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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Adam Magrath replied to Johnny Suede's discussion The nine reasons why this is Parramatta’s year
"Interesting comment, especially considering your previous remarks over a lengthy period of time on all matter of things the club does.
So optimism is your default emotion at the beginning of each season? Nothing changes from year to year, no matter…"
24 minutes ago
Eli Stephens replied to SuperEel 22's discussion Parramatta, NRL to investigate images of rising Eels star
"I've noticed Iongi is back on IG, he had deactivated his account lol. I'm guessing it's all been sorted out behind the scenes and should get some update by Monday "
33 minutes ago
KingGutho replied to Cʜɪᴇғy Mclovin 🐐's discussion Perth Bears team - can they challenge parra
"Parramatta's SG ball side would beat the Perth bears.
thats a side of bunch of rejects, you would almost think BA was coaching the team. 
they will do it hard for the next few years.
at least we all know parramatta won't get any more spoons for…"
36 minutes ago
Coryn Hughes replied to Johnny Suede's discussion The nine reasons why this is Parramatta’s year
"Optimistic every year this years no different."
47 minutes ago
Adam Magrath replied to Johnny Suede's discussion The nine reasons why this is Parramatta’s year
"Are you optimistic for the season ahead?"
2 hours ago
Johnny Suede replied to Cʜɪᴇғy Mclovin 🐐's discussion Perth Bears team - can they challenge parra
"The PNG national squad always does OK, plus the grassroots are already established. Plus, the entire country loves the game. I'd be more optimistic of PNG fielding a compettiive side over Perth. "
2 hours ago
Parrafan101 replied to Cʜɪᴇғy Mclovin 🐐's discussion Perth Bears team - can they challenge parra
"Perth will do alright question is. Who is going to play/sign in png? ?"
4 hours ago
LB replied to Cʜɪᴇғy Mclovin 🐐's discussion Perth Bears team - can they challenge parra
"Need way more than that, majority of the players signed would be their depth. Even that is rubbish. As Johnny mentioned too, juniors will be hard to come by.
Look at their last two signings. Sorensen and Talakai. Sorensen is a fine signing for…"
10 hours ago
Jack replied to Cʜɪᴇғy Mclovin 🐐's discussion Perth Bears team - can they challenge parra
"They need a gun fullback and another forward who's a big name "
11 hours ago
Johnny Suede replied to Cʜɪᴇғy Mclovin 🐐's discussion Perth Bears team - can they challenge parra
"Precisely. Just makes me think someone at NRL HQ - and we all know who - got a very large suitcase of cash from the WA state government for agreeing to this. "
11 hours ago
Randy Handlinger replied to Cʜɪᴇғy Mclovin 🐐's discussion Perth Bears team - can they challenge parra
"they will feed on ours."
11 hours ago
Johnny Suede replied to Cʜɪᴇғy Mclovin 🐐's discussion Perth Bears team - can they challenge parra
"Let's not forget all the gun kids coming through Perth's junior leagues. Hang on a second, there isn't any! I kinda feel the Bears will have a hard time for a long time. "
11 hours ago
LB replied to Cʜɪᴇғy Mclovin 🐐's discussion Perth Bears team - can they challenge parra
"Brad Arthur was a favourite for a while, and rightfully so. I think he is the perfect coach for a rebuild as a steady head with experience. Issue is, Perth media are anti NRL, so the NRL thought we need to get them onside and how do we do that?…"
12 hours ago
Mitchy replied to Cʜɪᴇғy Mclovin 🐐's discussion Perth Bears team - can they challenge parra
"Chiefy, who is their coach again? For the sake of the game, they need to be going ok in the first 5 yrs; and if I was a player and got offered a deal their, I would look at it but having Meninga as coach is a concern.  Their strength needs to come…"
13 hours ago
Mitchy replied to Johnny Suede's discussion The nine reasons why this is Parramatta’s year
"As others have said, we need our main players to be playing each week or 80% of the games; we do that and we make the 8.
Ref's won't come into it for me - as we will make our own luck if we do the simple things well. We are also 12 months deeper in…"
13 hours ago
Eel for life replied to SuperEel 22's discussion Parramatta, NRL to investigate images of rising Eels star
"Has there been any updat on this?"
13 hours ago
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