Ashes 2023: Australia vs England, 3rd Test - Player Records and Milestones to Watch

After winning the opening two encounters, Pat Cummins and his Australian side now face their arch-rivals England in the third Test match of the ongoing Ashes series. The all-important clash is slated to take place on Thursday, July 06, 2023, at Headingley in Leeds. The visitors are on a roll after having also won the World Test Championship (WTC) final against India just before the start of the Ashes.

Talking about how the series has panned out so far, Australia won a thriller by a margin of two wickets in the opener at Edgbaston in Birmingham. Opening batter Usman Khawaja stamped his authority by putting on solid performances of 141 and 65 in the game. The left-hander won the Player of the Match award for his batting masterclass in both innings, as it helped his side in taking a 1-0 lead. 

Australia’s most consistent and prolific batter Steven Smith was back amongst the runs in the last outing at Lord’s as he slammed his 32^nd Test century. Chasing a target of 371, the hero of the Headingley Test in 2019, skipper Ben Stokes threatened to take the match away from the Aussies before getting dismissed for a spectacular 155, which included nine fours and as many maximums. Notably, the series is already heated up following the controversial dismissal of Jonny Bairstow as the home side looks to bounce back and claim a victory in Leeds to also keep the series alive.

Meanwhile, here are some of the important stats and numbers ahead of the 3^rd Ashes Test between England and Australia:

Head-to-Head: Both rivals have met each other 358 times in the history of Test cricket with England winning on 110 occasions and the Aussies on 152. 96 encounters ended up in a draw.

1 - Steven Smith (99) is one game away from appearing in his landmark 100^th Test match.

72 – Ben Stokes (5928) is 72 runs away from reaching 6000 runs in the Test format.

7 – Stuart Broad (593) is seven scalps away from reaching 600 wickets in Tests.

68 – Alex Carey (932) needs 68 runs to complete the milestone of 1000 runs in Tests.

50 – Harry Brook (950) requires 50 runs to complete 1000 runs in the longest format of the game.

49 – Moeen Ali (2951) requires 49 runs to get to 3000 runs in the Test format.

3 – Stokes (197) needs just three scalps to get to the landmark of 200 wickets in Test matches.

51 – Travis Head (4949) needs 51 runs to reach 5000 runs across formats.

4 – Jonny Bairstow (46) is four big hits away from reaching 50 maximums in Test cricket.

2 – Ali (198) needs just two wickets to complete the milestone of 200 wickets in Test matches.

2 – Stokes (98) is two grabs away from reaching 100 catches in Tests.

14 – David Warner (986) requires 14 fours to complete 1000 fours in Test cricket.

4 – Josh Hazlewood (396) is four scalps away from reaching 400 wickets in international cricket.

3 – Stokes (297) needs three scalps to get to 300 wickets across formats.