The Ashes – 3rd Test Match Prediction – Australia vs England

The third Ashes Test is upon us, and it is do or die for the England team. After a couple of inept performances in the first and second Tests, they know that a defeat here would see them meekly surrender up The Ashes and be well on their way to an embarrassing Test match cricket whitewash. So, will England be able to get back in the series and make it 2-1, or will Australia claim the urn with two Tests left to play? Read on and find out our prediction.

Australia Team Preview

In the first Test, the T20 World Champions lost a good toss to lose and were asked to bowl first. They took full advantage of England's decision and bundled them out for a below par score on a grassy pitch. England batted better in their second innings of the Match, but they had far too much work to do. In the second Test, the Aussies had the luck on their side at the toss, and opted to bat first in the day/night Test.

The Australians racked up close to 500 runs in their first innings thanks to a 95 from David Warner a 103 from Marnus Labuschange, and a 93 from Steve Smith. England's reply was a meek effort, with only Dawid Malan with his 80 and Joe Root with his 62 offered any type of resistance. Nathan Lyon and Mitchell Starc had a whale of a time, picking up 3/58 and 4/37 between them. England were rolled out for 236, and the Aussies opted to bat again instead of forcing the follow-on.

Australia smashed a quick fire 275 runs in their second innings, leaving England needing an improbable 467 to win the match and level the series. England knew that survival was their only option, and they gave it a good go, but it was too much of an ask and they were bowled out for 192 after 113.1 overs. Jhye Richardson was the pick of the bowler with 5/42.

Pat Cummins missed the last Test because he came into close contact with someone who tested positive for Covid, but we expect the Australian captain to return for the third Test. It is likely that he is going to replace Michael Nesser, who, to be fair to him, did not have a bad game. Josh Hazlewood is still a big injury doubt after having to sit out of the second Test, so Scott Boland has been called up. However, after the performance that Richardson put in during the last Test, we expect him to keep his spot for the next Test.

When it comes to their batting, we do not expect them to make any changes as they have been batting well. If you are thinking about betting on The Ashes, then you might want to think about putting some money on Labuschange to be the top batsman for the Aussies. He has been on fire lately and seems to love scoring runs against the English.

England Team Preview

England's batting line-up has faltered in both Tests, and if they are to stand any chance of not going 3-0 down with just two Test matches left to play, they are going to have to pull their finger out. Unless you can consistently score 400 runs Down Under, then you are not going to win any Test matches.

Root, Malan and, to a certain degree Ben Stokes and Jos Buttler have shown a bit of fight, but when you are 3 down with not a lot of runs on the board, you will always be up against it. Most betting sites for cricket probably have Root as the favourite to top score for England, and that is something we can see happening.

To try and avoid giving up an unassailable lead in Melbourne, the England managing staff will once again make a number of changes, mostly to their batting. We expect to see the likes of Ollie Pope and Rory Burns drop out and be replaced by Jonny Bairstow and Zak Crawley. Fast bowler Mark Wood was rested in Adelaide, and we expect him to return to the side after a decent bowling performance in the first Test.

There is a big question that England need to find an answer to, and this is whether they will play specialist spinner Jack Leach after he was left out of the second Test. The ironic thing is that he played the first Test when there was barely any spin at all and was left out of the second when the pitch has a history of spinning.

Toss Prediction

The captain that wins the Toss on Boxing Day will more than likely opt to bat first since this is what teams tend to do at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. From the 113 Test matches that have been played here, the team that has opted to bat first has won 56 times, while the team that has batted second has won 40 matches. If you want a great prop bet when you are online cricket betting , then you can bet on the team that will win the coin toss.

Pitch Conditions

The MCG is a stadium that almost always guarantees a result, which is good for England as they need to win the remaining three tests against the 2021 T20 World Cup winners if they want to take the little urn back to Blighty. From the 113 matches that have been played here, 96 of them have been a result, with only 17 draws. This wicket is usually one that offers a little something to everyone.

The MCG pitch curator has already indicated that there will be movement available to the bowlers thanks to some extra grass on the track, which could be a big issue for England. They have struggled on flat pitches recently, so God only knows how they will fare on a wicket that is offering extra movement.

Our Match Prediction

Our cricket match prediction - Who will win The Ashes 3rd Test? Well, we would love to be able to say England so that the series remains alive and exciting for at least another Test, but we really cannot see anything other than an Australia win and a comfortable one at that. Their batsmen are in much better form and their bowlers seem to be more effective on these wickets.

Our prediction: Australia to win.