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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Hell On Eels replied to Poppa's discussion Poppa's Dilemma, Welcome to my Corner, come in and have a Cuppa with a Silly Old Bastard. I think it's New Year Shortly?
"Pops, I'm not sure who's who, but geez if this is how you guys brushed up, Woooh. Definitely, keepers. ZZ Top meets Men-In-Black with hot chocolate. I'm curious what are Carls and Macy think.  RIP Sir Col and Sluggy. "
6 minutes ago
Poppa replied to CarloEEL2's discussion Scouting report - today’s Tele
"Interesting discussion as I had this dilemma when choosing my side....the points everyone make are true, so it is a completely subjective discussion, but a good one to have.....the potential of Kautoga is pretty well untapped and in Kelma's case, I…"
11 minutes ago
Darren Munro replied to CarloEEL2's discussion Scouting report - today’s Tele
"We are odds on to get sualli at the end of his wallaby's contract. Be interesting to see how some players go after having big off season.  Teacum Brown has been killing it. Looks bigger than tuivaiti. Doorey, kelma and Moretti have all had their…"
24 minutes ago
Poppa replied to Poppa's discussion Poppa's Dilemma, Welcome to my Corner, come in and have a Cuppa with a Silly Old Bastard. I think it's New Year Shortly?
"LOL.... You could become famous Chiefy, our first "TRANS" member......not that your not already Lol"
39 minutes ago
Poppa replied to Poppa's discussion Poppa's Dilemma, Welcome to my Corner, come in and have a Cuppa with a Silly Old Bastard. I think it's New Year Shortly?
"Don't mention the WAR!"
42 minutes ago
Poppa replied to Poppa's discussion Poppa's Dilemma, Welcome to my Corner, come in and have a Cuppa with a Silly Old Bastard. I think it's New Year Shortly?
"Well last time I looked you were still alive....didn't want to confuse you with the recently departed.....just unnamed in the group of 4....LOL"
55 minutes ago
Poppa replied to Poppa's discussion Poppa's Dilemma, Welcome to my Corner, come in and have a Cuppa with a Silly Old Bastard. I think it's New Year Shortly?
"Your right and I would like to aologise to you Randolph, it was cruel and insensitive referring to you as a Reindeer when obviously just another animal pulling a cart, trying to earn a  BUCK FOR YOUR DRUG DEPENDANCY....not that there is anything…"
57 minutes ago
LB replied to CarloEEL2's discussion Scouting report - today’s Tele
"Yeah I don't see Tuilagi as a full-time 80 min player as his defence is not good enough. He is an impact player as he can run a killer line and deliver a great offload. 
Kautoga is better in defence."
59 minutes ago
Adam Magrath replied to CarloEEL2's discussion Scouting report - today’s Tele
"Apologies, you've covered this already. I should have done a better job than a quick skim."
1 hour ago
Jack Eelson replied to CarloEEL2's discussion Scouting report - today’s Tele
"You think Kautoga makes too many errors? But Taulagi is fine? 😂 dude who stole your brain? "
1 hour ago
Adam Magrath replied to CarloEEL2's discussion Scouting report - today’s Tele
"Coryn, given what you've said here about Tuilagi do you think we are better served with him being a middle forward? Those are my thoughts."
1 hour ago
Randy Handlinger replied to Poppa's discussion Poppa's Dilemma, Welcome to my Corner, come in and have a Cuppa with a Silly Old Bastard. I think it's New Year Shortly?
"I apologize for this link
it is to twitter/x but it's pretty funny
Poppa i think you will like this"
1 hour ago
Coryn Hughes replied to CarloEEL2's discussion Scouting report - today’s Tele
"Mark me down as another fan of Kautoga also he's the type of athlete we want on the edge.IMO I think he offers more lateral agility than Tuilagi whose also impactful with the ball and has the same issues as Kautoga.They both have an errors in there…"
2 hours ago
LB replied to CarloEEL2's discussion Scouting report - today’s Tele
"Kautoga showed so much promise and improvement towards the end of the year. He runs a good line, is good in defence, gets through work and posesses an offloard. I just think it is promise from him, plus Ryles seems to be a big fan. But if Tuilagi…"
9 hours ago
Richard B'Stard replied to CarloEEL2's discussion Scouting report - today’s Tele
"It amazes me that there are battlers out there who still purchase this trash. I wonder what percentage of those readers that are left, (not many) fall for the BS contained within, (particularly in the political pages)?"
10 hours ago
Offside replied to GM's discussion Welcome BK
"Bailey was training with the reserves in a opposed session he is coming back from injury so maybe Samrani is filling in but I thought it was interesting im not opposed to it he would do the grunt work from our end"
10 hours ago
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