Australia to bat first in third Ashes test as Smith ruled out
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Cricket - The Ashes - Australia v England - Third Test - Adelaide Oval, Adelaide, Australia - December 17, 2025 Australia's Pat Cummins and England's Ben Stokes before the match REUTERS/Asanka Brendon Ratnayake
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ADELAIDE, Dec 17 - Australia captain Pat Cummins won the toss and elected to bat first in the third Ashes test against England at Adelaide Oval on Wednesday but the hosts suffered a late blow with Steve Smith ruled out of the match.
* Usman Khawaja will take Smith's place at number four inthe batting order, while Travis Head and Jake Weatherald willcontinue their opening partnership. * Smith was struck in the groin with a ball in the netsduring training. Cummins said the master batter had been feelingunwell for a couple of days. "He came in and gave it a crackthis morning but didn't feel like he could get up," Cumminssaid. * England captain Ben Stokes, who lost his first toss ofthe series, said he would also have batted, with the openingdays set for scorching weather. * Australia, who hold the Ashes, lead the series 2-0 aftereight-wicket wins in Perth and Brisbane.
Teams:
Australia - Travis Head, Jake Weatherald, Marnus Labuschagne, Usman Khawaja, Cameron Green, Alex Carey, Josh Inglis, Pat Cummins (capt), Mitchell Starc, Nathan Lyon, Scott Boland
England - Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Harry Brook, Ben Stokes (capt), Jamie Smith, Will Jacks, Brydon Carse, Jofra Archer, Josh Tongue REUTERS
