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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Gaz Nelson replied to Roy tannous's discussion Ouch
"Yep agreed. Russell has come along way and is now a serviceable player, doesn't do a whole lot in attack but is a big body that plugs a whole. 
Looking forward to see what Richie can do. Just hope he's not another project "
1 hour ago
LB replied to Roy tannous's discussion Ouch
"Well Kelly makes a bit more sense now."
2 hours ago
LB replied to Roy tannous's discussion Ouch
"Well Brown saw out his contract too. He was a free agent when signing for Newcastle. Yes had options but still a free agent as he didn't activate it."
2 hours ago
LB replied to Roy tannous's discussion Ouch
"Where is EA when you need him, any good young juniors coming through at Centre other than Richie?"
2 hours ago
LB replied to Roy tannous's discussion Ouch
"And the one that might sign is not that great and ageing."
2 hours ago
LB replied to Roy tannous's discussion Ouch
"This is an odd one as I am a Russell defender. He is a quality defensive Centre with not much else to his game. However, you can get better Centre's also. He would be a loss to what we currently have so far but he won't break the back of your…"
2 hours ago
LB replied to Roy tannous's discussion Ouch
"Well it's a 4 year deal apparently and he would be on more money. Who would blame him?"
2 hours ago
Johnny Suede replied to Roy tannous's discussion Ouch
"If the Foxx is an F1 car, Russell was your mum's old Corolla "
2 hours ago
BEM replied to Roy tannous's discussion Ouch
" This is great news.
Hopefully the club can replace him with a quality centre."
2 hours ago
Hector replied to Roy tannous's discussion Ouch
"My understanding was twiddle and a few more of the younger blokes have gone to Queensland to play state cup up there don't know if true or not but thats what I've heard "
2 hours ago
Last place replied to Roy tannous's discussion Ouch
"No lose, he an average centre that's easily replaced "
3 hours ago
Jack replied to Roy tannous's discussion Ouch
"Just goes to show that local juniors loyalty only goes so far. Richard penisni should be ready by that then "
3 hours ago
Bubba j replied to Roy tannous's discussion Ouch
"He would not go well over there the halves they will have playing will be a step back and playing  along side JAC has made him leaving that I can see his career going down the toilet I hope he stays myself but you can't pay overs for him either…"
4 hours ago
Poppa replied to Poppa's discussion Two Old Men on A Jetty
"im very confident that you will be able to look after yourself, haven't i always looked after you, when  someone gangs up on you.  Remember how i got you out of that shit in Griffith."
4 hours ago
Frankie Fong replied to Poppa's discussion Two Old Men on A Jetty
"Excellent point EA , Turkish Muslims are the most normal , Indians Muslims ( despite what happened Sunday) are normal, Indonesians are fairly normal apart from the Bali bombings .  Its the Arabic, African and Pakistani Muslims that always cause the…"
4 hours ago
Yehez replied to Roy tannous's discussion Ouch
" Fair enough. I think he'll start for Perth so I can understand. If Richie P, Twidle keep improving they might be first grade ready by 2027. Let alone younger backs. Let alone signings. "
4 hours ago
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