Nearly four years of Ashes planning was left in smouldering ruins on Thursday as England buckled under the heat and the pressure at Adelaide Oval to lurch towards a series-deciding defeat in the third test against Australia.

On a scorching hot morning in Adelaide, England’s hopes of an unlikely Ashes comeback melted away. First, Australia’s tail wagged with a flurry of boundaries to take their first innings from 326 for eight to 371 all out, a total that suddenly looked rather imposing.

Ben Stokes and Jofra Archer fight for England with the bat but with a deficit of 158 runs and just two first-innings wickets left, they are staring at another poor result

Ben Stokes and Jofra Archer provided defiance but the Bazball era was on the cusp of melting in the Adelaide sun as Australia closed in on an unassailable Ashes advantage.

England battle hard to stay in the Ashes as Alex Carey’s century leads Australia to 326-8 on the first day of the third Test.

Ben Stokes-led side find themselves in deep trouble on day 2 of the third Test against Australia at the Adelaide Oval. Follow the ball-by-ball commentary, real-time toss updates, as it happened

Nathan Lyon took two wickets in his first over to move past Glenn McGrath for second place on Australia’s all-time bowling list as England teetered on 132-5 at tea on Day 2 of the third Ashes cricket test.

Birmingham Phoenix have signed England all-rounder Rehan Ahmed for the 2026 season of The Hundred. Ahmed, 21, impressed in helping runners-up Trent Rockets reach last year's final, taking 12 wickets and scoring 189 runs across the competition.

The Bank of England is expected to lower interest rates on Thursday after a sharp slowdown in inflation and a weakening in economic growth, but a string of further cuts in 2026 looks unlikely given Britain's lingering price pressures.