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 ParramattaLurker's discussion RECRUITMENT
"Did Dylan Walker leak? Did Su'A leak? These signings came out of nowhere that's cause they don't leak."
2 minutes ago
Mallee57 replied to ParramattaLurker's discussion RECRUITMENT
"Despite recruitment not the best at Parra and hasn't been for awhile I thought the Eels team played very well against the Knights who are a top 6 top 4 side with Ponga in their team. The Eels could have and probably should have won that match except…"
26 minutes ago
Titan replied to ParramattaLurker's discussion RECRUITMENT
"Having a committee shows a lack of confidence - strong clubs have the key member that just gets it done."
30 minutes ago
Poppa replied to ParramattaLurker's discussion RECRUITMENT
"Actually I know that a player agent that looks after some of our current players is just the opposite, they respect MON but basically believe that the lack of TPA's or similar inducements tends to leave Parra out of the final reckoning.
I do believe…"
39 minutes ago
Titan replied to ParramattaLurker's discussion RECRUITMENT
"oh god NO - no bloody aspiration to be a top 8 team "
42 minutes ago
Titan replied to ParramattaLurker's discussion RECRUITMENT
"100% correct. We don't know how to sign a big name - we are a development club "
44 minutes ago
Hell On Eels replied to Hell On Eels's discussion Moderation Note: Forum Standards
"NoS, That was a kind post towards Bourbs and Daz. Kudos.
Super outlined the changes to the site moving forward early in the New Year in Times Have Changed.
I doubt it was sudden. It was likely years in the making, but Super would be best placed to…"
52 minutes ago
Angry Eel replied to ParramattaLurker's discussion RECRUITMENT
"I have in fact heard the exact same comment from a player agent."
53 minutes ago
BlacJac replied to Mallee57's discussion Eels Next Match vs Bulldogs
"Wasnt a good look Crichton laughing when he was held up at half time. He blew a certain try which ended up being the difference"
1 hour ago
Prof. Daz replied to ParramattaLurker's discussion RECRUITMENT
"It makes little sense to demand the club document publicly their every effort? Which clubs telescope their every interest? That seems like a recipe to show your hand as early as possible, which would lose almost every card game except lay down…"
1 hour ago
Prof. Daz replied to ParramattaLurker's discussion RECRUITMENT
"Whomever Cregan is, I do wonder why "I know someone in the know" is taken seriously by folks as evidence?
On a side note, size in the forwards. Cregan says Eels were small vs knights but also implies recruitment is not fixing it. In 2026 the Eels…"
1 hour ago
SuperEel 22 replied to ParramattaLurker's discussion RECRUITMENT
"The board don't work on recruitment.                                                                  "
1 hour ago
Cʜɪᴇғy Mclovin replied to ParramattaLurker's discussion RECRUITMENT
"Yep. Its a total shambles and the results in recruitment and retention proves that point.
#Sarantinos out
#O'neill out
# Ben Rogers out"
1 hour ago
LB replied to ParramattaLurker's discussion RECRUITMENT
"To be fair, Gamble was a junior at Wests when MON was there. So people can catch up. If it is to sign him, as depth could be handy but also prioritise elsewhere if not signed anyone else."
2 hours ago
Parrafan101 replied to ParramattaLurker's discussion RECRUITMENT
"Man that sounds about right"
2 hours ago
Joel K replied to ParramattaLurker's discussion RECRUITMENT
""
2 hours ago
More…

Remember Rodney Hogg

Rodney was a late arrival to Test cricket at age 27. Born in Victoria he was overlooked by state selectors and moved to Adelaide to find an earlier path to Shield.He was selected and within a year he was noticed by Alan Davidson who mentioned his…

Read more…
6 Replies · Reply by Poppa on Wednesday
Views: 244

 

RECRUITMENT

Seems like every week there are good quality players coming onto the market or that are available that would add something to our team and roster but we aren't seeming to be as active in the player market as we were earlier this year. EG Keon.…

Read more…
24 Replies · Reply by LB 2 minutes ago
Views: 566

Eels Next Match vs Bulldogs

I've noticed some comments from Bulldogs coach Ciraldo that he's not very happy with the refereeing/bunker calls made yesterday in his team's loss to the West Tigers.Not too sure if his concerns are justified or not! As I've not actually watched the…

Read more…
8 Replies · Reply by BlacJac 1 hour ago
Views: 593

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