Cricket - The Ashes - Australia v England - Third Test - Adelaide Oval, Adelaide, Australia - December 19, 2025 England's Ben Stokes REUTERS/Asanka Brendon Ratnayake
Dec 19 (Reuters) - England need to produce "something magical" on day four of the third Ashes test against Australia if they are to have any chance of turning the tide, the visitors' spin bowling coach Jeetan Patel said on Friday.
Travis Head scored his second century of the Ashes to put Australia on the brink of a series triumph at Adelaide Oval, with the hosts needing only a draw to retain the urn.
England, who have suffered 5-0, 4-0 and 4-0 defeats in their last three series Down Under, trail Australia by 356 runs with the hosts on 271-4 in their second innings, but Patel had faith they could still pull off the win.
"I still believe there's an opportunity for us. It won't be easy. We're going to need something magical," he told reporters.
"But I think it's about time we saw something magical from us. It's three games in, we've thrown some (punches) but taken a lot, and I think it's about time now we're backed into a corner to throw some haymakers back.
"I thought some of the plans we chose today, the way we executed at times, was fantastic, but didn't quite go our way. We've just got to hold the belief."
England struggled to remove Australia's batters, with captain Ben Stokes having opted not to bowl in the second innings and part-time spinner Will Jacks hit for 107 runs from 19 overs with just the one wicket as his reward.
The 27-year-old all-rounder conceded 105 runs in the first innings and his performances have brought into question England's decision to leave Shoaib Bashir out of the side on the more spin-friendly surface in Adelaide.
"I don't think he has bowled poorly," Patel said. "They've played him very well. They've used the crease, they've got deep, they've run down at him, they've used the off side and the leg side, and they've looked to score.
"Looked to put him under pressure. It's probably what you would do against the spin of Jacks, where it's not his front-line skill as such. I still believe that Bashir is our number one guy and he does a fantastic job for us...
"But in these conditions, we're horses for courses. With all four seamers firing and Jacks backing them up, I think that works very well. But it probably didn't play out as well as I would have liked."
(Reporting by Aadi Nair in Nashik, India; Editing by Peter Rutherford)
