'It was probably one of the best barbecues I've seen, to be honest with you. It came out of the blue'
'We know we're behind the game again, in the situation we currently stand.'
The Ashes could be decided within days at an Adelaide Oval furnace where England's hopes of wresting back the urn will fire anew or flame out entirely against a strengthened Australia.
An Ashes tour that began with high hopes of taking home the urn has been reduced to a desperate effort to salvage some last vestiges of dignity for England.
Spinner Todd Murphy has been called into the Australia squad in place of the injured Nathan Lyon for this week's fourth Ashes Test, while captain Pat Cummins will skip the rest of the series as his back issue is managed.
Australia may opt to continue with a four-prong pace attack at Adelaide and even add another part-time seamer in all-rounder Beau Webster, who could replace batter Josh Inglis in the lower middle order.
"I think he (Shami) will be a major miss for India, given the Australian conditions. The pace and bouncy wickets in Australia would have helped India in gaining an upper hand if Shami had been in the squad but that's not in the selector's hand as he is recovering, but I think he will be missed," Adams said.
The overwhelmingly bowler-friendly Melbourne pitch on which 20 wickets fell on Day 1 of the Boxing Day Test has prompted Kevin Pietersen and Dinesh Kartik to point out the selective criticism of Indian tracks when spinners get wickets in a heap.
Celebrated Indian spin maestros Anil Kumble and Ravichandran Ashwin showered praise upon Lyon.
Former wicketkeeper Brad Haddin says Australia missed the experience and skills of senior spinner Nathan Lyon during their unsuccessful World T20 campaign in India. Lyon was kept out in favour of young spinners Adam Zampa and Ashton Agar, while allrounder Glenn Maxwell also chipped in with his part-timers. Rookie leg-spinner Zampa was a revelation for the Aussies, claiming five wickets in four matches in the tournament. But Australia's other spin options were used sparingly throughout the tournament; Agar bowled just one over in his only match against New Zealand, which went for 18, while Maxwell sent down eight overs in four matches, taking two wickets and conceding 7.6 runs an over. Australia suffered defeats to New Zealand and hosts India to be knocked out in the group stage and on wickets the supported spin bowling, Haddin says Lyon was sorely missed.
Legendary Australian leg spinner Shane Warne has accused skipper Steve Smith of 'bad captaincy' for his handling of off-spinner Nathan Lyon during the team's first Test against South Africa at the WACA in Perth.
IMAGES from Day 5 of the 3rd Ashes Test in Adelaide on Sunday.
Pat Cummins said that the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) pitch looks "nice and firm" with a "bit of grass coverage"
It was a wild ride while it lasted but the 'Bazball' revolution that enlivened English cricket for three years collapsed in 11 days on Australian soil in an Ashes defeat as harrowing as any in the modern era.
Having made their Test debuts in the same year, Nathan Lyon and Ravichandran Ashwin will face each other for the eighth time in the longest format during the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.
Mitchell Starc has paid a glorious tribute to the just-retired India off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin
'We could play a couple of all-rounders. Could play a spinner. Could play no spinner. We'll figure it out.'
Windies were restricted in their second innings by economical seamer Josh Hazlewood (3-23) and spinner Nathan Lyon (3-42).
Ahead of the Ashes, Australian off-spinner Nathan Lyon urged his teammates to remain calm in the face of the 'Bazball' threat.
With 539 scalps in 134 matches at an average of 30.39 and best figures of 5/39, Lyon is the seventh-highest wicket-taker in Tests and has 24 five-wicket hauls and five ten-wicket hauls.
Pat Cummins on Saturday rated himself a "half chance" to play the day-night Test against England in Brisbane from December 4.
Nathan Lyon limps off with calf injury
With the pitch a spinner's paradise, Nathan Lyon stood up and rallied his team back into contention.
Triumphant Australia will bid farewell to Usman Khawaja as England look to recover another few scraps of pride when the Ashes series comes to a conclusion with the fifth Test in Sydney from Sunday.
Nathan Lyon has already started his homework on rising batting sensation Yashasvi Jaiswal
'Maybe he got some indication from the team management that he is no longer in the scheme of things.'
Australia bowled the West Indies out for 333 on Sunday in the second session of Day 5 to register a thumping 164-run victory in the first Test at Perth Stadium and a 1-0 lead in the two-match series.
Lyon is just 34 wickets away from surpassing Glenn McGrath to become Australia's second-highest wicket-taker in Tests.
Images from Day 2 of the second Test between India and Australia, at the Arun Jaitley stadium in Delhi, on Friday.
Steve Smith returns to action in the Boxing Day Test against England as Australia opted to include four fast bowlers in their 12-man squad.
Australia finished second in the league table during the 2023-25 WTC cycle, behind South Africa, having claimed 67.54 per cent of the points on offer to them.
Australia stormed to an eight-wicket victory in the second Ashes Test on Sunday to take a 2-0 series lead as England succumbed on day four to a pace blitz from unlikely hero Michael Neser.
Batting under lights on a lively track, Australia then suffered a collapse of their own and finished day two on 99-6 for an overall lead of 181 as they look to complete a series sweep.
Never thought I would be back in India in million years, this feels surreal: Harmer
England were spared the ignominy of the follow-on but Australia appeared on course for victory after dominating day three of the day-night second Ashes Test at the Adelaide Oval on Saturday.
Bazball is in the firing line, with former players and pundits decrying the high-risk game on Australia's spicy pitches.
IMAGES from Day 2 of the 3rd Test played between India and Australia in Indore on Thursday.
'Lyon has improved as a bowler in the last four-five years. He likes to bowl and he wants to bowl as many overs as possible. His line length is very good and has improved a lot, I feel.'
Rohit Sharma, who joined the team on Day 3 of the Test, was present to witness the historic win and shared a heartwarming moment with Virat Kohli, who returned to form with a brilliant century.
Images from Day 4 of the fourth Test between Australia and India at the MCG on Sunday.
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