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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Coryn Hughes replied to Roy tannous's discussion What could of been💔
"This is our problem players can't be great individually we need the team to be good across the park but it seems very up n down and hence the performance looks very much the same.
I mean the Joash foward pass bombing certain try before halftime.…"
2 hours ago
Coryn Hughes replied to Parra-all-the-way's discussion One proud fan
"Until we start winning some battles in the middle of the park all teams have to do to beat us is roll through the middle and complete it's a simple equation.We are so soft in the middle of the park.I'm seeing it every single week and this goes back…"
2 hours ago
JC replied to Parra-all-the-way's discussion One proud fan
"His service was good enough but he isn't creative or a running threat  but he can play as a middle forward so I think playing two straight out hookers should end for the eels at least in the short term. 
I would start Edwards and have smith on the…"
3 hours ago
Yehez replied to Snottie Pimpin's discussion Need for Speed
"Lucas is fast. Iongi is more craft than pace, which is more important for me. "
4 hours ago
Perpetual Motion replied to Parra-all-the-way's discussion One proud fan
"Better then what Riley could have provided for 30mins cause thats all he played. Never came back. TDS is not up to it defensively. Just a highlights reel hooker."
4 hours ago
Perpetual Motion replied to Snottie Pimpin's discussion Need for Speed
"How slow is Ionghi?  When a second rower blows u away u should be embarrassed. No clue how to position himself defensively still.
We will struggle to recruit top tier players but there are players like Francis Manuleleua in reggies who is already…"
4 hours ago
Joel K replied to Snottie Pimpin's discussion Need for Speed
"We had the same issue 4 years ago regarding our edges in 2022 and nothing changed
This same blog has been posted every year since then and it will probably be posted next year as well
Realistically we won't improve in recruitment until we get the…"
5 hours ago
Gucci replied to Parra-all-the-way's discussion One proud fan
"Knights are top 4, they arent a push over squad..."
6 hours ago
Desieels replied to Parra-all-the-way's discussion One proud fan
"This is who we are. We'll always be proud, no matter the result. Bloody hell. We're losing to Newcastle. What's wrong with you all? No doubt we're a hopeless rubbish team. Same crap every weekend. And we have to be proud of it. Good effort doesn't…"
7 hours ago
TolEllts replied to Blue Eel's discussion Should we be concerned !
"Nice question. Wanting to hear the asnwer for that."
7 hours ago
TolEllts replied to Parra-all-the-way's discussion One proud fan
"Joash should stop as if he is playing backyard footy. His no look passes had caused us some games. His trying to milk a penalty for a 'strip' is very amateurist. He's given his all but need to clean up these errors and actions. It was a game we…"
8 hours ago
Mallee57 replied to Parra-all-the-way's discussion One proud fan
"Thought Edwards was good at dummy half"
8 hours ago
Mallee57 replied to Parra-all-the-way's discussion One proud fan
"Agree, thought they played well considering the injuries and continual swapping and changing of players some out of position. They had the game won except for some really costly errors, poor passing and frantic play especially in the early 2nd half.…"
8 hours ago
JC replied to Parra-all-the-way's discussion One proud fan
"At this point i think smith is the more reliable steady dummy half, tds has more skill and will eventually be the guy but he is a bit rocks and diamonds at the moment and could do with a spell in reserve grade to work on his concentration and…"
8 hours ago
Longfin Eel replied to Parra-all-the-way's discussion One proud fan
"I hear what you are saying, and you are right, but that sounds like what we said in the early 90s when we never expected to come close to winning games. As a club we do need to be so much better than what has been dished up this season. There has…"
9 hours ago
LB replied to Parra-all-the-way's discussion One proud fan
"Both can't have a stint. I don't think either need a long term stint. The more they play the better they'll be. I wouldn't say Smith is having 2nd year syndrome as much as that sternum injury would have limited him a lot."
9 hours ago
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