England unchanged for the #Ashes, Jonny Bairstow to bat at six
JOHANNESBURG – England has named an unchanged XI going into the third Ashes Test, which starts at the Waca Ground in Perth on Thursday.
While the side remains the same to the one that lost the second Test by 120 runs at the Adelaide Oval, the batting order has been tweaked slightly.
Jonny Bairstow, the wicketkeeper-batsman, was promoted to number six in place of all-rounder Moeen Ali, who moves down to number seven.
Bairstow has had a few decent outings in the first two Tests scoring 21, 36, 42 and 9 while batting at number seven, but has been left stranded with the tail more often than not.
The move will also break the succession of left-handed batsmen in England's middle order, who have generally had a hard time against Nathan Lyon.
The offspinner has had the wood over Moeen in particular, dismissing him in each of the four innings of the first two Tests.
Craig Overton, who was handed a debut in the second Test, has retained his place after his match haul of 4/116 in the last game, which also included the prized scalp of Steven Smith, the Australian skipper, in the first innings.
It is a do-or-die situation for the Joe Root-led English side, trailing the five-match series 2-0 after heavy defeats in the opening two games.
What is England's record at the WACA?
➡️ https://t.co/zTItUjL6ST#Ashes pic.twitter.com/S7Rc9ImQxs— England Cricket (@englandcricket) December 13, 2017
The England team is: Alastair Cook, Mark Stoneman, James Vince, Joe Root (capt), Dawid Malan, Jonny Bairstow (wk), Moeen Ali, Chris Woakes, Craig Overton, Stuart Broad, Jimmy Anderson.
African News Agency (ANA)