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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mongolian trotting duck replied to Hell On Eels's discussion Game Day Blog R10 v Cowboys: The Townsville Graveyard (Eels upset Cows in 33-30 Golden Point Thriller)
"also a heavy ground did not help with fatigue mw"
24 minutes ago
Simon Priestly replied to Hell On Eels's discussion Game Day Blog R10 v Cowboys: The Townsville Graveyard (Eels upset Cows in 33-30 Golden Point Thriller)
"Said to my son last night that id have Samrani in the side every week, even if we had no injuries. Its not just that he seems to get over the advantage line every run he makes, but its the fact that he makes so many runs, his effort every time he…"
28 minutes ago
shane replied to Eli Stephens's discussion 3,2,1 😊😊
"moses isn't playing injuried, if he was he wouldn't be taking the kicks. Stop making excuses for him, a 1.3 mil player who has be out performed by his partner in crime Volkman on minimium wage."
40 minutes ago
Alfred Mateo replied to Eli Stephens's discussion 3,2,1 😊😊
"Still missing way too many tackles-particularly in the middle. TDS was great last night but missed 8 tackles and Guymer missed 9.
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47 minutes ago
Alfred Mateo replied to Hell On Eels's discussion Game Day Blog R10 v Cowboys: The Townsville Graveyard (Eels upset Cows in 33-30 Golden Point Thriller)
"Totally agree Rich. We still need to defend better but last nights game was won on heart"
58 minutes ago
LB replied to Eli Stephens's discussion 3,2,1 😊😊
"And the play down the short side to Samrani that set up Joash's try."
1 hour ago
LB replied to Eli Stephens's discussion 3,2,1 😊😊
"No not at all, he was great. Not overrating him."
1 hour ago
Hector Bob Down replied to Hell On Eels's discussion Game Day Blog R10 v Cowboys: The Townsville Graveyard (Eels upset Cows in 33-30 Golden Point Thriller)
"Adam we can only hope "
1 hour ago
Mallee57 replied to Eli Stephens's discussion 3,2,1 😊😊
"Agree 100%"
2 hours ago
Mallee57 replied to Eli Stephens's discussion 3,2,1 😊😊
"Moses was off for most of the night except for the winning field goal which he can than Volkmann for making the break. Moses must be playing injured or the captaincy is affecting his game"
2 hours ago
Mallee57 replied to Eli Stephens's discussion 3,2,1 😊😊
"3 - Volkmann - Hope he remains number 6 and Ryles doesn't put Pezet back there. Volkmann reads the game well and has an X factor about him. 
2 - Samrani, TDS 
1 - Fox 
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2 hours ago
Adam Magrath replied to Hell On Eels's discussion Game Day Blog R10 v Cowboys: The Townsville Graveyard (Eels upset Cows in 33-30 Golden Point Thriller)
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2 hours ago
Coryn Hughes replied to Hell On Eels's discussion Game Day Blog R10 v Cowboys: The Townsville Graveyard (Eels upset Cows in 33-30 Golden Point Thriller)
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4 hours ago
JC replied to Eli Stephens's discussion 3,2,1 😊😊
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7 hours ago
Perpetual Motion replied to Eli Stephens's discussion 3,2,1 😊😊
"The Ibis (249m)
The Volkinator
Mataele.
Kelly played his best game for us so far."
7 hours ago
Yehez replied to Eli Stephens's discussion 3,2,1 😊😊
"Might be overrating his performance but yeah 80 mins of consistency is quite impressive for me. "
8 hours ago
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Keaon done deal

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14 Replies · Reply by Poppa Jan 9
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