Catch our ball-by-ball coverage, the scorecard, and full stats from the third Ashes Test here.
"This Ashes just continues to give," were the words from the legendary Harshal Bhogle just before this match came to an end. We could not have said it any better, as these two teams have kept everyone on the edge of their seats.
England again, for the fifth time in a row, win at Headingley, batting second. Australia leads the series 2-1 now with two to play. Can England come back from nowhere and steal this series?
Through all four days of this match, even if there were just over two hours of play on day three, either team could win this series-defining Test.
Australia were bowled out for a moderate 263 in the first innings after reaching 240-4. Their last six wickets fell for just 23 runs within an hour of play, which might have been the match's turning point. Mitch Marsh notched up a valuable hundred in his first match of the series.
England were rattled up front in their first innings when they were reduced to 87-5 before the 25th over. Stokes, Moeen and Wood somewhat rescued the innings and got England into a position of just 26 runs behind.
Australia’s second innings was interrupted by a lengthy rain delay for most of the third day. England began to tick away at the wickets when they eventually got going on 116-4 on day three. Head gave England a taste of what Stokes usually does, but once he got out for 77, Australia were all out for 224 setting England a target of 251 to win.
Duckett and Crawley got England off to the perfect start with a partnership of 42 before Duckett was trapped LBW by Starc. Starc struck again shortly after getting Duckett to remove the experiment of Moeen Ali at three.
Crawley (44) and Root (21) were next to depart leaving England on 131/4 still needing 120 runs to get. Stokes walked in with an air of expectation but he was unable to contribute as much as he and the Headingley crowd would have liked. Bairstow continued with his nightmare in this series when he was knocked over by Starc for just 5.
England still needed 80 runs to win when Woakes walked in to join Brook, the rock of the innings. The pair got settled in and started to knock off the runs required in their own quiet manner. Woakes played a very determined innings making sure he stuck around with Brook, who was able to hit the ball to all parts with relative ease.
It would not be this Ashes series without twists in the tale. Starc picked up his fifth wicket of the innings when he got Brook to top edge a short ball towards Cummins at mid-off. The fall of his wicket left England needing 21 runs still to win.
Enter Mark Wood once more! He smashed a vital 24 off just eight balls in the first innings and was able to come out and swing hard once more. He and Chris Woakes were included in this Test for the first time this series, and they took England home. Woakes smashed 32 from just 47 balls to get his side the win.
For England to come back and win this series from 2-0 down they will have to do something that has only been done once before. It was Don Bradman's team back in 1936-37 that have only done it before.
Both these sides continue to entertain and keep everyone interested in this series. Nine days break now as the teams move down to Manchester for another very important match with the series still on the line. A win for Australia wins them the series and a victory for England levels things up. Whichever way it goes, this series is already one for the books.
Line-ups
Australia XI: David Warner, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Steve Smith, Travis Head, Mitchell Marsh, Alex Carey (wk), Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins (c), Todd Murphy, Scott Boland
IN: Mitchell Marsh, Todd Murphy, Scott Boland
OUT: Cameron Green (injured), Nathan Lyon (injured), Josh Hazlewood (rested)
England XI: Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Harry Brook, Joe Root, Jonny Bairstow (wk), Ben Stokes (c), Moeen Ali, Chris Woakes, Ollie Robinson, Stuart Broad, Mark Wood
IN: Moeen Ali, Chris Woakes, Mark Wood
OUT: Ollie Pope (injured), James Anderson (rested), Josh Tongue (rested)
Team News (Australia)
There was never any doubting that 22-year-old Todd Murphy would be a direct replacement for Nathan Lyon for the remainder of the series, and the way he bowled in India earlier this year suggests he should rise to the immense challenge of an away Ashes series. Pat Cummins all but conceded yesterday that Josh Hazlewood will almost certainly not be risked for a third consecutive Tests given his recent history with injury.
Woakes and Moeen at their best with the bat should go some way to filling the void left by Pope, whilst Harry Brook was seen training against the new ball yesterday ahead of his promotion to number three. Joe Root strongly prefers to stay at four, hence the experimentation with Brook despite him averaging just 22 as a number three in County Championship cricket without a single innings there since 2018.
Ben Stokes revealed that his heroic fourth innings effort at Lord’s “took out a lot out of” him and that the adjustment to their side was made on the proviso that he was unlikely to bowl in this upcoming match due to soreness and fatigue. Moeen Ali is replacing Pope, whilst James Anderson and Josh Tongue have been rested for Mark Wood and Chris Woakes.
Team News (England):
As was first reported by Daily Mail correspondent Paul Newman on Tuesday evening local time, England have reshuffled the balance of their lineup with three changes. Ollie Pope’s shoulder injury has forced him out of the remainder of the series with Lyon, but instead of the like-for-like replacement of Dan Lawrence, England have opted to add to their bowling stocks.
Bairstow moves to his home ground of Headingley, where an already raucous crowd will be getting right behind him even more so than they previously would have in more peaceful circumstances. He’s had a pretty ordinary series with the bat and the gloves but will be glad to see Nathan Lyon on the other side of the world, and the memories of his 162 in the third Test against New Zealand last year will be front of mind for inspiration.
The short turnaround from London to Leeds won’t be ideal for the players from a physical perspective, but for everyone else it’s probably for the best that we can move on from the Jonny Bairstow saga as quickly as possible. Everyone has had their say about the matter, and some continue to do so. There are fears that emotions will still be running high at Leeds after some pretty fierce comments from the England camp, including a suggestion from Brendon McCullum that England could forgo post-series drinks with their opposition which left Australian coach Andrew McDonald stunned and “disappointed”.
Key stats
England have won each of their last four Tests in Leeds, the most recent of which was their seven-wicket win over New Zealand in June 2022.
Three of those four games saw England bowl first and skittle their opposition for a first innings score of under 200.
There has been just one instance in history of a team coming back from a 0-2 deficit to win a Test series (Don Bradman’s Australia in 1936/37).
Usman Khawaja has top scored in six of Australia’s last 11 Test innings.
Josh Hazlewood to Ben Duckett in Test cricket: 3/45 from 44 balls.
Jonny Bairstow boasts a tremendous Test average of 63.67 at his home ground, which includes two centuries and two fifties from 11 innings.
Joe Root’s 15 Test innings at Headingley have produced two centuries, four half-centuries and three ducks. If he is to be selected, it’s worth noting that Josh Tongue dismissed Warner and Smith twice each at Lord’s for combined figures of 4/67 from 95 balls.
