England bring in Tongue for Atkinson for third Ashes test

SYDNEY, Dec 15 : England have made one change to their line-up for the third Ashes test, the team said on Monday, with Josh Tongue coming in as a like-for-like replacement for Gus Atkinson in the bowling attack.

Seamer Atkinson failed to take a wicket in the series opener in Perth, although he did make a useful 37 runs with the bat in the second innings, before returning figures of three for 151 in the second test in Brisbane.

England lost both matches by eight wickets and will relinquish all hopes of regaining the Ashes if they are unable to win the third test, which begins at Adelaide Oval on Wednesday.

Right-arm quick Tongue has taken 31 wickets in six tests at an average of 30 and took five wickets in his only previous test against Australia at Lord's in 2023.

Despite most of England's batters failing to fire in the series so far, the selectors resisted the urge to make any changes in personnel or positions.

England team: Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Harry Brook, Ben Stokes (captain), Jamie Smith, Will Jacks, Brydon Carse, Jofra Archer, Josh Tongue.