ADELAIDE, Australia (AP) — England recalled Josh Tongue in place of Gus Atkinson for the third Ashes test in Adelaide but there was no place for specialist spinner Shoaib Bashir despite the match being played on a pitch expected to suit slow bowlers.
Tongue’s return is the only change from the England team beaten by eight wickets at the Gabba to slip 2-0 behind in the five-match series.
It makes it a must-win match in Adelaide for England, whose selectors have designated allrounder Will Jacks as the spinner option in the team despite Bashir being in the touring group.
Bashir missed out on pacy pitches in Perth and Brisbane, and has now failed to dislodge Jacks. Australia, meanwhile, has brought its top spinner, Nathan Lyon, back for the match.
Speaking before England announced its team, Lyon said: “I would be surprised if their No. 1 spinner isn’t playing, if I’m honest with you.”
Atkinson has been dropped after taking just three wickets at 78.66.
Tongue was England’s top wicket-taker against India in the summer and took five wickets in his only previous Ashes test — at Lord’s in 2023 when he dismissed Steve Smith in each innings.
England team for third Ashes test: Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Harry Brook, Ben Stokes (captain), Jamie Smith, Will Jacks, Josh Tongue, Brydon Carse, Jofra Archer.
AP cricket: https://apnews.com/hub/cricket
England's captain Ben Stokes leaves the field after lost the second Ashes cricket test match between Australia and England in Brisbane, Sunday, Dec. 7, 2025.. (AP Photo/Tertius Pickard)
PRAGUE (AP) — A new Czech coalition government led by populist billionaire Andrej Babiš took office on Monday with an agenda to steer the country away from supporting Ukraine and reject some key European Union policies.
President Petr Pavel swore in the Cabinet at the Prague Castle, ending a pro-Western coalition under former Prime Minister Petr Fiala that made the country a staunch supporter of Ukraine and a haven for hundreds of thousands Ukrainian refugees.
Babiš, previously prime minister in two governments from 2017-2021, and his ANO, or YES, movement, won big in the country's October election and agreed to form a majority coalition government with two small political groups, the Freedom and Direct Democracy anti-migrant party and the right-wing Motorists for Themselves.
The parties, which share admiration for U.S. President Donald Trump, created a 16-member Cabinet. ANO holds eight posts and the prime minister’s office. The Motorists have four and the Freedom party three.
The political comeback by Babiš and his new alliance with two small government newcomers are expected to significantly redefine the nation's foreign and domestic policies.
Babiš is set to join the ranks of Viktor Orbán of Hungary and Robert Fico of Slovakia, whose countries have refused to provide military aid to Ukraine and which oppose EU sanctions on Russia.
Babiš has rejected any financial aid by his country for Ukraine and guarantees for EU loans to the country fighting the Russian invasion.
Babiš already joined forces with his friend Orbán last year to create a new alliance in the European Parliament, the “Patriots for Europe,” to represent hard-right groups. Previously, he was a member of the liberal Renew group.
Babiš suggested his government would abandon a Czech initiative that has managed to acquire some 1.8 million much-needed artillery shells for Ukraine only this year on markets outside the EU.
The Freedom party sees no future for the Czechs in the EU and NATO and wants to expel most of 380,000 Ukrainian refugees in the country. The group does not consider Russia a threat and its members repeat its propaganda.
The Motorists, who are close to former euro-skeptic President Václav Klaus, rejected the EU Green Deal and proposed revivals of coal and relations with Slovakia, Hungary and Poland in an informal group known as V4 whose activities has been stalled over different views of the Russian war against Ukraine.
The Motorists, whose head Petr Macinka became the foreign minister, blamed the former government of damaging relations with Slovakia and Hungary.
The new government promised to present a plan to reduce electricity prices, revoke a pension reform and change the financing of the public radio and television that critics say would would bring the broadcasters under government control.
Leader of ANO political movement Andrej Babis addresses the media after being sworn in as the country's new prime minister at the Prague Castle in Prague, Czech Republic, Tuesday, Dec. 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Petr David Josek)
