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.

You need to be a member of 1Eyed Eel to add comments!

Join 1Eyed Eel

Votes: 0
Email me when people reply –

Latest comments

Adam Magrath replied to Old School Eel's discussion Seeya Seibold
"Not sure if it's true or not, but someone was telling me png players will be exempt from income tax and the club can make third party type deals for players which don't come under the cap. That's a pretty big deal if true, top tax bracket 47c in the…"
46 minutes ago
Mallee57 replied to Old School Eel's discussion Seeya Seibold
"Have a feeling it might be Brad Arthur as their new coach"
57 minutes ago
LB replied to Old School Eel's discussion Seeya Seibold
"I would say that's a chance that they did it now to get Peters but PNG would be giving Peters big money."
1 hour ago
LB replied to Old School Eel's discussion Seeya Seibold
"Keep an eye on Matt Ballin. Jason King is involved and they played together and good mates. Ballin seen as a future star coach. Winning a comp with Brisbane helps."
1 hour ago
LB replied to Old School Eel's discussion Seeya Seibold
"Well Willie Peters has pretty much agreed to PNG so he's out.
Arthur could a chance and I think good for a rebuild as that's what they need. But Ballin will get it."
1 hour ago
KENDOZA replied to Old School Eel's discussion Seeya Seibold
"Willie peters set to be named png chiefs coach"
2 hours ago
HH - Love You Iongi Time! replied to Old School Eel's discussion Seeya Seibold
"Jurbo and Brooks need to be dropped from that team. And reinstated when the play us. "
4 hours ago
fishbulb replied to Old School Eel's discussion Seeya Seibold
"Matt and jake for an nrl comeback lol!"
11 hours ago
Muttman replied to Old School Eel's discussion Seeya Seibold
"1,000,000% BA. 2027 only. No way he'd touch 2026 as it's a poison chalice. But I reckon BA is locked in."
11 hours ago
Parra-all-the-way replied to Old School Eel's discussion Seeya Seibold
"Has willy peters actually signed with England yet? All out of the blue seibold sacked! Maybe manly rushing to get him before png do. But my moneybags on ba, wonder if that would mean jake and Matt would head there too??"
12 hours ago
fishbulb replied to Old School Eel's discussion Seeya Seibold
"Wow, Manly are a joke. Extended him last year, then sack him after 3 games 🤣. Have fun BA!"
13 hours ago
Cʜɪᴇғy Mclovin 🐐 commented on Hell On Eels’s status
"Nobody wants poor BA - bears no. Png no. Newcastle no. , I don't think manly unless they are dumb and dumbest"
13 hours ago
Axel replied to Hell On Eels's discussion Game Day Blog R4 vs Panthers: Disrupt the Disruptors?
"Nice blog as usual HOE.The claws on Clearly's hand look a bit weird. Maybe AI is trying to tell us something LOL "
15 hours ago
Coryn Hughes replied to Hell On Eels's discussion Gus: Eels Showed "Real Grit"
"Rule changes and injury for the most part hurt defenses and one thing stats don't tell you is with injuries come combination changes.When your changing out defensive combinations on the regular it does nothing for things like trust in certain…"
15 hours ago
Mallee57 replied to LB's discussion Eels hooker opens up on thriving one-two punch combination
"That's ok Poppa if you see things differently. We are all entitled to our own opinions. I think Smith has been a bit below par so far this season although he has picked up a bit. Da Silva in comparison has in my opinion improved from last year and…"
16 hours ago
Flow Basket replied to Poppa's discussion Poppa's Corner: We made a mistake, lets admit it, move forward; and it looks like we are overrated!
"Which brings us to 
Mental health can u handle the pezzit situation he's had a couple of very good games if u include trial.but yeah he's could be a flat track playeer .
If he can't tackle get ride of him"
17 hours ago
More…

Keaon done deal

As of Thursday, December 11, 2025, South Sydney Rabbitohs forwardKeaon Koloamatangi has reportedly agreed to a deal with the Parramatta Eels, but it is not yet officially announced by the clubs.  Soon to be announced.

Read more…
14 Replies · Reply by Poppa Jan 9
Views: 2243

 

<script src="https://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/js/adsbygoogle.js"></script>
<!-- Sidebar -->
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<script>// <![CDATA[
(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});
// ]]></script>