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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Cumberland Eel replied to Cʜɪᴇғy Mclovin 🐐's discussion R360 delayed 2 years
"He will end up back at Parra "
38 minutes ago
Nitram replied to Cʜɪᴇғy Mclovin 🐐's discussion R360 delayed 2 years
"Lomax might be alright now knowing he is just missing training in the heat, but come round 1 next year, I dont care what he says, he is going to be feeling like a deadset fool."
2 hours ago
adnan replied to Cʜɪᴇғy Mclovin 🐐's discussion R360 delayed 2 years
"See you at training on Monday"
2 hours ago
Perpetual Motion replied to Cʜɪᴇғy Mclovin 🐐's discussion R360 delayed 2 years
"Fair point. His big payday is gone. I never believed it was real. Seemed like a sketchy business plan. "
3 hours ago
Randy Handlinger replied to Aj's discussion Why have our signings. Gone quiet 🤫
"" the whole trans dynamics" ....I can't...I just...LOL
 "
3 hours ago
Gucci replied to Cʜɪᴇғy Mclovin 🐐's discussion R360 delayed 2 years
"Chance we get Nelson on the cheap for 2026 now that R360 ruled out."
4 hours ago
KENDOZA replied to Cʜɪᴇғy Mclovin 🐐's discussion R360 delayed 2 years
"But gus has never met paps lol"
4 hours ago
Mr 'BringBackFitzy' Analyst replied to Cʜɪᴇғy Mclovin 🐐's discussion R360 delayed 2 years
"Fark em"
5 hours ago
Perpetual Motion replied to Cʜɪᴇғy Mclovin 🐐's discussion R360 delayed 2 years
"Yeah, NRL not an option for Lomax. Assume Paps is free to do as he wishes. Still might chase some European or Japanese rugby bux."
5 hours ago
Eli Stephens replied to Cʜɪᴇғy Mclovin 🐐's discussion R360 delayed 2 years
"Paps will be off to bears, no idea what Lomax does but doubt parra wants him back he's too flaky. Lost out on his 2.1 million lol "
5 hours ago
Perpetual Motion replied to Cʜɪᴇғy Mclovin 🐐's discussion R360 delayed 2 years
"Cant play for another NRL team for 3 years. Boxing or rugby for a couple of years."
5 hours ago
Eli Stephens replied to Cʜɪᴇғy Mclovin 🐐's discussion R360 delayed 2 years
"Big chance it's Perth bears, think he might take a year off to heal his body up, be a huge pay day for him "
5 hours ago
Muttman replied to Cʜɪᴇғy Mclovin 🐐's discussion R360 delayed 2 years
"I reckon Paps ends up at the Bulldogs. Probably Gus' plan all along. "
5 hours ago
Eli Stephens replied to Cʜɪᴇғy Mclovin 🐐's discussion R360 delayed 2 years
"I think Lomax wants to get into MMA or something anyway. Probably a good thing we cut ties with him doesn't seem interested in nrl anymore "
6 hours ago
Coryn Hughes replied to Aj's discussion Why have our signings. Gone quiet 🤫
"Why can't we have our cake and eat it to.
Taste better than the stuff fans have been eating the last 40 years.
Why shouldn't fans expect more from those that continually let you down.
Maybe that's the clubs real problem there ambition to be the best…"
7 hours ago
Hugh replied to Aj's discussion Why have our signings. Gone quiet 🤫
"thats a pretty fair point - Paul Stringer, Craig Stapleton are really good examples of that.
then just have to wait for a Glenn Morrison , David Solomona or Dean Widders like talent to pop up and look to come on board."
10 hours ago
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