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

LB replied to Snottie Pimpin's discussion Centres
"Please BE, don't think i am giving them a pass. 2021 off season alone is enough to dispise them as that set the club back years. Losing Mahoney and Papali'i including a few depth players, then having Paulo, RCG and Matto have us over a barrel for…"
5 minutes ago
LB replied to Snottie Pimpin's discussion Centres
"Square in the temple might do haha. 
Though i see it as a slight possibility to get him into FG via either Wing or Centre if they feel he can play it. Who knows, he could find his way into Cup in those spots later in the year and see how he handles…"
11 minutes ago
EA replied to Snottie Pimpin's discussion Centres
"where do you want the bullet ? Lol
i can't see Bamblet being given a chance there. Already been arguing if we develop him as a 1 or 6. Adding another position will hurt his development I believe. Needs consistency in a position to develop "
16 minutes ago
EA replied to Snottie Pimpin's discussion Centres
"Yep Nanva and Samrani are depth options. They cannot be the first choice in a good team. Nanva had a shocker yesterday in nsw cup. Complete opposite to his game last week. We need to go to the market because Seuseu, Bloomfield, Sorovi, Roksuka need…"
17 minutes ago
Offside replied to Snottie Pimpin's discussion Centres
"I agree although I feel with Tago you take him away from that Penrith team hes not as good he was a 2nd rower converted to centre over the years you see teams signing players from the Storm,Roosters and Panthers that those teams are willing to…"
38 minutes ago
Zip zip replied to Roy tannous's discussion My takeaways from today
"What was so obvious was the move away from what worked against the Dogs. Jr and JDB needed to be told to tuck the ball under the arms and run hard. Neither of them should have the license to off load, especially down in our own half. When you're…"
39 minutes ago
Coryn Hughes replied to Snottie Pimpin's discussion Centres
"See this is the thing if we are going to replace either for Penisini the ceiling is like for like.Both of the mentioned are decent but I see them as depth type players this can't be the ceiling we are looking for.
You'd be better off recruiting Tago…"
43 minutes ago
Coryn Hughes replied to jamie's discussion Ryles the Super Coach
"He did exactly that but what's stopping him from asking.
How important is winning a premiership to Moses if he doesn't care and just continues to make the blues and Australian teams ok he'll stay.But I look at what's coming developmentally and our…"
48 minutes ago
Offside replied to Snottie Pimpin's discussion Centres
"With Will when he came onto the scene he looked every bit a future star unfortunately he hasn't kicked on maybe this is his ceiling or maybe hes complacent as he has never had competition for his spot.
Nanva and Samrani both have showed that they…"
51 minutes ago
Blue Eel replied to Snottie Pimpin's discussion Centres
"Good points , Different opinions by different people I guess about who should stay who should go. "
52 minutes ago
Speech replied to Mallee57's discussion Repeat Sets & Penalties
"In this game there was a six again given that was called at the end of a long set. It was as if the ref thought a tackle had been made and somehow Parramatta was offside after a tackle that never happened. For me the refs especially this one loses…"
52 minutes ago
Coryn Hughes replied to jamie's discussion Ryles the Super Coach
"If the club had any brains any it should have aligned DBs contract with Mitchell's so you no your halves would have been locked up for Moses's timeframe that's how it should have been done.
What happend here is the club didn't account for Peter…"
55 minutes ago
Blue Eel replied to Snottie Pimpin's discussion Centres
"ohhhh so sorry you feel that way Adam and your entitled to your opinion. Can you show me any other Eels team since1947 that has been worse up to round 6 I havnt checked since then . I'n not speaking bullshit, but happy to be prove wrong . For the…"
55 minutes ago
Coryn Hughes replied to Snottie Pimpin's discussion Centres
"This is what concerns me about Parra development how many of these players are able to make the jump and make a fist of it right a way from what I'm seeing our development outside of DB aren't ready made good to go from the jump they feel under done…"
1 hour ago
BringBackSemi replied to Snottie Pimpin's discussion Centres
"Until we get some go forward in the middle, doesn't matter what we do on the edges. The only way we even compete at the moment is off the back of Mitch's kicks down field. Ryles obviously recognises that by going after KK, and now Sua. The Dog's…"
1 hour ago
Coryn Hughes replied to Snottie Pimpin's discussion Centres
"Saab I was waiting for someone to cut him in half there's plenty there to hit yet here we are no one touched him up and yet you see JAC hit it up please he's running soft when bringing the ball out because if he gets hit it's game over.Tola also an…"
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: 2375

 

Centres

We without a doubt have the worst centre pairing in the comp . You can look through every other side - neither of our centres would get a start in any of them . It's an area we have neglected in both recruitment and development. We have a rep level…

Read more…
24 Replies · Reply by LB 5 minutes ago
Views: 566

Repeat Sets & Penalties

Is there actually anyone that records which team receives the most amount of repeat sets? I'd like to know which NRL side gets the most and which side gets the least.I'd also wouldn't mind knowing which referees tends to award them the most and how…

Read more…
4 Replies · Reply by Speech 52 minutes ago
Views: 261

My takeaways from today

1.Brian Kelly needs to get sacked,is there none better or something going on behind the four walls.to try and bring a outside back on loan deal or something cause Kelly is seriously horrendous.2.Junior paulo ain't first grade standard anymore,I've…

Read more…
12 Replies · Reply by Zip zip 39 minutes ago
Views: 870

Ryles the Super Coach

So the supercoach has come up with run hard,tackle hard.The play book for any U13 dad coach.No shape,no defensive structure and no attacking plays at all.In the first time since watching the game 1977 I have turned a Parra game off.Ryles offers…

Read more…
85 Replies · Reply by Coryn Hughes 48 minutes ago
Views: 1487

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