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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LB replied to Poppa's discussion The Unicorns Strike Back
"It's something i love doing. Dad and i used to go all the time and feel like he is there with me despite the result so added motivation to going."
1 minute ago
LB replied to Poppa's discussion The Unicorns Strike Back
"We need another Hooker, not sure if Da Silva can get full 80. Maybe he will be fine but not ideal incase Da Silva goes off at any point. At least with Joash you could get by for 10-15mins at Hooker, but already at Fullback."
2 minutes ago
Alfred Mateo replied to Yeah Man's discussion Credit where credit due
"They were mentally shattered after that game v the Tigers and it was always going to be tough backing up after that. Doesn't it make good weekend awesome when win!!"
2 minutes ago
LB replied to Poppa's discussion The Unicorns Strike Back
"Poppa how did you feel about Pryke. Mataele was great but Pryke i felt just tackled anything that wiggles."
4 minutes ago
Strange-eel replied to Poppa's discussion The Unicorns Strike Back
"Respect for turning up and supporting them.
 "
5 minutes ago
Clintorian replied to Blue Eel's discussion Eels V Dogs 3-2-1
"Yep, shout out to the Ref as well, he was fantastic and just let the game flow."
5 minutes ago
LB replied to Poppa's discussion The Unicorns Strike Back
"Ah awesome, i listened to Ryles presser and heard it ahha. Thanks EA."
7 minutes ago
Nightmare Off-Season replied to Blue Eel's discussion Eels V Dogs 3-2-1
"3. Moses - Sensational, just looked ultra focused. Kicked for 772m (more than the Dogs entire team), his defence was superb & converted perfectly. That's the Mitch Moses we love.
2. Paulo - Didn't think he still had this in him as a starter - 169m,…"
13 minutes ago
EA replied to Poppa's discussion The Unicorns Strike Back
"Nah wouldn't do that to him lol"
20 minutes ago
Fiddy replied to Yeah Man's discussion Credit where credit due
"If moses got his conversions against tigers, we'd be 6th..."
22 minutes ago
Cʜɪᴇғy Mclovin🐐 - Mark O'neill's 🪓 replied to Poppa's discussion The Unicorns Strike Back
"Can renzo play 9"
23 minutes ago
EA replied to Blue Eel's discussion Eels V Dogs 3-2-1
"I think his job today was to lead the middle defence to start the game. Chase the collision. He did it extremely well. He came on at the end again "
24 minutes ago
Eli Stephens replied to Poppa's discussion The Unicorns Strike Back
"RTS is another one they could maybe look at, just to stick on the wing. We need to find some "
27 minutes ago
Eli Stephens replied to Poppa's discussion The Unicorns Strike Back
"If they can try sign Taulagi from cowboys he would probably be decent enough as a winger. Just find a decent nrl winger for sure. "
27 minutes ago
Parrafan101 replied to Yeah Man's discussion Credit where credit due
"Whoever was calling him Kearney 2.0 has no clue what league is. Ryles is a Ivan Cleary 2.0."
29 minutes ago
EA replied to Poppa's discussion The Unicorns Strike Back
"No idea. Renzo is absolutely carving up nsw cup right now"
32 minutes ago
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