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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Adam Magrath replied to LB's discussion Perth Bears GM refuses to rule out play for Zac Lomax
"Being the new club, do the bears get some sort of salary cap concessions? Given his release conditions I'm wondering if we could get some sort of cap relief in exchange for him going there?"
28 minutes ago
Snottie Pimpin replied to LB's discussion Perth Bears GM refuses to rule out play for Zac Lomax
"Im not worried about him at all.
Theres nothing going on upstairs with the bloke. His yardage game is elite but 9/10 decisions he makes on the field are the wrong one. He had more decisons to make at centre and was hopeless. His defence is ordinary.…"
43 minutes ago
Bubba j replied to LB's discussion Perth Bears GM refuses to rule out play for Zac Lomax
"Who cares "
54 minutes ago
JEELman replied to LB's discussion Perth Bears GM refuses to rule out play for Zac Lomax
"Tran$fer fee?"
55 minutes ago
GM replied to LB's discussion Perth Bears GM refuses to rule out play for Zac Lomax
"Ploppa won't like this, but you’ve been around for a while....so ur good, he just likes to be a titd to the newbies"
56 minutes ago
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"Reminds me of Bevan French"
1 hour ago
Cʜɪᴇғy Mclovin 🐐 replied to LB's discussion Perth Bears GM refuses to rule out play for Zac Lomax
"Why are we worried about Lomax.  That's two contract in two years he's walked from.   He talked sht about the dragons whilst under contract there causing considerable damage to team culture, now this 
I say fark him and forget him .  Seems like a…"
1 hour ago
Blue Eel replied to LB's discussion Perth Bears GM refuses to rule out play for Zac Lomax
"This whole Lomax affair is becoming a huge joke at every turn. I'm starting to question Lomax sanity.
This coming year his St George contract was for $850k throws it away to join the Eels
This coming year his Eels contract was for reported $650K,…"
1 hour ago
LB replied to LB's discussion Perth Bears GM refuses to rule out play for Zac Lomax
"When you shake a tree multiple times usually multiple things fall out. We only shake it once it seems and take what is given."
1 hour ago
RB replied to LB's discussion Perth Bears GM refuses to rule out play for Zac Lomax
"I hear you but a lot of clubs would give us someone for Lomax. He's a top 3 winger in the nrl. "
1 hour ago
Snottie Pimpin replied to LB's discussion Perth Bears GM refuses to rule out play for Zac Lomax
"I woulld say the plan is to shake trees and see if anything falls out. How hard they shake them would depend on how we start the season and how much the depth is being tested. "
1 hour ago
Snottie Pimpin replied to LB's discussion Perth Bears GM refuses to rule out play for Zac Lomax
"There is no bargaining chip with Perth. 
The club would just wash their hands of him. I don't think he's as highly regarded in league club circles as he is in media circles. 2 contracts walked out on in 18 months. They don't mean anything to him. 
I…"
1 hour ago
RB replied to LB's discussion Perth Bears GM refuses to rule out play for Zac Lomax
"You can use it as a bargaining chip. And you make another team stronger by releasing him."
2 hours ago
GM replied to LB's discussion Perth Bears GM refuses to rule out play for Zac Lomax
"Yep.... all rolled into one 🫤"
2 hours ago
Coryn Hughes replied to LB's discussion Perth Bears GM refuses to rule out play for Zac Lomax
"Does it really matter all I want to know is what's the plan to replace Lomax that's the real issue at hand if it's Simonsson yikes."
2 hours ago
Snottie Pimpin replied to LB's discussion Perth Bears GM refuses to rule out play for Zac Lomax
"What will we gain out of holding onto his rights for the next 3 years? A big fat nothing.
Ryles was happy for him to go. Id say the clause was more in place to save us getting shit on when this thing fell through for 2026 and he hypthetically signed…"
2 hours ago
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