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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SuperEel 22 replied to Cʜɪᴇғy Mclovin's discussion Cleary to announce he's leaving the Panthers
"The SMH story says he'll be staying at Penrith as an advisor."
7 minutes ago
Coryn Hughes replied to Cʜɪᴇғy Mclovin's discussion Cleary to announce he's leaving the Panthers
"If Cleary and Luai turn up there imagine how many players they'd attract.
Players take less on the cap with TPA top ups free for the next decade if they want to push home an advantage it's a perfect time to strike for the Clearys and others."
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Coryn Hughes replied to Cʜɪᴇғy Mclovin's discussion Cleary to announce he's leaving the Panthers
"Yep but do you think our guys have the nouse to set up a move a year and a half out to land Ivan I'd give it a 1/10 chance.NFLs version of a Hail Mary."
14 minutes ago
Coryn Hughes replied to LB's discussion Ryan Matterson opens up on concussion battle
"End of the day I guess a bad contract like his is balanced by taking a Isaiah Papalii's and others money ball contracts.
I mean we've done worse the salary cap rort and losing players in the same year ruining a finals campaign then having to turn…"
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macybrown replied to Cʜɪᴇғy Mclovin's discussion Cleary to announce he's leaving the Panthers
"Think this is to make it easier for Nathan to sign to PNG.
ivan will prob have a break while Nathan earns the mega bucks."
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HH - Love You Iongi Time! replied to LB's discussion Ryan Matterson opens up on concussion battle
"I have such symptoms watching our games each week"
50 minutes ago
LB replied to Cʜɪᴇғy Mclovin's discussion Cleary to announce he's leaving the Panthers
"I mean he said 2027 will be his last. If Ryles has a poor start to 2027, there will be pressure on the club to make a change. Just saying."
52 minutes ago
The Badger replied to LB's discussion Ryan Matterson opens up on concussion battle
"Wonder how easy you could fake those symptoms and how they'd be able to say he doesn't have them?
I mean women have had spontaneous headaches for 100s of years."
53 minutes ago
LB replied to Cʜɪᴇғy Mclovin's discussion Cleary to announce he's leaving the Panthers
"Surely it would be at Penrith."
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LB replied to Cʜɪᴇғy Mclovin's discussion Cleary to announce he's leaving the Panthers
"There have been rumblings that NRL are pissed at Mal for the job he's been doing and talk of Mal having cold feet. A few journo's reckon Perth could have a new coach. But then again Gardiner is the future as well."
1 hour ago
Rabz S replied to Cʜɪᴇғy Mclovin's discussion Cleary to announce he's leaving the Panthers
"Both have appointed a coach"
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Cʜɪᴇғy Mclovin replied to Cʜɪᴇғy Mclovin's discussion Cleary to announce he's leaving the Panthers
"Replace Mon, head of football/ director"
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Mallee57 replied to Cʜɪᴇғy Mclovin's discussion Cleary to announce he's leaving the Panthers
"Yawn🥱🥱 who cares "
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Offside replied to Cʜɪᴇғy Mclovin's discussion Cleary to announce he's leaving the Panthers
"Both Clearys to Roosters in 2028
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Parra-all-the-way replied to Cʜɪᴇғy Mclovin's discussion Cleary to announce he's leaving the Panthers
"Would be amazing! Good mentor for ryles too"
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The Captain replied to Cʜɪᴇғy Mclovin's discussion Cleary to announce he's leaving the Panthers
""He’s long held a desire to be a coaching director. I don’t know whether that is part of his plans because all of this at the moment is just information I am hearing right now."
If only we had a vacancy...
Could you imagine?"
1 hour ago
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