Lyon moves to second on Australia's all-time bowling list as England struggles in 3rd Ashes test

ADELAIDE, Australia (AP) — Nathan Lyon took two wickets to move past Glenn McGrath for second place on Australia’s all-time bowling list, and returning skipper Pat Cummins took his first wickets of the series as a relentless bowling attack kept England in trouble in the third Ashes test.

Australia resumed Day 2 at 326-8 and was all out for 371 with Mitchell Starc posting a half-century before Jofra Archer finished off the tailenders to return 5-53, his fourth five-wicket haul in test cricket.

By stumps, England had struggled to 213 for eight, still 158 behind.

England was coasting at 37-0 in reply until Cummins struck. Lyon then took two wickets in his first over as England lost three wickets in 15 balls.

It was a struggle the rest of the day for England, which needs to bat long to revive its chances in this five-test series on a pitch and conditions that traditionally favor batting on Day 2 at the Adelaide Oval.

Compounding that, the Australian bowlers and fielders spent most of the day in the field in temperatures hitting 40C (104F).

Skipper Ben Stokes had to endure the heat to lift his lineup, appearing to struggle with cramping after four hours at the crease. His mood wasn't helped by more contentions outcomes from the Decision Review System technology.

But his stubborn, unbeaten 45 from 151 balls and his unbroken 45-run stand with No. 10 Archer (30) helped England survive the last 13 overs Thursday.

Cummins missed the eight-wicket wins in Perth and Brisbane, which gave Australia a 2-0 series lead, while he recovered from a back injury. In his first spell back, he dismissed opener Zak Crawley (9) to trigger a top-order slide.

Lyon was introduced for the 10th over and the 38-year-old offspinner had immediate success with two wickets in four balls to remove Ollie Pope (3) and Ben Duckett (29) as England slumped to 42-3.

He had Pope caught by a diving Josh Inglis at midwicket to equal retired paceman McGrath's career haul of 563 test wickets.

On the last ball of that over, Lyon enticed Duckett to play the wrong line to a drifting delivery that took out off stump. TV coverage showed McGrath in a stadium commentary booth pretending to throw a chair around in mock annoyance.

Only the great Shane Warne — with 708 wickets in 145 tests from 1992-2007 — is above Lyon on the Australia's list of test wicket-takers.

It was a huge return for Lyon, who only bowled two overs in Perth and was omitted from the lineup that won the second test in Brisbane.

He bowled 22 overs across Day 2 and returned 2-51. Cummins had 3-54, Scott Boland returned 2-31. Starc, the leading wicket-taker in the series, had 0-54 from 12 overs.

England needs victory in Adelaide to have any chance of reclaiming the Ashes, and is relying on a big performance from Stokes to achieve it.

He weathered all kinds of pressure after going to the crease at 71-4 just after the lunch interval when Cummins dismissed Joe Root. Stokes was hit on the side of the helmet as he tried to turn his head away from a short-pitch ball from Starc that was traveling at 145 kph (90 mph). A thick inside edge onto his thigh had him hopping around on 41, too, just before the end of play.

Cameron Green struck on his third delivery to end a 56-run fifth-wicket stand, getting the edge of Harry Brook’s bat with a ball that moved away from the right-hander.

Brook scored 45 from 63 before he was out in the 37th over, adding just one run after getting a reprieve when he was given out caught behind off Lyon's bowling but successfully reviewed the decision with the TV umpire.

There were more dramas with the DRS technology, on top of the contentious review on Wednesday that gave Australia's Alex Carey a reprieve on 72 on the way to his first Ashes century.

Jamie Smith was on 16 when he appeared to glove a catch to Usman Khawaja in the slips. On-field umpires referred the catch to the TV umpire, who ruled it didn’t hit the glove or the bat before hitting the helmet and ricocheting to slips. The Australians were in disbelief. One of the players said the “snicko needs to be sacked.”

A call went against England when Cummins got a slight edge from the toe end of Smith's bat as it carried to Carey. The on-field umpire gave it out, confirmed by the TV umpire despite a seemingly indecisive spike as the ball went past the bat.

AP cricket: https://apnews.com/hub/cricket

Australia's Nathan Lyon, left, celebrates with teammate Mitchell Starc after dismissing England's Ben Duckett during play on day two of the third Ashes cricket test between England and Australia in Adelaide, Australia, Thursday, Dec. 18, 2025. (AP Photo/James Elsby)

Australia's Nathan Lyon, left, celebrates with teammate Mitchell Starc after dismissing England's Ben Duckett during play on day two of the third Ashes cricket test between England and Australia in Adelaide, Australia, Thursday, Dec. 18, 2025. (AP Photo/James Elsby)

Australia's Mitchell Starc bats during play on day two of the third Ashes cricket test between England and Australia in Adelaide, Australia, Thursday, Dec. 18, 2025. (AP Photo/James Elsby)

England's Jofra Archer, centre, is congratulated by teammates after taking five wickets during play on day two of the third Ashes cricket test between England and Australia in Adelaide, Australia, Thursday, Dec. 18, 2025. (AP Photo/James Elsby)

England's Jofra Archer bowls a delivery during play on day one of the third Ashes cricket test between England and Australia at the Adelaide Oval in Adelaide, Australia, Wednesday, Dec. 17, 2025. (AP Photo/James Elsby)

England's Jofra Archer reacts after taking five wickets during play on day two of the third Ashes cricket test between England and Australia in Adelaide, Australia, Thursday, Dec. 18, 2025. (AP Photo/James Elsby)

BOSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec 18, 2025--

PureTech Health plc (Nasdaq: PRTC, LSE: PRTC) ("PureTech" or the "Company"), a hub-and-spoke biotherapeutics company dedicated to giving life to science and transforming innovation into value, today announces that the Board of Directors has appointed Robert Lyne as Chief Executive Officer (CEO), and as a member of the Board of Directors, effective immediately.

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20251217152848/en/

Robert Lyne commented: “I’m honored to lead PureTech as CEO at such an important moment in its evolution. Over the past two years, I’ve seen first-hand the strength of our programs, the talent of our team, and the power of our differentiated model. I’m keen to build on this foundation, working closely with the Board to drive the next phase of execution as we advance transformative therapies for patients and deliver long-term value for our shareholders.

“Our immediate focus is on securing the funding needed to advance our newest Founded Entity, Celea Therapeutics, following the successful End-of-Phase 2 meeting with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. This process is progressing, and we expect to close within the first half of 2026, after which PureTech’s operational run rate will reduce significantly. In parallel, we are also actively pursuing financing in 2026 for Gallop Oncology, as the strong initial topline data continue to mature, and the program advances to the next stage of development.

“Going forward, we intend to operate with a streamlined structure and significantly reduced overhead. This will be combined with a disciplined investment posture, pursuing focused innovation initiatives that can be advanced to key inflection points with relatively modest spend to improve our return on capital. Once Celea is fully financed, we expect to evaluate the most effective means of delivering value to shareholders, including potential capital returns, as part of an integrated strategy that continues targeted and impactful innovation. In the meantime, our priority is preserving capital, maintaining flexibility, and positioning PureTech for value creation.”

Sharon Barber-Lui, Interim Chair of PureTech’s Board of Directors, said: “We are pleased to appoint Rob as PureTech’s CEO. As Interim CEO, Rob has demonstrated strong leadership, strategic clarity, and a deep understanding of the business and key stakeholders. Rob’s appointment positions the Company to execute against a clear plan to sharpen strategic and operational focus and optimize shareholder returns. The Board supports Rob’s disciplined approach to maintaining a lean operating model whilst concentrating on capital-efficient innovation to maximize shareholder value. The Board is confident that Rob is the right person to lead PureTech forward.”

Mr. Lyne has served as Interim CEO since July 2025 and joined PureTech in January 2024 as Chief Portfolio Officer. During his time as Interim CEO, Mr. Lyne has provided strong leadership for the business, overseeing progress across PureTech’s programs and advancing strategic and operational priorities. He is an experienced leader of UK-listed life science innovation and venture capital companies, having previously served as CEO of Arix Bioscience plc. Mr. Lyne brings more than a decade of experience in senior leadership roles at London-listed life science companies, with a strong track record in governance and executive team leadership. He has been involved in over 80 venture capital financings across Europe and North America as well as multiple portfolio exits and initial public offerings.

Mr. Lyne was previously a director of Arix Bioscience plc within the past five years. There are no other details to be disclosed in respect of Mr. Lyne’s appointment pursuant to LR 9.6.13R.

About PureTech Health

PureTech Health is a hub-and-spoke biotherapeutics company dedicated to giving life to science and transforming innovation into value. We do this through a proven, capital-efficient R&D model focused on opportunities with validated pharmacology and untapped potential to address significant patient needs. This strategy has produced dozens of therapeutic candidates, including three that have received U.S. FDA approval. By identifying, shaping, and de-risking these high-conviction assets, and scaling them through dedicated structures backed by external capital, we accelerate their path to patients while creating sustainable value for shareholders.

For more information, visit www.puretechhealth.com or connect with us on X (formerly Twitter) @puretechh.

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains statements that are or may be forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. All statements contained in this press release that do not relate to matters of historical fact should be considered forward-looking statements, including without limitation statements that relate to our expectations around our therapeutic candidates and approach towards addressing major diseases, our plans to advance our programs and deliver on our milestones, our future plans, prospects, developments, and strategies. The forward-looking statements are based on current expectations and are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other important factors that could cause actual results, performance and achievements to differ materially from current expectations, including, but not limited to, those risks, uncertainties and other important factors described under the caption "Risk Factors" in our Annual Report on Form 20-F for the year ended December 31, 2024 filed with the SEC and in our other regulatory filings. These forward-looking statements are based on assumptions regarding the present and future business strategies of the Company and the environment in which it will operate in the future. Each forward-looking statement speaks only as at the date of this press release. Except as required by law and regulatory requirements, we disclaim any obligation to update or revise these forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

THIS ANNOUNCEMENT CONTAINS INSIDE INFORMATION FOR THE PURPOSES OF ARTICLE 7 OF THE UK VERSION OF THE MARKET ABUSE REGULATION (EU 596/2014) AS IT FORMS PART OF UK LAW BY VIRTUE OF THE EUROPEAN UNION (WITHDRAWAL) ACT 2018, AS AMENDED

Robert Lyne, Chief Executive Officer of PureTech