England unchanged, but Bairstow to bat at No. 6
England has named an unchanged XI going into the third Ashes Test, which gets underway at the WACA Ground in Perth on Thursday (December 14).
While the side remains the same to the one that lost the second Test at the Adelaide Oval by 120 runs, the batting order has been tweaked slightly.
Jonny Bairstow, the wicketkeeper-batsman, was promoted to No. 6 in place of Moeen Ali, the all-rounder, who moves down to No. 7.
Bairstow has had a few decent outings in the first two Tests scoring 21, 36, 42 and 9 while batting at No. 7 but has been left stranded with the tail more often than not.
England must not lose in Perth if they're to keep the #Ashes series alive, but Australia will be hoping to give the WACA a winning send-off.#AUSvENG 3rd Test Preview: https://t.co/RO5gJoH6QE pic.twitter.com/jUJFEfyY2g
— ICC (@ICC) December 13, 2017
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 for 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.
Squad: Alastair Cook, Mark Stoneman, James Vince, Joe Root (capt), Dawid Malan, Jonny Bairstow (wk), Moeen Ali, Chris Woakes, Craig Overton, Stuart Broad, Jimmy Anderson.