Mitchell Johnson
Reuters

Australia face England in the third Ashes test at the Western Australia Cricket Association Ground at Perth on Friday.

Where to Watch Live

The play starts at 2:30am GMT. Live coverage will be available on Sky Sports 2 and Sky Sports 2 HD. Follow live text updates of the game on ESPN Cricinfo.

Overview

The hosts come into the Perth test with 2-0 lead in the series after registering victories at Brisbane and the Adelaide Oval. Australian bowlers restricted England from scoring an innings total of over 200 three times in a row, before they managed 312 in the second innings of the second test.

Michael Clarke won the toss in the first two tests and elected to bat first and the Australian skipper will be looking to do the same again in Perth, should the coin land in the hosts' favour for the third time in the series.

Clarke will then unleash Mitchell Johnson, who has been the star player with the ball for Australia thus far, picking up 17 wickets and earning the man-of-the-match award in both games.

Stuart Broad
Reuters

Meanwhile, England will be hoping to solve their poor batting form at the top as Alastair Cook has been dismissed cheaply three times in two tests. The middle order batsmen have failed to hold their ground and England have been unable to put on big partnerships so far this series.

The visitors' key bowler James Anderson has had a poor series so far, managing just five wickets from first two tests while Stuart Broad has 11 wickets to his name. Cook will be desperate for Anderson to return to form in order to prevent Australia from posting a huge total.

A defeat for the visitors in the third test would see them suffer a series defeat, and pose major questions of the managerial duo of Cook and coach Andy Flower.

Form Guide

Australia (Last Five, most recent first): W W D L D

England (Last Five, most recent first): L L D W D

Team News

Australia

Probable Lineup: Chris Rogers, David Warner, Shane Watson, Michael Clarke (c), Steven Smith, George Bailey, Brad Haddin (wk), Mitchell Johnson, Peter Siddle, Ryan Harris, Nathan Lyon.

England

Probable Lineup: Alastair Cook (c), Michael Carberry, Joe Root, Kevin Pietersen, Ian Bell, Gary Ballance, Matt Prior (wk), Stuart Broad, Graeme Swann, Tim Bresnan, James Anderson

Australia