balls while Marnus Labuschagne was dismissed cheaply. Jake Weatherald remained unbeaten on 17 off 23 balls but it was Steve Smith who made a statement to Jofra Archer who was trying to sledge him and made unbeaten 23 off 9 balls with the winning maximum as well as Australia got over the line by 8 wickets the same margin that the Perth Test concluded albeit inside two days that was.

Both teams have announced their Playing XI. Australia named theirs 24 hours prior to the match, while England went further naming it 48 hours prior to the match. For Australia, they welcome back their regular skipper Pat Cummins back alongside Nathan Lyon as they replace Michael Neser and Brendan Doggett. The big talking point was no Usman Khawaja despite being 100% fit but Pat Cummins said his career is not over and he will be in the scheme of things.

For England, they have kept the batting line-up same. They have made one change where Joshua Tongue comes into the side in place of Gus Atkinson. No place for specialist spinner Shoaib Bashir despite this being a spin friendly surface as England are afraid of their batting and requires batting depth. So, the stage is set with Australia starting as favourites but cannot take England likely because Adelaide conditions might suit the English players and their style more.

Head-To-Head. 

Australia and England have featured in 363 matches so far with Australia winning 154 of them while England has won 112 of them. 97 matches have ended in Draws. In recent times as well, it has been all Australia and in last 17 games in Australia it is Australia who have won 15 while 2 matches has ended in a draw.

Pitch & Weather Report. 

The pitch at the Adelaide Oval may not be a batting paradise. However, given the history, it will provide joy. Pace bowlers will be in the contest especially with the new ball. One can expect there will be enough in it for bat and ball. Spinners will come into this contest late on when the surface gets older.

According to the weather forecast, no rain is expected across all 5 days of this clash. Temperatures will hover around 41 degrees Celsius on Day 1. Days 2 and 3 will be around 30 degrees Celsius. Day 4 and 5 will be cooler with temperatures being 25 degrees Celsius and 22 degrees Celsius respectively. Expect an uninterrupted Test match from the start.

Announced Playing XIs of both sides. 

Both teams have announced their playing XIs and here it is as follows:

Australia XI: Travis Head, Jake Weatherald, Marnus Labuschagne, Steve Smith, Cameron Green, Alex Carey (wk), Josh Inglis, Pat Cummins (c), Mitchell Starc, Nathan Lyon, Scott Boland.

England XI: Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Harry Brook, Ben Stokes (c), Jamie Smith (wk), Will Jacks, Brydon Carse, Jofra Archer, Josh Tongue.

Key Players to watch out for in this clash. 

Travis Head: Travis Head has got the opening slot yet again and would like to cement their position at the top of the order. He got starts in Adelaide and will want to kick on from this position. He has been in decent form and got a spectacular ton in Perth run chase. Australia will be hoping Head gets going as he can change the complexion of the game and take the game away from England.

Mitchell Starc: Mitchell Starc has been on a roll and has 18 wickets to his name in 4 innings 2 Test matches. He was leading the young attack in Perth and Brisbane. He will have the services of his skipper and bowling partner Pat Cummins back. Starc will want to continue his good form and terrorise England with his performance. If Starc is on song, England will feel the heat in Adelaide for sure. There is nothing like bowling rhythm and Starc will want to carry his good work going.

Joe Root: England’s best batter Joe Root has got the monkey off his back with a superb ton in Brisbane as that was his first on Australian soil. Now, that he has got that away, Root will want to score more tons and get onto the form that he is known for. If England are to stage an unlikely comeback, Root has to lead the batting revival. If he gets tons of runs, England may have a chance, otherwise they will struggle.

Jofra Archer: England’s spearhead with the ball Jofra Archer will be the man to watch out for the visitors. Archer breathed fire in the second innings in his verbal spat with Smith. Can he channel that into performances remains to be seen? Archer has bowled well but in patches and will search for consistency from here on. He will also want to be physically fit and not break down as the next 3 Tests are relatively back-to-back matches. So, Archer has a point to prove.

Key Stats/Records to watch out for in this clash. 

• Since England’s innings victory at Adelaide in December 2010, Australia’s record at the venue has been formidable, with 12 wins out of 14 subsequent Tests, and a solitary defeat, against India in 2018.
• In the Ashes, Australia have won 19 and lost 9 of their 33 Tests at Adelaide, including each of their last three.
• Australia got into the third Test with a 2-0 lead for the fourth Ashes series in a row, and for the sixth time in seven campaigns, dating back to 2002-03.
• Nathan Lyon with 562 Test wickets needs two more to go past the tally of Glenn McGrath, into second place on Australia’s all-time wicket-takers list, behind only Shane Warne who has 708 Test wickets.
• Ben Duckett needs 64 runs to reach 3000. He will be playing in his 41st Test match.

Predicted/Possible Outcome of the Match. 

It is tough to predict a winner in a cricket match especially Tests. England will come back hard at Australia as it is now or never for them. But Aussies have been bolstered with the inclusion of Pat Cummins and Nathan Lyon. So, taking everything into consideration, we reckon Australia as favourites and backing them to seal the series with 2 games to spare. England can surprise them and if they finally turn up, we can have a great Test match.

Let’s see how things unfold in Chapter 3 of Ashes 2025-26.

Also Read: Ashes 2025-26: Josh Hazlewood Ruled Out Of Ashes With Achilles Injury