The Ashes 2025/26 | Australia vs England | Third Test Preview and Predictions

Beaten, battered, bruised, you name it and the damage has been felt by England in the opening two Tests of the ongoing Ashes Series 2025/26 with the hosts Australia hammering England in the first two Tests to go 2-0 up. England have their backs up against the wall and know that they need to win to keep the Ashes alive.

Ahead of the third Ashes Test of the 2025/26 series between Australia and England in Adelaide, here’s our match preview and predictions. 

The Ashes 2025/26 | 3rd Test | 05:00 IST, December 17–21, 2025

After a nightmare in Perth, the batters had some respite in Brisbane although the English batters faced the wrath of Mitchell Starc once again as the veteran pacer has been in red-hot form and sits with 18 wickets in the series after only two games. 

After a shaky opening Test with the bat, the Australian batting lineup fired in unison at Brisbane with the entire batting unit and Mitchell Starc at No.9 getting a good amount of runs and spending time in the middle. The biggest positives with the bat, Australia will take is the fact that Jake Weatherald and Marnus Labuschange both got runs after a lean phase for the latter. The hosts have revealed their playing XI with Pat Cummins and Nathan Lyon coming in for the medium pace duo of Michael Nesser and Brendan Doggett, with Cummins and Lyon set to play their first game of the ongoing Ashes series. Cummins and Lyon coming in will bolster the bowling attack with Lyon expected to get good purchase from a wicket that has assisted spinners. 

England have also announced their XI for the third Test with Josh Tongue getting a game in place of Gus Atkinson while the remaining squad remains the same. The top order of Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett and Ollie Pope need to find runs with Crawley getting a substantial start in Brisbane but being unable to continue. Joe Root got the monkey off his back in Brisbane, scoring his first-ever century in Australia and Root finding form and runs early on in the series will be a happy sight for captain Ben Stokes and coach Brendon McCullum. On either side of Root, there has been no support with Ben Stokes’ fighting 50 being the only valuable contribution from the middle and lower order in the series yet. 

The Adelaide strip is known to be a spin friendly wicket hence England going ahead without a front-line spinner does raise a few eyebrows. England have Will Jacks, Joe Root and Ollie Pope who will be their key spinners with the front-line attack of Jofra Archer, Brydon Carse, Josh Tongue and Jamie Smith making up the pace attack. Carse and Stokes have both been amongst the wickets but the lack of wickets for their star pacer Jofra Archer, will also be a worrying cause for the English camp.

The Adelaide ground has always been assistive to spinners, which is why Nathan Lyon is being brought in and it will also be one where batters can dig in and score big. The English opening pair have a lot of scrutiny on them but with the amount of games they have played together, it will be a strip that suits them. While it might not be as one-sided as the opening two games, Australia start as the favourites once again although it should be a much closer game.

Fantasy XI: Ben Duckett, Travis Head, Steve Smith (c), Joe Root, Harry Brooks, Cameron Green, Alex Carey (wk), Ben Stokes, Mitchell Starc (vc), Jofra Archer, Nathan Lyon

Venue: Adelaide Oval, Adelaide

Winners Prediction: Australia