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

Parrafan101 replied to Joel K's discussion Credit to the bench
"I feel JDB needs to start, towards the end when JBD came back on our defence felt more a bit clean through the middle."
11 minutes ago
Clintorian replied to Joel K's discussion Credit to the bench
"Tuivaiti to start, and Junior on the bench could be a really easy fix. Honestly, I haven't seen Tui have a bad game yet, give him the start and see how he handles it."
20 minutes ago
DYNASTY.LOADING replied to Angry Eel's discussion 3,2,1s
"3. Iongi
2. Walker
1. Big Sam"
27 minutes ago
Strange-eel replied to Hell On Eels's discussion Game Day Blog R2 v Broncos: Back on the Horse
"When he picked up that loose ball, last year he burned everyone to the tryline."
28 minutes ago
Strange-eel replied to Hell On Eels's discussion Game Day Blog R2 v Broncos: Back on the Horse
"If we work on D we will be a decent side."
30 minutes ago
Strange-eel replied to Hell On Eels's discussion Game Day Blog R2 v Broncos: Back on the Horse
"Yes a better tean with Samrani. Defence sometimes outweighs offence."
31 minutes ago
Blue Eel replied to Angry Eel's discussion 3,2,1s
"EA while no where near his best, his good contributions deserved a mention i thought. His long range kicks some over 60m saved us and kept the Broncs from near our line. Late in the second half it was instrumental in keeping field position down…"
32 minutes ago
Strange-eel replied to Hell On Eels's discussion Game Day Blog R2 v Broncos: Back on the Horse
"His thumb is still broken really."
33 minutes ago
Strange-eel replied to Hell On Eels's discussion Game Day Blog R2 v Broncos: Back on the Horse
"Both our rakes were good tonight."
36 minutes ago
HH - Love You Iongi Time! replied to Angry Eel's discussion 3,2,1s
"3 - Kelma
2 - Isaiah
1 - Bailey
 
Credit to our bench and the punch they provided."
37 minutes ago
Strange-eel replied to Hell On Eels's discussion Game Day Blog R2 v Broncos: Back on the Horse
"He has been very impressive."
37 minutes ago
Blue Eel replied to Roy tannous's discussion Can Pezet leave already
"This aged well."
37 minutes ago
Richard Jackson replied to Hell On Eels's discussion Game Day Blog R2 v Broncos: Back on the Horse
"Lapped in rd 1, down 20/6 early tonite but against all odds brought it home.      
Oh my beautiful boys!!!"
42 minutes ago
Jerry Bailey replied to Hell On Eels's discussion Game Day Blog R2 v Broncos: Back on the Horse
"Next 5 matches at home at CommBank Stadium. Happy days!"
48 minutes ago
Parrafan101 replied to Angry Eel's discussion 3,2,1s
"Mate moses was the reason why we got back in the game. Without him we would have been blown out."
48 minutes ago
parra supporter replied to Angry Eel's discussion 3,2,1s
"3 Moses- we do not win without his kicking game 
2walker- changed our attack when he came on
1- smith- best attacking footy he's played and his long balls to our halves really opened up our attack.
hon mentions pezet da Silva tuilagi and tuivati "
53 minutes 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: 2188

 

BRONCOS 32-40 EELS

WHAT A WIN BOYZZZWhat a win, we stuck in there the whole game after a terrible start to the game. Tuilagi was brilliant despite an early high tackle leading to a try he scored 2 tries and was a brilliant ball runner of the edge. Iongi is the spark…

Read more…
2 Replies · Reply by macybrown 1 hour ago
Views: 303

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