71st over: England 240-6 (Smith 24, Jacks 21) Smith slaps Green over the leg side for SIX more. He\u2019s looking more confident now, as the old adage goes \u2013 when he hits it, it stays hit. England\u2019s need 195 more. Australia four wickets.<\/p>\n
Jamie Smith watches a shot in the air. Photograph: Gareth Copley\/Getty ImagesShare<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a001.11 CET<\/p>\n 70th over: England 232-6 (Smith 17, Jacks 20) Lyon rattles through a probing over and it\u2019s a maiden.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 69th over: England 232-6 (Smith 17, Jacks 20) Jacks doesn\u2019t look comfortable out there, he misses a drive outside off stump to Green and then pulls out of an attempted pull and the ball loops up and lands safe behind square leg. Good lordy lord.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 68th over: England 225-6 (Smith 17, Jacks 13) Jamie Smith pokes about and then decides enough is enough and swipes Lyon with the spin into the empty-ish stands for SIX. That\u2019s more of the Smith Surrey fans know and love. A relatively safe shot unlike his attempted pull off Green in the last over. England are over halfway to the total and the Barmy Army dust off some Bon Jovi.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 67th over: England 218-6 (Smith 13, Jacks 11) Will Jacks goes back to Green and turns his ankle in a deep foothole in the crease. He looks in trouble for a few seconds but then seems to recover ok. One to keep an eye on, could\u2019ve been nasty. Urgh! Smith top edges Smith on the pull and nearly plinks a catch to the fielder in the deep, that would not have been a good way to go.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 66th over: England 214-6 (Smith 9, Jacks 11) Smith pushes a single off Lyon. It\u2019s the only run off the over. Oohs and ahhs from the Aussie fielders, I wouldn\u2019t say Marnus is quiet exactly.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 65th over: England 213-6 (Smith 8, Jacks 11) Smith drives Cameron Green for three more but it was uppish and not too far away from the bowler\u2019s gargantuan wing span in his follow through. Jacks then nearly nicks off with a loosey goosey drive. Gah. To channel Ray Winstone in The Departed \u2013 I\u2019m here to tell you there are ways to get out and ways to not get out, getting out caught and bowled to a loose drive is not a way to get out.<\/p>\n (To be read in a weird Mockney\/Boston accent)<\/p>\n \u201cHi James, is it cowardly to pray for the end of the world?\u201d<\/p>\n Be careful what you wish for John Leavey\u2026 most England fans would take a 9 hour rain storm in south Australia though.<\/p>\n On the TNT coverage Ebony Rainford-Brent and Alastair Cook are discussing England\u2019s required run rate for the day, which feels a little optimistic.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 64th over: England 210-6 (Smith 5, Jacks 11) Jamie Smith uses his feet to Lyon\u2019s second ball and collects three runs to get England going for the day. Good intent from Smith, he\u2019s playing for an awful lot today. He\u2019s been incredibly meek on this tour so far, he\u2019s a quiet lad but his batting is usually extremely confident. We haven\u2019t seen anything from him at all and questions are being asked of his place in the side. He\u2019s not the only one of course. Jacks blocks out the rest of the over. Australia have 16 overs until the new ball, they may not need it.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n It is murky in Adelaide but the players are coming out onto the field and we\u2019ll start on time. Jamie Smith and Will Jacks head to the middle, Nathan Lyon is going to start with the ball. Once more unto the breach \u2026 let\u2019s play!<\/p>\n England\u2019s Jamie Smith and Will Jacks (right) walk out to bat. Photograph: Robbie Stephenson\/PAShare<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a001.09 CET<\/p>\n \u201cQuite apart from his admirable stint with the willow, shout-out to Zac Crawley for his excellent post-match interview yesterday.\u201d Writes Sarah Benton. \u201cEven this Aussie-in-Ingerland can see him doing well on the after-dinner circuit in the future.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cUntil the last man is out, there is still hope for England.\u201d Writes Andrew Benton. \u201cAnd what next? Maybe England will win the next two and it\u2019ll be a respectable 3:2 scoreline. Maybe heads will roll on Monday. But it\u2019s all over far too soon.\u201d<\/p>\n Would a 3-2 scoreline be more frustrating for England fans? If they suddenly start playing like we know they can when the pressure is off and the series is gone it\u2019ll make what we\u2019ve seen so far even more galling I reckon.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Geoff Lemon penned an ode to the magnificent Pat Cummins:<\/p>\n \u201cEngland supporters will spend four years until their team\u2019s next visit pondering explanations for this poor showing, inevitably including much examination of the lack of chances for their bowlers to adjust to Australian conditions. Cummins spent five months in the gym and the nets without once seeing the middle of a ground, latterly powering through what might have been a few months of rehab in the space of a few weeks, then hit the pitch for a Test match like he had never been away.\u201d<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re staring down the barrel, so it\u2019s disappointing. But we\u2019ll never give up.\u201d<\/p>\n Zak Crawley spoke honestly last evening:<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cAt which point, enter Brook, who is deep in it, an entire Test career played out around this regime, and who appears to be still fighting the second world war from inside a small copse. Brook and Crawley were putting pressure on the bowlers simply by surviving. The end of the day had begun to loom. This was England\u2019s best batting of the series. At which point Brook did the thing.\u201d<\/p>\n Barney Ronay lamented the latest brain fade from Harry Brook:<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cThere was a time when England players threw around phrases like \u201cthe more runs, the better<\/a>\u201d such was their confidence in the chase. But tasked with knocking off a world record 435 runs to stop Australia winning this Ashes series at the earliest opportunity, one suspects it was not said on Saturday.<\/p>\n Instead, having picked up six cheap wickets first thing to set up an unlikely five-session challenge, it was about seeing where they could get to by stumps on day four. The upshot was 207 for six from 63 overs which, while progress of sorts on this malfunctioning tour, means Australia will go into the final day of the third Test on the verge of an unassailable 3-0 lead.\u201d<\/p>\n Catch up with Ali Martin\u2019s report from yesterday:<\/p>\n
![\"James](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/1766275924_852_James_Wallace.png\")
James Wallace<\/p>\n