The Ashes: England take eight Australia wickets as Alex Carey makes superb century on day one in Adelaide

Alex Carey survived a controversial reprieve before hitting a superb century that led Australia to 326-8 as a spirited England bowling display kept the tourists' faint Ashes hopes alive on the first day of the third Test in Adelaide.

Trailing 2-0 in the five-match series after heavy defeats in Perth and Brisbane, England's hopes of making an unlikely comeback suffered a further blow when returning Australia captain Pat Cummins won the toss to earn the home side first hit in batting-friendly conditions.

However, Ben Stokes' side defied the baking heat and seemingly flat surface at the Adelaide Oval to take regular wickets, with only Usman Khawaja (82) - called into the side at the last moment as a replacement for the unwell Steve Smith - and Carey (106) making proper use of the conditions.

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Carey, however, benefitted from a mistake by the company that operates the Snicko technology which helps umpires make decisions, as the use of the wrong stump microphone resulted in him wrongly surviving an England review for caught behind when he was on 72.

Jofra Archer (3-29) spearheaded England's attack, taking the opening wicket and crucially striking twice in the first over after lunch when Australia were threatening to take control.

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Josh Tongue, who replaced Gus Atkinson in England's only change from the second Test, bowled impressively to return figures of 1-63, while Brydon Carse (2-70) rewarded Stokes' continued faith in him with some crucial contributions.

All-rounder Will Jacks - preferred to full-time spinner Shoaib Bashir - was targeted by Australia but held his nerve to take the key wickets of Khawaja and Carey.

While England will undoubtedly be satisfied with their returns on the first day, it remains to be seen whether the tourists' under-fire batting unit can take advantage of the conditions to set up the victory they need to prevent Australia retaining the Ashes.

Spirited England aided by poor Australian shots

Australia suffered a major blow before play began when Smith, who had captained the home side in Cummins' absence during the first two Tests, was ruled out having suffered "nausea and dizziness" in the days building up to the game.

While it was a toss both sides would have wanted to win, Smith's absence did at least give England the boost of weakening Australia's line-up, with Khawaja offered a reprieve just when many thought his Test career was over.

Archer, and Carse in particular, were inaccurate with the new ball as openers Travis Head and Jake Weatherald comfortably guided Australia to 33 without loss after eight overs.

But Archer, who had gradually found his groove after facing criticism for his display in the second Test, got the breakthrough when he beat Weatherald (18) for pace with a short delivery that popped up off a top edge for an easy catch to wicketkeeper Jamie Smith.

Carse, who could have had no complaints if he had been taken off after a poor start, then struck in the next over as Zak Crawley took a stunning one-handed catch to dismiss the dangerous Head for just 10.

Tongue made a fine start on his return to the side but the fielding woes that plagued England during the second Test momentarily returned when Harry Brook put down Khawaja on five at second slip, missing the chance to reduce Australia to 50-3.

Australia eased to 94-2 at lunch, but Marnus Labuschagne (19) played an awful shot to the first ball after the interval as he gently hit an Archer loosener straight to Carse at mid-wicket.

Archer then made it two in three balls when Cameron Green (0) made a similarly poor error, flicking the ball off his pads to Carse, who this time had to dive to his right to ensure Australia were reduced to 94-4.

Khawaja looked to be taking full advantage of both Smith's absence and Brook's drop as he and Carey steadied things for Australia, but he too threw away his wicket when a sweep-slog off Jacks found Tongue on the leg-side boundary.

Carey takes advantage of reprieve as Snicko operator admits error

Tongue got a deserved wicket himself as Josh Inglis (32) played a short delivery onto his own stumps, and the England bowler thought he had another scalp in his next over when there was a clear noise as the ball passed Carey's outside edge on its way through to Smith.

The umpire gave it not out, but England instantly reviewed, while a disappointed-looking Carey, on 72 at the time, appeared to tell his captain Cummins at the other end that he had hit the ball. He would later confirm that he thought he had edged it.

Snicko showed a huge spike, but as it was a couple of frames before the ball passed the bat, the third umpire upheld the not out decision.

BBG Sports, the company that operates Snicko, accepted culpability for the mistake. The company admitted that the audio was incorrectly taken from the stump mic at the bowler's end, creating the delay that put the audio spike and images so far out of sync.

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"Given that Alex Carey admitted he had hit the ball in question, the only conclusion that can be drawn from this, is that the Snicko operator at the time must have selected the incorrect stump mic for audio processing," BBG Sports said.

"In light of this, BBG Sports takes full responsibility for the error."

Snickometer did at least deliver for England a short time later when it backed up the umpire's decision to give Cummins out after an inside edge from a Carse delivery popped up off his thigh-pad to Ollie Pope at short leg. The Australia captain's review appeared to be in hope of the technology proving inaccurate rather than because he didn't think he'd hit the ball.

Despite having benefitted from a moment of fortune, Carey played superbly throughout his innings and brought up his first Ashes century by driving Stokes through the covers, cueing emotional celebrations as he looked to the sky following his father's death in September.

"It was pretty special to make a hundred here in front of home fans and family, and you know why I was looking to the heavens," Carey said. "I'll try not to tear up. It was a great moment."

A tired England looked to be posing little threat to Carey and Mitchell Starc (33 not out), but the former went for one big shot too many and skied an attempted slog sweep off Jacks to set up an easy catch for Smith.

England were unable to remove Starc or the scoreless Nathan Lyon as they bowled three overs with the new ball at the end of the day, but will understand the importance of not allowing the home side too many more runs on Thursday morning.

Ashes series in Australia 2025-26

Australia lead five-match series 2-0

• First Test (Perth): Australia beat England by eight wickets
• Second Test (Brisbane): Australia beat England by eight wickets
• Third Test: Wednesday December 17 - Sunday December 21 (Adelaide)
• Fourth Test: Friday December 26 - Tuesday December 30 (Melbourne)
• Fifth Test: Sunday January 4 - Thursday January 8 (Sydney)