Ashes Third Test, Headingley

Australia lead the series 1-0 after winning the first Test at Edgbaston and drawing at Lord's.

The Aussies will be without former captain and the best batsman in the world after Steve Smith was ruled out with concussion following a Jofra Archer bouncer that struck him on the neck in his first innings at Lord's.

Marnus Labuschagne is expected to fill Smith's spot like he did at Lord's when he entered the fray as Test cricket's first ever concussion substitute where he scored an admirable 59 runs, helping to steer Australia to a draw on the final day.

It's expected that Peter Siddle will drop out of the side to allow for the return of James Pattinson who was rested for the second Test. Mitchell Starc seems destined to remain on drinks duty.

England meanwhile are expected to name an unchanged 11 although they may tinker with the make up of the batting order. Joe Root has struggled at first drop, while Jason Roy has failed to make the switch from opening in the ODI team to becoming a Test opener. Root is expected to move down to four with Joe Denly jumping into the number three position.

Many are talking about the effect of Jofra Archer's entry into Test cricket. Interestingly, his debut performance lands him as just the 312th best bowler on debut with overall figures of 5/91. He need only look across at his opponents in Pat Cummins (7/117) and Josh Hazlewood (7/142) who had better debut figures.

The Headingley pitch is rumoured to be a slow deck that will crumble and break up towards the end of the match. An interesting decision by the ground staff there given Australia's Nathan Lyon has been collecting wickets for fun and spun the English into knots in the first Test.

As always the toss will be important and Tim Paine will be hoping his luck continues. This will likely be a bat first pitch because no one will be looking to bat last on a decaying deck.

Play starts at 8pm AEST tonight so get your picture-in-picture going or set up a second screen to make sure you don't miss the first ball while watching the Eels belt the Dogs.

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Hector replied to Johnny Suede's discussion Clubs urge NRL to back Parra over Storm's pursuit of Lomax
"Pod cast paul kent had Steve Gilles on on is management company as Lomax manager Dear Clinton he states it was the storm that contacted them regarding interest in Lomax not the other way round way around  (the he said they said)  is now out there…"
12 minutes ago
Tin Tim replied to Johnny Suede's discussion Clubs urge NRL to back Parra over Storm's pursuit of Lomax
"Parra can't & wont lose this, any outcome will be in the Eels favour. Second the Storm ain't the only team that going to ask about Lomax, you'll find whoever can come up with a good deal will win Lomax signature. "
13 minutes ago
Angry Eel replied to Johnny Suede's discussion Clubs urge NRL to back Parra over Storm's pursuit of Lomax
"A simple player swap for the sake of it is not good enough. Using Howarth as an example, does he make Parra better? Maybe a little, but he's no Lomax and Lomax will make Melbourne a lot better. Unless it's Munster, Stefano or Coates, no deal…"
13 minutes ago
Angry Eel replied to Johnny Suede's discussion Clubs urge NRL to back Parra over Storm's pursuit of Lomax
"The only scenario where Lomax has some standing and this is a complete hypothetical is if Parra are not acting in good faith. Say if Lomax already approached Parra and said he wanted to come back and Parra said " no, we don't want you anymore " OR…"
25 minutes ago
Randy Handlinger replied to Johnny Suede's discussion Clubs urge NRL to back Parra over Storm's pursuit of Lomax
"Who are the RLPA in this analogy? Would they play a role in mediation? Would the court take the RLPA's  opinion into account? Or the NRL's?
 "
1 hour ago
LB replied to LB's discussion Make your own rules.
"Lol add boxes for players to fight and get it out of their system."
2 hours ago
Goyoueels replied to LB's discussion Make your own rules.
"No more 7 tackle 20m restarts. If the ball is kicked dead, 6 tackle restart from either 20m out or from where the ball was kicked - whichever is further. "
2 hours ago
The Badger replied to SuperEel 22's discussion The bad smell of Parramatta returns
"Surely they'll be bundied off by then (or most of em) and this 'movement' will be as dead as those who keep bringing this forward."
2 hours ago
Poppa replied to ScottX's discussion Is Parra entering a good luck cycle?
"context Coryn.....every year! lol"
2 hours ago
rex macmundi replied to LB's discussion Make your own rules.
"If a player loses control of ball yet regathers it after a defender touches it and/or before it hits the ground it's play on 
Ball absolutely must be played backwards with foot in the play the ball 
First marker absolutely cannot have contact with…"
3 hours ago
Bourbon Man replied to Johnny Suede's discussion Clubs urge NRL to back Parra over Storm's pursuit of Lomax
"It's not going to work Will.
I'll give you an equivalent example. Let's say you decide to sell your house. You use the funds to buy another house. You don't like your new house and want to buy your old house back. The new owners don't want to sell…"
3 hours ago
Coryn Hughes replied to ScottX's discussion Is Parra entering a good luck cycle?
"No it wouldn't whoever gets bored of winning is lying 😂 "
5 hours ago
Poppa replied to ScottX's discussion Is Parra entering a good luck cycle?
"Better than Jack?"
5 hours ago
Poppa replied to ScottX's discussion Is Parra entering a good luck cycle?
"Just to put another focus on it (no critique of you Scott).....at the time we didn't even know we had a crack at Bennett....was it a dismal attempt?...just because we failed. The truth doesn't matter now but it can be hard to judge sometimes when…"
5 hours ago
Poppa replied to ScottX's discussion Is Parra entering a good luck cycle?
"and old goats lol"
6 hours ago
Poppa replied to ScottX's discussion Is Parra entering a good luck cycle?
"The only squealing i did was in the post.....check that out with what ever sources you can confirm.
In the interim we are getting on spiffingly and i have no problems, yours and your cohort's post's were completely out of place on that blog and you…"
6 hours ago
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8 Replies · Reply by fishbulb 16 hours ago
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Make your own rules.

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