Tongue replaces Atkinson for the Adelaide Test in England’s 11 having decided against calling on Shoaib Bashir again.
Josh Tongue replaces Atkinson as England have named their starting 11 for the third Ashes Test at Adelaide.
For Wednesday’s crucial match, England were always going to turn things around at a 2-0 deficit. However, after publicly supporting a struggling top seven over the weekend, head coach Brendon McCullum and captain Ben Stokes have chosen to make just one change: Gus Atkinson will be replaced.
Atkinson has had a challenging tour, but he is by no means alone. With just three wickets from 54 overs—the first of which came with the last ball of his 41st over of the series, during Australia’s first innings of the second Test—his average of 78.66 is the lowest of England’s bowlers. There is less snap off the surface because his pace has also significantly decreased.
Instead than using Matthew Potts’ potential control in Tongue, England has chosen to take wickets. With 31 dismissals at an average of precisely 30, the seamer will receive his eighth Test cap since making his debut in the 2023 home season.
This will be Tongue’s second encounter with Australia after they played at Lord’s during the previous Ashes, where they took five wickets, including Steven Smith twice, though the first came when Smith had scored 110. In total, the 28-year-old has dismissed Smith four times: once for Worcestershire during the 2023 County Championship while Smith was a Sussex player, and once in this year’s Hundred.
Despite making just three appearances in the five-match series, Tongue finished the series as England’s top wicket taker (19) after collecting 5 for 125 against India in their final Test match of the summer. This was his second five-wicket haul.
However, Bashir’s exclusion indicates a lack of faith in the offspinner at a time when Nathan Lyon is expected to return to Australia. Bashir’s ability to impart overspin on the ball and his high release point, which he shared with Lyon, were key factors in his unexpected call-up for the 2024 tour of India. Nearly two years later, they have chosen not to choose the 22-year-old in this crucial game despite his 19 Test caps and 68 wickets at 39.00.
Stokes has openly supported Bashir, and it’s important to remember that the spinner’s final Test cricket delivery was to defeat India in the third Test at Lord’s after fracturing a finger that would keep him out of action for the remainder of the summer. The England captain, who had appointed Bashir as his top spinner since the beginning of the 2024 summer at the expense of Jack Leach, was further won over by his bravery.