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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Mr 'BringBackFitzy' Analyst replied to Roy tannous's discussion Payne haas joins rabbits
"Hahaha Fifita and Hass, now tell me it's a level playing field!!!
Biggest bullshit of all time"
3 minutes ago
EA replied to Roy tannous's discussion Payne haas joins rabbits
"Souths have 3 players on 1M or more in Murray, Latrell and Haas for 2027. None of them are playing in the spine either. They also got players on decent coin in Smith, Graham, Fifita, Wighton, Arrow, Gray, Tatola. Walker is probably going to retire…"
5 minutes ago
paul taylor replied to Roy tannous's discussion Payne haas joins rabbits
"A great signing for the Rabbitohs . Has to be some shuffling to fit them all in .  Bennett has amazing pulling skills. Man manager/father figure is superseding his ability to coach . That is why he has quality assistants .."
6 minutes ago
Roy tannous replied to Roy tannous's discussion Payne haas joins rabbits
"It's just depressing at this point.We ain't got nothing exciting that can pull the big fish.fmd hopefully one day we can wake up to a big signing but oh well"
12 minutes ago
LB replied to Roy tannous's discussion Payne haas joins rabbits
"TPA's and connections. What I will say, to get him to Parra it would cost $1.7-8 mil a year. Is that worth it for a Prop?"
12 minutes ago
fake midget pseudoachondroplasia replied to Roy tannous's discussion Payne haas joins rabbits
"How the rabbits afford him I don't know.  I would say there was massive TPA or deal done by Russel Crowe to support his family outside the cap as the 3 year deal from 2027 rules out R360.
He is friends with Fifita and obviously has links to Bennett…"
13 minutes ago
Mr 'BringBackFitzy' Analyst replied to Roy tannous's discussion Payne haas joins rabbits
"Parra Lose 5 players can't sign shit. Souths lose Keon and sign Hass....go figure"
13 minutes ago
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"I agree where the F is Abdo in this.    If the NRL folds and Zac goes to Melbourne and we get nothing then the whole code is a joke.   Big BIG outcome here ......"
19 minutes ago
TolEllts replied to Bert de Naturál✌️™'s discussion Peter V’landys MIA: How the Lomax Affair Exposed Cracks at HQ
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Prof. Daz replied to Prof. Daz's discussion Why Academics Suck
"Poupou, how is my example "sophistry"? Which is plausible but invalid reasoning.
Your example to demonstrate my sophistry does not unpack the actual example, instead you divert to a red herring about degree of specifity (about what you are unclear).…"
52 minutes ago
Tin Tim replied to Mr 'BringBackFitzy' Analyst's discussion Vlandy's - NRL will register Lomax new deal
"Well you didn't think this NRL is currupt it's certainly looking that way. V'landys has shown no backbone here & is helping one club & one club only. Of all the shit Parramatta have copped over the year, shit decision on so many levels this one take…"
58 minutes ago
Prof. Daz replied to Prof. Daz's discussion Why Academics Suck
"Poupou, how - specifically - do academics "appeal to their own authority"? Look at your own example, which does NOT display the fallacy of argument from authority. If X says a degree has utility value for Y because X can teach Y how to think not…"
1 hour ago
Prof. Daz replied to Mr 'BringBackFitzy' Analyst's discussion Vlandy's - NRL will register Lomax new deal
"V'Landys tries to hide his hypocrisy in this whole Lomax Affair by seeking to shift sympathy toward Lomax, asking who would "knock a bloke that's trying to do the best for himself". But that shifting of ethical primacy toward Lomax contradicts…"
1 hour ago
Prof. Daz replied to Bert de Naturál✌️™'s discussion Peter V’landys MIA: How the Lomax Affair Exposed Cracks at HQ
"The pattern is not just that V'Landys talked tough about defectors to R360 and then has been MIA, but that V'Landys has shown himself to be a complete hypocrit. Does anyone seriously think it is coincidence that V'Landys' underlying hypocrisy has…"
1 hour ago
Mr 'BringBackFitzy' Analyst replied to Mr 'BringBackFitzy' Analyst's discussion Ryan Matterson Concussion - Rumoured
"Should have shoved the Instagram app in front of his face, he'd know what to do then. "
1 hour ago
LB replied to Mr 'BringBackFitzy' Analyst's discussion Ryan Matterson Concussion - Rumoured
"It definately does.
Saw him at fan day and not sure what others thought but he's body language looked off. Not so much rude but not much energy. Could have not been feeling well. Perhaps from concussion."
1 hour ago
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ANY MORE SIGNINGS???

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