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

Muttman replied to Eels2025's discussion Where do we see the EELS finishing?
"I've got serious concerns with our middles. (And with Pezet). Unless we fix those glaring issues I can't see us making the 8. "
5 minutes ago
Nightmare Off-Season replied to Poppa's discussion Poppa's Corner: We made a mistake, lets admit it, move forward; and it looks like we are overrated!
"Thanks EA, sounds promising. Do you rate Fletcher highly? Or too early to say?"
11 minutes ago
Nightmare Off-Season replied to Poppa's discussion Poppa's Corner: We made a mistake, lets admit it, move forward; and it looks like we are overrated!
"All good points, LB.
With a few astute signings, 2028 could still be a contending year. "
14 minutes ago
EA replied to Poppa's discussion Poppa's Corner: We made a mistake, lets admit it, move forward; and it looks like we are overrated!
"Very early crow here but I can see Petrus, Koina and Popo playing NSW cup next year with a chance of an NRL debut too. All three should hopefully get a taste of NSW Cup this year."
21 minutes ago
EA replied to Poppa's discussion Poppa's Corner: We made a mistake, lets admit it, move forward; and it looks like we are overrated!
"I recon Fletcher will play Flegg and maybe a game or two in cup this year. In 2027 I recon he will be the nsw cup halfback so back up halfback to Moses. Essentially following the same development as Sanders.
I can see Lorenzo making his NRL debut at…"
25 minutes ago
LB replied to Poppa's discussion Poppa's Corner: We made a mistake, lets admit it, move forward; and it looks like we are overrated!
"To add to the 2028 talk. Players like Tuivaiti, Iongi, Kautoga, Samrani, Da Silva, Smith etc. If they are still at the club are well past 50 games bracket that is considered the point where the game slows down and you are FG hardened. Talataina…"
32 minutes ago
LB replied to Poppa's discussion Poppa's Corner: We made a mistake, lets admit it, move forward; and it looks like we are overrated!
"Thanks to Webster, who Moses called the best halves coach he ever had."
35 minutes ago
LB replied to Poppa's discussion Poppa's Corner: We made a mistake, lets admit it, move forward; and it looks like we are overrated!
"Yeah i understand and things can be done for him to try and do both in some area. Though as you said why weaken one area to somewhat strengthen another when it is not a massive strength. Walker at 6 could be the better option, but him not being in…"
36 minutes ago
LB replied to Poppa's discussion Poppa's Corner: We made a mistake, lets admit it, move forward; and it looks like we are overrated!
"He jumped from Ball to Flegg and handled it quickly, he jumped from Flegg to Cup and handled it pretty well considering size, age, experience. He has played more Cup games now than Flegg i believe. That's saying something."
39 minutes ago
Zip zip replied to ParramattaLurker's discussion Round 4 Team List v Penrith Panthers
"If Penrith don't have a send off or early injury to either Cleary, Yeo or Edwards.... Penrith by plenty. Hopefully not as much as the Storm game 😬"
56 minutes ago
Nightmare Off-Season replied to Poppa's discussion Poppa's Corner: We made a mistake, lets admit it, move forward; and it looks like we are overrated!
"Agree, Coryn. 
2028 is probably a best case scenario and thats recruitment / development dependant?!
Looking objectively & excluding emotion, our timeline for competing for a premiership realistically excludes Moses, JAC, Paulo, Russell, Dylan…"
1 hour ago
Parra-all-the-way replied to ParramattaLurker's discussion Round 4 Team List v Penrith Panthers
"Id almost prefer guymer at centre, mobile enough and better in defence than Kelly. He just needs to hold the edge, we have plenty of attack elsewhere in the team imo. "
1 hour ago
EA replied to Poppa's discussion Poppa's Corner: We made a mistake, lets admit it, move forward; and it looks like we are overrated!
"Junior off the bench doing that role is the future but as you said we need the starting middles. You recon Tuivita and Moretti can do that role next year?"
1 hour ago
EA replied to ParramattaLurker's discussion Round 4 Team List v Penrith Panthers
"If anyone is feeling good about this game I want whatever they are on lol"
1 hour ago
Doombaby69 replied to EA's discussion Hopgood acl
"He got 4 weeks. What a load. "
1 hour ago
Tin Tim replied to Poppa's discussion Poppa's Corner: We made a mistake, lets admit it, move forward; and it looks like we are overrated!
"Lol yeah ok. "
1 hour 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: 2235

 

Where do we see the EELS finishing?

Just eager to see where everyone thinks we will place on the table come season end?As of now, I have us between 6th-10th, just depending on injuries and how much our middle defence improves throughout the year. Another factor is if we unearth some…

Read more…
1 Reply · Reply by Muttman 5 minutes ago
Views: 18

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