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.

You need to be a member of 1Eyed Eel to add comments!

Join 1Eyed Eel

Votes: 0
Email me when people reply –

Latest comments

Adam Magrath replied to Hell On Eels's discussion Thirteeen Minutes
"Your views on mark O'Neill have become so skewed it's impossible to take anything you say as being credible"
11 seconds ago
Muttman replied to Hell On Eels's discussion Thirteeen Minutes
"Russell leaving is what it is. What it does show is a consistency around our R&R. Who is Russell's replacement btw? "
2 minutes ago
Muttman replied to Hell On Eels's discussion Thirteeen Minutes
"Was that the GF we played where it was over at HT. And it was Mahoney's last game at the club before we replaced him with Josh Hodgson? "
3 minutes ago
LB replied to Hell On Eels's discussion Thirteeen Minutes
"What was 2022 then?"
8 minutes ago
LB replied to Hell On Eels's discussion Thirteeen Minutes
"What if Mutts, bare with me, we tried to and he said no he wants to see what Perth offers? Crazy to think that could have been a possibility.
You cannot force players to sign. A lot of players have been signing shorter deals in order to hear…"
9 minutes ago
Prof. Daz replied to jamie's discussion Ryles the Super Coach
"Chiefy, two things.
1) Are we sure that Walker's short balls inside are about creating a linebreak? I'm not sure they are, however counterintutitive that migth sound. I think they're about compressing the defence? The Walker short ball is setting up…"
14 minutes ago
Muttman replied to Hell On Eels's discussion Thirteeen Minutes
"MON's inability to assemble a Premiership roster is self evident. You don't need a desk in his office to see that. If he was a good operator we'd all know it by now. "
20 minutes ago
Hell On Eels replied to Hell On Eels's discussion Thirteeen Minutes
"Daz, If you're in extended death zones, the game is too fast for everyone. 
Let's compare 20-minute zones, early in the second half.
Panthers v Dolphins  70% possession against Panthers. 11/13 v 3/4 sets 4 tries conceded
Us v Manly Almost 80%…"
27 minutes ago
macybrown replied to Mallee57's discussion Repeat Sets & Penalties
"Thought the hit on Dylan walker before half time looked suss myself was that it BringBackSemi ? Not sure if shoulder charge and there was nothing said but looked suss. Definitely got Dylan bad.
 And the commentary did just as you said so I thought…"
29 minutes ago
Bourbon Man replied to Hell On Eels's discussion Thirteeen Minutes
"Muttman, you do realise players (via their managers) like to test their value on the open market before committing to a new contract. For all we know, the club may have offered Russell a deal commensurate with his value to the team mid way through…"
37 minutes ago
Blue Eel replied to Snottie Pimpin's discussion Centres
"👍. I don't think Russell has been first grade material up untill this year. That is based on that he would have to keep improving. I can't get out of my head that great chip and chase to score. He had a blinder that day. But he needs to do that type…"
43 minutes ago
Muttman replied to Hell On Eels's discussion Thirteeen Minutes
"Russell could have been tied up before the Bears even had a shot at him. When you consistently allow players in your top 17 to shop themselves around you're going to lose them to higher bidders. No one is suggesting we over pay for Russell. More…"
50 minutes ago
Prof. Daz replied to Hell On Eels's discussion Thirteeen Minutes
"Just because of the sheer volume of recruitment and retention 'experts' who said MON should be fired for NOT paying overs for Russell, that 44-66 minute period also featured:
Russell lazy marker defense and chase permits Manly a long break, leads to…"
1 hour ago
Cʜɪᴇғy Mclovin🐐 - Mark O'neill's 🪓 replied to jamie's discussion Ryles the Super Coach
"How does this Seuseu go Ea, what are his attributes?  "
1 hour ago
Cʜɪᴇғy Mclovin🐐 - Mark O'neill's 🪓 replied to jamie's discussion Ryles the Super Coach
"Ryles needs to stop using the ' Run It Straight ' game and follow the panthers lead and use footwork before the line, otherwise we'll have zero outside backs left.
Look at how Russell was absolutely smashed yesterday.  No footwork just run it…"
1 hour ago
Strange-eel replied to Roy tannous's discussion My takeaways from today
"Kelly was pretty good bar the errors, but Manly were hitting hard in defence and even with a cut the error mindset they can be forced at times."
1 hour ago
More…

Keaon done deal

As of Thursday, December 11, 2025, South Sydney Rabbitohs forwardKeaon Koloamatangi has reportedly agreed to a deal with the Parramatta Eels, but it is not yet officially announced by the clubs.  Soon to be announced.

Read more…
14 Replies · Reply by Poppa Jan 9
Views: 2375

 

Thirteeen Minutes

Trauma snowballing syndrome and the urge to blow things up isn’t just something buried in human DNA. It's now rebranded as “high standards". Forty Years can do that. Sometimes, all it takes is a few minutes. But let’s park the emotion for a minute.…

Read more…
10 Replies · Reply by Adam Magrath 11 seconds ago
Views: 200

Centres

We without a doubt have the worst centre pairing in the comp . You can look through every other side - neither of our centres would get a start in any of them . It's an area we have neglected in both recruitment and development. We have a rep level…

Read more…
27 Replies · Reply by Blue Eel 43 minutes ago
Views: 701

Repeat Sets & Penalties

Is there actually anyone that records which team receives the most amount of repeat sets? I'd like to know which NRL side gets the most and which side gets the least.I'd also wouldn't mind knowing which referees tends to award them the most and how…

Read more…
6 Replies · Reply by macybrown 29 minutes ago
Views: 323

My takeaways from today

1.Brian Kelly needs to get sacked,is there none better or something going on behind the four walls.to try and bring a outside back on loan deal or something cause Kelly is seriously horrendous.2.Junior paulo ain't first grade standard anymore,I've…

Read more…
14 Replies · Reply by Strange-eel 1 hour ago
Views: 954

<script src="https://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/js/adsbygoogle.js"></script>
<!-- Sidebar -->
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<script>// <![CDATA[
(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});
// ]]></script>