Men in bibs scamper out to the middle to give the players a bit of sustenance in the heat. Speaking of sustenance… time for coffee.
Josh Tongue thinks he has Alex Carey caught behind — the umpire is unmoved, but England go straight upstairs. It’s gone well under the bat, but there’s a huge spike on the Snicko when the ball is well short of Carey. Strange one, and he survives on 72.
You could argue that Inglis’s dismissal was the first one of the day that wasn’t really batsman error (Elizabeth Ammon writes). A lovely fuller delivery by Josh Tongue pushed Inglis back and he dragged on. Tongue can be a bit leaky but he is a wicket-taker and attacking the stumps in that way with a fuller length is the way to go.
GARETH COPLEY/GETTY IMAGES
A chance to attend a big occasion
If you haven’t managed to make it to Australia for this series, you do have the opportunity to attend the 150th Ashes anniversary Test between Australia and England at the MCG in March 2027 (Elizabeth Ammon writes). The ticket ballot opens on December 23 — you need to register your details on the Cricket Australia website.
It is a day-night Test — I know Mike Atherton feels strongly that it shouldn’t be, because almost all of the matches in the 150-year history of Test cricket have been played during the day, and such an occasion should reflect that.
There’s the breakthrough! Josh Inglis is out for 32, and Josh Tongue has his first wicket. He can’t get his hands down in time and chops down onto the stumps.
Pat Cummins comes out to bat to a huge ovation — the home crowd are very happy to see their captain back.
Time for ‘The Mop’ Tongue to go to work…
Catching letting England down
After dropping five catches in Brisbane, the focus has been as much on England’s out-cricket as their bowling, on a hot day when the mercury has touched 36C (Mike Atherton writes).
There was a brilliant catch early on by Zak Crawley, one-handed low to his left, to get rid of Travis Head which gave everyone a lift in the opening hour. But Harry Brook dropped a relatively straightforward catch at second slip when Usman Khawaja had made five and Brydon Carse put a very difficult catch down at extra cover when Alex Carey was on 52.
Carse’s was a very tough chance; Khawaja’s miss a costly one. The pitch is dry and good, and Australia have only once been bowled out in day Tests in Adelaide for below 400 in their first innings in the last 25 years. So every chance becomes vital. Will Jacks has found a little bit of turn, which will no doubt become accentuated over the next few days with the temperature expected to reach 39C on the second day.
Brook shelled Khawaja early on in his innings
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Adelaide is one of my top five grounds —and the birthplace of the Barmy Army
It is an iconic venue that pays homage to its past — and where, 37 years ago, Mike Atherton played as England Under-19 skipper on my first visit to Australia.
Read Mike’s full piece on his affection for this ground.
MARK BRAKE – CA/CRICKET AUSTRALIA VIA GETTY IMAGES
From 11 innings where Australia have won the toss and batted first at Adelaide since 2000, their average innings score is 512 for 8 (Elizabeth Ammon writes).
In 2010, they were bowled out for under 300 by England having won the toss and batted first but that was the only time since 1951 they’ve scored less than 300 batting first.
Alex Carey is now Australia’s leading Test run-scorer in 2025.
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Jofra Archer holds the key
England’s fast bowler may be an undemonstrative personality, but his character and versatility have earned praise from Ben Stokes as he prepared to take new ball with Brydon Carse.
Read Simon Wilde’s full piece on why Archer, who has taken three wickets so far today, is best placed to be the leader England’s attack needs.
Plenty of fans have made their way down to the Adelaide Oval today, with huge queues early doors. It looks a really lovely setting.
AMER GHAZZAL/SHUTTERSTOCK
AMER GHAZZAL/SHUTTERSTOCK
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Steve Smith is the big story
There has been plenty of drama on the field, but also no shortage off it either, with Steve Smith withdrawing from the game about 75 minutes before the start with a vertigo-related illness, a condition that has affected him before (Simon Wilde writes).
Usman Khawaja was the beneficiary, summoned to take part when less than 24 hours earlier it seemed his Test career might be over. He was walking out to bat two hours later with his side in trouble. He ought to have been caught by Harry Brook but that was his only let-off over three hours. It was a free hit for him of sorts, because if he had failed no one would have blamed him, but he took his chance on the eve of his 39th birthday.
GARETH COPLEY/GETTY IMAGES
Will Jacks has got a couple to turn in between some absolute fluff (Elizabeth Ammon writes). He’s doing fine, and finger spin in Australia is really hard, which is why Nathan Lyon’s record is so impressive.
This is a dry pitch, and Lyon will very much enjoy bowling on it particularly as England have come round the wicket so much creating a nice hole for him to target — Starc also left-arm over which will exacerbate that.
This is a flat, very dry pitch, and Australia have absolutely gifted their wickets today but it’s going to be tough going now with the ball 53 overs old and very soft.
It’s a blinding day in Adelaide — 34C and wall-to-wall sunshine. It’s 4C here in southeast London. Not envious.
A mixed day for Cameron Green…
Cameron Green got out in a horribly soft way, chipping tamely to midwicket, but he’s had a pretty good 24 hours after becoming the most expensive ever overseas signing in IPL history (Elizabeth Ammon writes).
He was picked up in yesterday’s IPL auction by KKR for £2.1million, although, bizarrely, he will only get about £1.6 million of that because the IPL have capped how much overseas players can get in the mini-auctions that take place for the couple of years in between the mega auctions. The rest of the money that Kolkata Knight Riders paid for him will go into a pot for player welfare for Indian players.
Jofra Archer gets Carey on the pads and implores the umpire for lbw, but nothing doing. It’s sent upstairs by Stokes but ball tracking shows it was going over the top of leg stump.
Fifty comes up for Alex Carey, his 15th in Test cricket. The Australians are massively short of par here so far today, and they need a big score from him. Seventy-five balls and four fours.
Steve Smith dropping out means a bit of a crazy stat has come to light (Elizabeth Ammon writes).
This is the first Ashes Test since Sydney in January 2007, which doesn’t feature one of Steve Smith or Stuart Broad.
England will be delighted to have taken five wickets by tea on a broiling day in Adelaide that seems tailor-made for batting (Simon Wilde writes). To be honest, this return flatters them, because the bowling has been mixed. Jofra Archer has been outstanding, giving away little, but Brydon Carse, his new-ball partner, poor. All the seamers except Archer have been too wayward to mount serious pressure and England looked stuck for ideas while Usman Khawaja shared stands of 61 with Marnus Labuschagne and 91 with Alex Carey. That said, things could have been far better had Harry Brook not put down Khawaja five runs into his innings of 82.
Australia have been unusually generous with their wickets. Jake Weatherald, it is becoming clear, has some flaws in his method against pace, but Travis Head played a loose shot to be well caught by Zak Crawley at short cover. Labuschagne can never have got out more softly than he did to the first ball after lunch, chipping to short midwicket, and two balls later Cameron Green clipped idly to the same fielder. England will be pleased that Will Jacks has worked his way into the game. By spinning a couple, he created the pressure that led to Khawaja’s wicket.
Jofra Archer takes two quick wickets after lunch
The first ball after lunch brought the very tame dismissal of Marnus Labuschagne, chipping to Brydon Carse at mid-wicket.
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And two balls later, a very similar dismissal.
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Enable cookiesAllow cookies onceUsman Khawaja dropped on five…
Harry Brook couldn’t keep hold of a flashed shot by Khawaja, who went on to make 82.
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Enable cookiesAllow cookies onceJake Weatherald falls early
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Plenty has happened in Adelaide so far today… Some rather ropey bowling has managed to take five Australian wickets, but they’ve been rather frittered away.
The pick of the action so far was a stunning catch from Zak Crawley to dismiss Travis Head.
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Hello and welcome to the Times’ live coverage of the third Ashes Test from the Adelaide Oval. After a rotten first two games in Perth and Brisbane, England arrive here needing a win to keep the series alive.
They’re up against a fearsome Australian bowling attack, with the captain Pat Cummins and off-spinner Nathan Lyon returning to the side as the hosts look to retain the Ashes and win the series with two games to spare. The big news, however, is the absence of Steve Smith, who’s dropped out with vertigo issues, and has been replaced by Usman Khawaja.
Stay tuned for analysis and updates from our team down under.
Steve Smith’s absence is the big news from Adelaide today. Simon Wilde has the details here.
England XI
Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Harry Brook, Ben Stokes (capt), Jamie Smith (wk), Will Jacks, Brydon Carse, Jofra Archer, Josh Tongue.
Australia XI
Travis Head, Jake Weatherald, Marnus Labuschagne, Usman Khawaja, Cameron Green, Alex Carey (wk), Josh Inglis, Pat Cummins (capt), Nathan Lyon, Scott Boland.