England's Ashes tour seems to be heading quickly in the direction of so many of their recent trips to Australia. At 2-0 down, they are fending off the attentions of the local media and need to win in Adelaide to keep the series alive. Brendon McCullum has called for the squad to stay tight in adversity and given his backing to under-fire players - but where's the fun in that? Here we look at the changes they could make (some more outlandish than others), while you get to vote on the options.
First drop for the chop?
Ollie Pope has felt the sword of Damocles hovering at such close proximity over the last 12 months that he might as well be using it to shave in the morning. He began with a relatively composed innings of 46 in Perth - his highest score in 14 knocks against Australia - but as is often the case, his returns have trended in the wrong direction. A scratchy caught-and-bowled against Michael Neser under the Gabba floodlights triggered a match-defining collapse of 5 for 38 in the second Test and put him the spotlight again.
Unfortunately for England, the back-up batter, Jacob Bethell - the devil on Pope's shoulder since deputising at No. 3 last winter - has little form to recommend him, with two scores above 50 in 12 innings in Australia and New Zealand. A solid showing from Will Jacks (albeit at No. 8) in Brisbane, in his first Test outing since 2022, led some to suggest he could move up to three; while there is another member of the top order who has done the job to pretty good effect in the past. Or is it time for England to tear up their best-laid plans and, in the words of ESPNcricinfo's UK editor, Andrew Miller, on this week's Switch Hit podcast, send out an SOS to Jonny Bairstow, the Bazball totem currently tonking it in the ILT20?
Speaking on Sunday, England coach Brendon McCullum gave a vote of confidence to the incumbent players. "I wouldn't have thought so," he said when asked about potential changes to the top seven. "From our point of view, we've had a top seven now for a period of time and we've been reasonably successful with it. These conditions should suit the style of batters that we've got as well.
"We know we haven't got enough runs so far in this series. We've been in positions where we could have and made some mistakes, and that can happen at times. Knee-jerk reactions and chopping and changing settled batting line-ups is not really our way."
Smith still a keeper?
Jamie Smith came to Australia being heralded as an Adam Gilchrist-like figure, capable of taking the game away with his buccaneering batting at No. 7 - but after an aggressive cameo in the first innings in Perth, he too has wilted under the glare of an Ashes series down under. A harrowing outing at the Gabba - the first pink-ball game of his professional career - saw him face just 13 deliveries across two innings, beaten on the inside edge by Scott Boland and then the outside by Mitchell Starc for scores on 0 and 4.
A poor showing with the bat was compounded by perhaps the worst of England's mistakes in an error-strewn fielding display, as he put down an outside edge off Travis Head when the opener had made just 3. Although Head only went on to make 33, Australia fully capitalised by haring off to 130 for 1 in the session to almost completely derail England's bowling effort. There is no specialist wicketkeeper back-up in the squad, but England could opt to take Smith out of the firing line and give Pope a reprieve in the same breath. Pope has kept several times in Tests, most recently when Smith missed the 2024-25 New Zealand tour on paternity leave (and Bethell took his chance to impress), and might be more at home in a counterattacking berth down the order.
Bashir's big moment?
England have spent much of the past two years attempting to hot house Shoaib Bashir for the thankless task of carrying out spin-bowling duties under the southern sun. The high action, the release point, the angles, the overspin… All of which were apparently redundant come Perth, when England opted to go with an all-pace attack. Bashir was then left carrying the drinks in Brisbane, as Jacks was picked as a bob-each-way spin option plus insurance batter down the order. Ben Stokes made clear at the time that Bashir was still considered England's "number one spinner", but that claim will be tested in Adelaide, where friendly batting conditions and a rare daytime Test should see an increased emphasis on spin.
Things have rarely been straightforward with Bashir's England career, however, and he would be coming in off the back of unflattering figures of 0 for 115 for England Lions against Australia A earlier this week - and having picked up just two expensive wickets in the warm-up game at the start of the tour. England could then stick with the versatile Jacks, who offers much more with the bat, or go back to the quicks supplemented by part-time spin.
Stick or twist with pace attack?
The sad news of Wood's departure from the tour means England have been stripped of the fastest bowler, just as the pressure begins to mount on their second-fastest. Six months ago it would have been fanciful to assume that Jofra Archer would play three Tests overall in Australia - now he looks likely to play three on the bounce, with the added burden of being the de facto leader of England's attack as the most-experienced seamer on tour (despite only having 17 caps). But who do England pick alongside him?
Gus Atkinson has bowled better than figures of 3 for 236 suggest (although not that much better), while Brydon Carse is their leading wicket-taker but contributed to the wayward start that handed Australia the initiative in Brisbane. Josh Tongue is the next cab off the rank, but has hardly made an irresistible case in his limited appearances on tour. Matt Potts has been taking wickets, and would offer more in the way of control - but then, as England have been telling us for the last 18 months, nibbly seamers get eaten alive in Australia. Don't they?