Predicted England team for third Ashes Test in Adelaide: Expert line-ups revealed

It’s Adelaide or never for England, with Bazball on the cusp of failing after years of planning for the Ashes. Our experts predicting the XI Ben Stokes will use to try and save the series.

Call it sympathy or simply wanting to see a competitive cricket match, but our Code Sports experts have come up with their England XI for the Adelaide’s third Test with an almost unanimous decision to drop a key player.

With England struggling with both the bat and bowl, the Code Sports team suggestions including multiple changes, batting order shuffles and finding a pace attack that can rip in for the entire innings, not just when the game is gone.

AUSSIE XIS: CODE SPORTS EXPERTS PREDICTION AUSTRALIAN CHANGES

Daniel Cherny

Zak Crawley

Ben Duckett

Jacob Bethell

Joe Root

Harry Brook

Ben Stokes (c)

Jamie Smith

Mark Wood

Jofra Archer

Matthew Potts

Shoaib Bashir

IN: Jacob Bethell, Matthew Potts, Shoaib Bashir

OUT: Ollie Pope, Will Jacks, Brydon Carse

Everything has to be on the table for England given the desperate position of the tourists. There is merit in Ben Stokes being elevated to No. 3 but he is so bankable at No. 6 that I would keep him there and instead just replace Ollie Pope with Jacob Bethell. Will Jacks had an OK Test but a frontline spinner is needed in Adelaide so Shoaib Bashir comes in, while Mark Wood returns if fit and Matthew Potts provides a steadier option, meaning Brydon Carse and Gus Atkinson are dropped.

Ben Horne

Zak Crawley

Ben Duckett

Joe Root

Ben Stokes

Harry Brook

Jacob Bethell

Jamie Smith

Will Jacks

Gus Atkinson

Mark Wood

Jofra Archer

IN: Jacob Bethell, Mark Wood

OUT: Ollie Pope, Brydon Carse

You could make a case for dropping Ben Duckett, but I think at this point Bazball has to back the guys they have backed in for so long now. I would drop Ollie Pope, who England were clearly hesitating on playing in this series as well, and put Joe Root and Ben Stokes up into the heavy-duty positions at no. 3 and 4. Jacob Bethell should come in. He’s a batting whiz Australia would rather not see in the XI, because they know what he’s capable of. Mark Wood has to come in for Brydon Carse, otherwise, why is he here? It’s all or nothing for England.

Robert Craddock

Ben Duckett

Zak Crawley

Ollie Pope

Harry Brook

Joe Root

Ben Stokes (c)

Jamie Smith

Will Jacks

Gus Atkinson

Josh Tongue

Jofra Archer

OUT: Brydon Carse

IN: Josh Tongue

I’m probably the only person in the world who has Ollie Pope in my team but for some reason I would like to see him get one last chance. Carse looks out of ideas so Josh Tongue is worth a try. I tried hard to pick spinner Shoaib Bashir but that would be a huge risk.

Shoaib Bashir is a chance to play his first Test of the series.

Tim Michell

Zak Crawley

Ben Duckett

Jacob Bethell

Joe Root

Harry Brook

Ben Stokes (c)

Will Jacks

Jamie Smith

Mark Wood

Jofra Archer

Josh Tongue

IN: Jacob Bethell, Mark Wood, Josh Tongue

OUT: Ollie Pope, Gus Atkinson, Brydon Carse

There’s no way England can stick with Ollie Pope. He’s a decent player but not learning from Perth and getting out poorly twice in Brisbane should be the last we see of him this tour. Jacob Bethell isn’t a perfect replacement but he’s the best England has. I’d keep Will Jacks as the spinner, but mainly due to his batting. England would have lost by an innings with a bowler at No. 8 in the second Test. Gus Atkinson hasn’t looking threatening for long enough and Brydon Carse was way too expensive. He won’t get away with just bowling bumpers in Adelaide.

Brydon Carse was expensive in the Brisbane Test.

Lachlan McKirdy

Zak Crawley

Ben Duckett

Jacob Bethell

Joe Root

Harry Brook

Ben Stokes

Jamie Smith

Will Jacks

Brydon Carse

Mark Wood

Jofra Archer

IN: Jacob Bethell, Mark Wood

OUT: Ollie Pope, Gus Atkinson

Gus Atkinson is under pressure to hold his spot.

It’s simply a must-win for England, if it wasn’t already, and it means they have to make a change to keep the Ashes alive.

The knives appear to be out for Ollie Pope after everyone at the Gabba saw his dismissal in the second innings coming, except for him. Jacob Bethell scored some runs in the Lions match, and even though it wasn’t banging the door down, he’s a prodigious talent who could rise to the occasion when needed most.

The bowling attack also needs to be shifted around as they’ve failed to take 20 wickets in a match. If Mark Wood is fit, he needs to play as he has had success in Australian conditions before. Archer has toiled hard and looks up to the fight in this series, even if Steve Smith thought he left it late at the Gabba. And between Atkinson and Carse, the latter has been whacked around at more than five runs an over, but has crucially taken wickets. If they want to change it up completely, Josh Tongue may even come into the equation.

Will Jacks’ promising performance in Brisbane also gives Brendon McCullum a bit more flexibility, as he could move up the order and bring in another pace bowler to the side.

Originally published as Predicted England team for third Ashes Test in Adelaide: Expert line-ups revealed