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

LB replied to Parra-all-the-way's discussion Ryles pressor
"He came out of last year thinking, as everyone else, this is going to work. He probably thought it was working quicker than he thought. Now realisation and pressure is hitting and the roster despite who is out them coming back ain't changing our…"
6 minutes ago
Cʜɪᴇғy Mclovin🐐 - Mark O'neill's 🪓 replied to Offside's discussion Picture says enough
"Let's face it, the roster is a dead set shambles and o'neill is out of his depth to fix it
 "
35 minutes ago
Adam Magrath replied to Parra-all-the-way's discussion Ryles pressor
"His mannerisms (constantly twisting his wedding ring) and his remark about the officiating suggests he's starting to get the shits. He's human, it's not like things are going our way this year. Good test for everyone at the club to see if we can get…"
38 minutes ago
KENDOZA replied to Parra-all-the-way's discussion Ryles pressor
"I reckon next week he puts pezet 6 ( hope not) and volkman 14"
39 minutes ago
Offside replied to Offside's discussion Picture says enough
"Sums up the club and and teams performance this season if you ask me"
39 minutes ago
KENDOZA replied to Parra-all-the-way's discussion Ryles pressor
"Ryles looks tired and beat. I wonder if he's thinking this job is getting to much"
40 minutes ago
KENDOZA replied to Offside's discussion Picture says enough
"They actually ask you to hand them back if your not taking them home lol."
42 minutes ago
The Captain replied to Parra-all-the-way's discussion Ryles pressor
"Pretty disappointed with the remark honestly. We lost that completely ourselves. We were out muscled, out enthused, out played, out smarted.
It's not a good look to deflect any of the blame away from ourselves.
We are just not good. That's on us."
42 minutes ago
JC replied to Hell On Eels's discussion Game Day Blog R9 v Warriors: The Chase For Consistency (L36-14)
"Next week's team,
1. Papalii 
2. Addo-carr 
3. Nanva
4. Samrani 
5. Russell 
6. Volkman 
7. Moses 
8. Morreti 
9. TDS 
10. JDB 
11. Williams 
12. Tuilagi (we have no other choice)
13. Jnr Paulo 
14. Lorenzo 
15. Walker
16. Mataele 
17. Guymer…"
43 minutes ago
LB replied to Parra-all-the-way's discussion Ryles pressor
"But even the players we get back, Iongi and Tuivaiti only make a difference, even those two make last night a little better, we still wouldn't have gotten close."
52 minutes ago
Rabz S replied to Offside's discussion Picture says enough
"No it doesn't, I've seen those flags in the bin after the Dragons and Doggies match.
Some people just don't want to take them home."
1 hour ago
Coryn Hughes replied to Parra-all-the-way's discussion Ryles pressor
"The worst thing is there is absolutely nothing tactically or selection wise that JR can do to help the team nothing.The only thing the players can do as individuals is continue to give the effort on a weekly basis and minimise the errors that's it…"
1 hour ago
Mallee57 replied to Parra-all-the-way's discussion Ryles pressor
"agree "
1 hour ago
LB replied to Parra-all-the-way's discussion Ryles pressor
"Yeah Coryn last night for a large period in attack we lacked energy and we looked a team they knew they were beaten."
2 hours ago
LB replied to Parra-all-the-way's discussion Ryles pressor
"Every kick off return they bumped one of our players off, they poked their noses through leading to one marker being left behind and Healey was able to run from dummy half creating momentum.
We were weak, just not good enough simple as that. They…"
2 hours ago
Snottie Pimpin replied to Snottie Pimpin's discussion GET SOME OUTSIDE BACKS
"We lost our guy from last year and replaced him with the Knights guy ?
I tend to agree , if Lomax first requested a release mid last year and that was the road we were going to go down , I like you have no problem with it . But to wait until…"
5 hours 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: 2390

 

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