3rd Ashes Test: Australia v England @ Adelaide Oval Dec 17-21, 2025

[undertaker]

350 lead
3 overs left today

Id go 500+ lead before we declare if we are still batting

Belt them into the dirt, plenty of time to bowl them out

Its a great batting deck, dont want to give them any sniff or moral victory lol

We can set attacking fields longer without surrendering or being cowards

As I said earlier, with this test being a MUST-WIN for England in order to keep the Ashes series alive, they're going to go all out in the 4th innings, regardless of if the target is 400, 500 or 600. It will make no sense for England to bat for the draw in this situation, and allow Australia to retain the Ashes as a result of a weak surrender.

Furthermore, in the 1 in 100 or so chance that the Bazball strategy - which relies very heavily on flat pitches in order for it to work - were to successfully come off in a big run chase in Australia, Adelaide Oval is the venue for it to happen: the most batter-friendly test pitch (excluding pink-ball tests) in the country, not to mention the short 60 metre square boundaries on both sides of the pitch that can be peppered for 4s and 6s with consummate ease. Australia doesn't want to get too over-confident and do an early declaration tomorrow (reminds me of Adam Gilchrist at Headingley 2001), given that England scored 592 @ 5.49 runs/over against the trio of Starc/Cummins/Hazlewood during the 2023 Ashes test at Old Trafford. From the current team, Crawley/Duckett/Root/Brook/Stokes played in that test. So, there's a slight glimmer of hope for England if Australia gets complacent and leaves their guard down.

 

[TheParraboy]

As I said earlier, with this test being a MUST-WIN for England in order to keep the Ashes series alive, they're going to go all out in the 4th innings, regardless of if the target is 400, 500 or 600. It will make no sense to bat for the draw in this situation, being 2-0 down and allow Australia to retain the Ashes as a result of a weak surrender.

Furthermore, in the 1 in 100 or so chance that the Bazball strategy were to successfully come off in a big run chase in Australia, Adelaide Oval is the venue for it to happen: the most batter-friendly test venue (excluding pink-ball tests) in the country, not to mention the short 60 metre square boundaries on both sides of the pitch that can be peppered for 4s and 6s with consummate ease. Australia doesn't want to get too over-confident and do an early declaration tomorrow (reminds me of Adam Gilchrist at Headingley 2001), given that England scored 592 @ 5.49 runs/over against the trio of Starc/Cummins/Hazlewood during the 2023 Ashes test at Old Trafford. From the current team, Crawley/Duckett/Root/Brook/Stokes played in that test. So, there's definitely the potential if Australia gets complacent and leaves their guard down.

oh 100%

Current lead 356

Need to be batting well after lunch tomorrow

 

[undertaker]

ROFL @ Piss Morgan:

 

[roboshark]

Player of the series

Starc
Carey
Head

I will go Starc just due to his bowling when we need it most in first 2 tests. The other 2 have a good shout as well

 

[JJ]

Player of the series

Starc
Carey
Head

I will go Starc just due to his bowling when we need it most in first 2 tests. The other 2 have a good shout as well

It’s not close, Starc by the length of the straight

 

[Fangs]

Has to be Starc. His work in the first two tests with the ball was massive in an under-manned attack. Also more than handy with the bat too.

Wisden cricketer of the year? Gotta be close.

 

[Twizzle]

 

[undertaker]

Think Khawaja goes after these ashes. Still think Renshaw (30 in March) be his best replacement

Todd Murphy (25yo) is a direct replacement for Lyon, that should happen over the next couple of years id imagine. Thats probably least of our problems

The pace bowling cartel could be a worry, but Cummins will be around for a bit

Pretty sure they ear marked Lance Morris at one point, who is express, but he is out all season injured


A fit Jhye Richardson (29yo) is test standard IMO, but the bloke breaks down regularly and randomly. I wouldnt discount him just yet

2026/27 summer 4 test kiwi series is pretty crucial. It leads into the 5 test indian series and ashes - both away

Cam Green may been to bowl like a front line bowler if we dont bring the next crew up...

- Agree with you that Khawaja is gorrrrrrrrrrne after this Ashes series has finished.

- I would've also said Todd Murphy being Lyon's replacement until I watched the Sri Lankan tour earlier this year. Kuhnemann has replaced Murphy in the pecking order as Lyon's successor, and was far more threatening bowling to the right-handers. Kuhnemann's only 29, so he's still got time on his side. Haven't been paying much close attention to any upcoming spinners in Sheffield Shield who could make a claim at test selection once Lyon is finished.

- The pace bowling cartel is the biggest worry due to the age. They are the engine room of the team. As great as Hazlewood has been over the past decade, his body is breaking down with injuries (missed this Ashes series, and only played one test in the last home Ashes four years ago). Boland and Neser are also near the end of the road with their careers. It will be a hell of a responsibility for Cummins as captain once he no longer has Starc/Hazlewood/Boland/Neser to call on and they retire within the space of 1-2 years of each other, which is why George Bailey et al. needed to address this issue a couple of summers ago.

- Jhye Richardson was great until he dislocated his shoulder just before the 2019 ICC World Cup. Has never been the same since. Like Chris Lynn, reluctant to dive or target the ball aggressively in the field like he did pre-injury. Also, how fragile the shoulder is was clearly demonstrated after he injured it giving a high-five to a teammate!

- 15 tests crammed into 7 months, starting from August next year: 2 vs Bangladesh (home), 3 vs South Africa (away), 4 vs New Zealand (home), 5 vs India (away), and finishing off with the 150th anniversary test (home). Also, a one-off test is scheduled vs Afghanistan (home) in the 2023-2027 ICC future tours programme, but extremely doubtful it will happen due to Cricket Australia's current stance on Afghanistan. They don't want to play them outside of official ICC tournaments.

 

[undertaker]

ROFL at Beefy Botham's reaction.

The guy must be mentally tortured from watching the dross the Poms have dished out so far

 

[Desert Qlder]

Carey the first wicket keeper to score a century and half century in the same test.

Chance to make that two tons of course.

A unique piece of history.

 

[undertaker]

Carey the first wicket keeper to score a century and half century in the same test.

Chance to make that two tons of course.

A unique piece of history.

A shame that Tony Greig is no longer with us....

If this was 20+ years ago and Carey does produce the two centuries in the same test feat, he would've spruiked it ad nauseum throughout Channel 9's cricket coverage as 'must have memorabilia'.

 

[undertaker]

Carey the first wicket keeper to score a century and half century in the same test.

Chance to make that two tons of course.

A unique piece of history.

Well, I hope Cummins does give Carey the chance to score the century, unlike what happened in New Zealand last year.

In three decades of watching cricket, that 98* from Carey in Christchurch is one of the best individual Australian batting performances in a successful 4th innings run chase I've ever seen.

 

[mozza91]

f**k I love Head.

 

[mozza91]

On a Sven with the boys. Made a vow to not sleep until the Test ends. Let’s get it to day 5 I want a challenge.

 

[butchmcdick]

ROFL at Beefy Botham's reaction.

The guy must be mentally tortured from watching the dross the Poms have dished out so far

 

[t-ba]

Bat through.

I want these merkins done slloooowwww.

 

[DJDL]

ROFL @ Piss Morgan:

In fairness, he's not far wrong.
The batting lineup has done nothing, save for a couple of innings from Head.
And Starc is the only bowler we've had until this test when Cummins came back.

Luckily for us, England are inconceivably poor.

Watching this series, I fear for the future of test cricket.
There's really only us, the Poms and England who have been any good at it over the past decade.
England's youth are showing they are no longer up to the task.
And the young ones coming through for us look well short of the mark as well.

I fear we a reaping what we've sown with the overabundance of T20 the past 20 years.

 

[Twizzle]

these 2 crow eaters go OK

 

[Twizzle]

 

[mozza91]

Bat till just after lunch. This Pom side don’t have the ability to last 5 sessions with the bat especially on day 4 and 5.