England won't be lured into becoming a bowl-first team again in Adelaide, with Ben Stokes declaring he does not want to repeat the mistake of Nasser Hussain in 2002.

Down 2-0 in the Ashes and staring down the barrel of a fifth straight series without lifting the urn, England must be near-flawless from this point to win the series.

With Ben Stokes as captain and Brendon McCullum as coach, the tourists have traditionally been a bowl-first team for the past for years.

Of the 24 times they have won the toss since McCullum took over in 2022, they have bowled first 14 times.

They have also won 15 Tests, lost seven and drawn twice when bowling first in that time, compared to 10 wins and nine losses batting first.

There is a theory in Adelaide that day one could be the best time to bowl, with ground staff to leave more moisture in the wicket before extreme heat on day two.

Temperatures are forecast to reach 35 in Adelaide on Wednesday, before the mercury soars to 39 on Thursday and drops back to 32 on Friday.

But Stokes won't be lured into the trap, pointing to Hussain's error in 2002-03 where he bowled first in Brisbane and Australia finished the opening day of the series at 2-364 in the heat.

"It's going to be pretty hot on days one and two," Stokes said.

"I am pretty sure I will become a meme or GIF at some point in my career.

"I don't want to be another Nasser Hussain."

England have batted first in each of the opening two Tests, but are yet to last 80 overs in any one innings so far in this series.

A win inside four days would hand Australia the quickest retention of an Ashes in more than a century, since England wrapped up the series inside four days in 1921.

Making the hosts' position even more remarkable is the fact Nathan Lyon, Pat Cummins and Josh Hazlewood have bowled just two overs combined in the first two Tests.

Hazlewood remains out for the series with hamstring and Achilles issues, while Cummins returns from a back injury in Adelaide and Lyon is also back following his omission in Brisbane.

"It's incredible," Cummins said.

"It shows just great depth in the Aussie cricket system at the moment with fast bowlers.