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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HH - Love You Iongi Time! replied to Mr 'BringBackFitzy' Analyst's discussion Vlandy's - NRL will register Lomax new deal
"So they recognise Lomax is part of the contingent of our best players in the game, a marquee player with an extraordinary skill set. Why are we are being laughed at by asking for Coates as an asking price for Lomax to be in a Storm jersey?
Corporate…"
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Mr 'BringBackFitzy' Analyst replied to Mr 'BringBackFitzy' Analyst's discussion Vlandy's - NRL will register Lomax new deal
"Corruption in before our eyes"
22 minutes ago
Randy Handlinger replied to Mr 'BringBackFitzy' Analyst's discussion Vlandy's - NRL will register Lomax new deal
"Weasel.
Peter Vlandys
Is a Weasel
Is a Weasel
Is a Weasel
Peter Vlandys Is a Weasel
Is a Weasel
Is a Weasel
Peter Vlandys Is a Weasel"
31 minutes ago
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42 minutes ago
Randy Handlinger replied to Charbs's discussion Storm to face hefty bill if star loses Eels court fight
""
44 minutes ago
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46 minutes ago
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"Fuck That & Fuck Them"
48 minutes ago
Randy Handlinger replied to Charbs's discussion Storm to face hefty bill if star loses Eels court fight
"torching his credibility over a traitorous turncoat."...he is torching his credibility over his unholy relationship with Melbourne."
52 minutes ago
Randy Handlinger replied to Charbs's discussion Storm to face hefty bill if star loses Eels court fight
""
1 hour ago
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1 hour ago
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ANY MORE SIGNINGS???

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