Nathan Lyon is two wickets from passing Glenn McGrath as Australia’s second-highest Test wicket taker.
1. Cricket Et Al focuses on the third Ashes Test in Adelaide and the hosts call Adelaide Oval the “best test match in Australia.”
2. Gideon Haigh and Peter Lawler are the hosts, and their live Adelaide commentary matters because they are reporting from Aquinas College beside Adelaide Oval.
3. The episode asks whether Australia’s selection choices and England’s changes have set up a decisive Test on a hot Adelaide surface.
4. Australia bring in Pat Cummins and Nathan Lyon, while Nisa and Doggett are left out of the side.
5. Usman Khawaja is fit, has batted in the nets, and is still omitted because of team balance rather than injury.
6. The hosts say Australia will stick with Travis Head at the top of the order and Josh Inglis at number seven.
7. Peter Lawler argues that Khawaja’s best path back would have been as a middle-order batter around number five.
8. Gideon Haigh says the decision means Khawaja may have played his last Test for Australia unless injuries or a major collapse in form intervene.
9. The discussion turns to Nathan Lyon, who is described as a spinner Australia need for bulk overs in Adelaide heat.
10. The hosts note that Lyon could go past Glenn McGrath and become Australia’s number two Test wicket taker.
11. They point out that Lyon has hardly bowled in recent red-ball Tests and has sometimes seemed more like a squad mascot than a core bowler.
12. The hosts return to Adelaide conditions, with forecasts of 35 and 37 degrees and a pitch described as a good wicket.
13. England leave out Shahab Bashir and bring in Josh Tung, which the hosts read as another sign of England picking on potential rather than performance.
14. Peter Lawler says Tung is quick and a wicket-taker, but also leaky, which could make this another high-scoring Test.
15. They discuss Ben Stokes asking Jofra Archer to bowl as fast as possible in the last spell of the previous Test.
16. Stokes also says England needed to “die bravely,” and the hosts read that as a sign of pressure after the earlier defeats.
17. The tone is conversational, with long exchanges between Haigh and Lawler and occasional detours into sponsorship and personal anecdotes.
18. The style is an on-location cricket briefing, mixing selection analysis, press-conference notes, and commentary on Adelaide’s atmosphere.
19. Best for listeners who follow Ashes selection, spin bowling, and Australia-England team balance.
20. Skip if you want tightly edited match action rather than pre-Test debate.
