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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Parraborn1 replied to Nitram's discussion How do we field a competitive side based on our top 30?
"we're going to lose to the Titans, yay...."
6 minutes ago
Strange-eel replied to Poppa's discussion Poppa' Corner: The Footie Gods were kind against Dragons and Broncs, this one not so!!......Depth! What Depth is Left?
"Your last sentence sum things up."
7 minutes ago
Muttman replied to Muttman's discussion Sack Mark O’Neill.
"Jim Sarantinos (CEO) can do it. Matt Beach (Chairman) can demand that the CEO do it. By not acting, they're both saying they're happy with his performance. Blows my mind!"
12 minutes ago
Mallee57 replied to Mallee57's discussion Today’s Game- Utterly Disgusting
"What led to the Tigers having the ball in that situation?"
13 minutes ago
Mallee57 replied to Mallee57's discussion Today’s Game- Utterly Disgusting
"😂 Of course the coach and captain won't bag the referees as it costs $10k. I'm more than certain they would have liked to"
15 minutes ago
Mallee57 replied to Mallee57's discussion Today’s Game- Utterly Disgusting
" But you just did 😂"
18 minutes ago
JC replied to Muttman's discussion Sack Mark O’Neill.
"The club won't listen because they have no football experience, even if they got rid of him they wouldn't know who to replace him with. "
20 minutes ago
Mallee57 replied to Muttman's discussion Sack Mark O’Neill.
"Who can actually do it? Who has the authority to be able to ask for his resignation "
20 minutes ago
Eels tragic replied to Muttman's discussion Sack Mark O’Neill.
"Well said Mutts.  Our recruitment or lack thereof has been left wanting for years now.  The buck stops with O'Neill.  Just like in coaching if you are not performing you are terminated.  We have got a cutting edge world rated centre of excellence,…"
31 minutes ago
Who Cares replied to Nitram's discussion How do we field a competitive side based on our top 30?
"After watching NSW cup a few times and again yesterday i like the look of Nanva: He is big and runs hard and fast"
32 minutes ago
Hector Bob Down replied to Mallee57's discussion Today’s Game- Utterly Disgusting
"Your comment is not worth responding to"
55 minutes ago
Hector Bob Down replied to Mallee57's discussion Today’s Game- Utterly Disgusting
"Dave commonsense on here is very hard to find . Im in total shock expept for Ryles part where Questions of sighin him that we have a blog where in my humble opinion is spot on i sat there yesterday in total shock at the bullshit that was going on"
56 minutes ago
The Badger replied to Snottie Pimpin's discussion Charlie Guymer
"Therein lies our problem. The majority of our FG squad are back up players at other clubs. In fact, a lot were actually that before coming to us, even Iongi.
Iongi = back up at Penrith. Simmonson = back up Canberra. Pezet = back up at Melb. Hopgood…"
1 hour ago
Poppa replied to Mallee57's discussion Today’s Game- Utterly Disgusting
"Your right LB, keep up the commonsense."
1 hour ago
Poppa replied to Hell On Eels's discussion We Don’t Lose Games in Moments. We Lose Them in Minutes.
"If they had all that gear on, I think the modern day footballers would end up killing each other in the collisions.....that said the old fashioned footballer was probably "street" tougher but probably not professionally tougher."
1 hour ago
The Badger replied to Codswallop's discussion Eels will make the 8 this year
"Your "name" says it all!!"
1 hour ago
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