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

Cʜɪᴇғy Mclovin 🐐 replied to Eli Stephens's discussion Iongi breach notice
" "
3 minutes ago
Angry Eel replied to Eli Stephens's discussion Iongi breach notice
"Did I not say that in my last line. Carney started off with drink driving and it just got worse from there. I'm just saying I hope he's learned his lesson and moves on "
3 minutes ago
Angry Eel replied to Poppa's discussion Poppa's Corner: We made a mistake, lets admit it, move forward; and it looks like we are overrated!
"The Warriors lost their way last year when Metcalf went down. Boyd is playing really well atm but I think it'll be Metcalf and CHT in the halves imo"
9 minutes ago
LB replied to Eli Stephens's discussion Iongi breach notice
"I think that's fair, regardless if someone leaked it or not he shouldn't of done. Suspended sentence is fair. Slap on the wrist with eyes on him."
26 minutes ago
LB replied to Eli Stephens's discussion Iongi breach notice
"lol this is tame compared to Curtis Scott and Todd Carney."
26 minutes ago
Angry Eel replied to Eli Stephens's discussion Iongi breach notice
"Hopefully he learns his lesson. He has too bright of a future then to end up like a Todd Carney or a Curtis Scott etc. not trying to compare him to them you just want them to learn and get on with it "
29 minutes ago
Eli Stephens replied to Eli Stephens's discussion Jonah Pezet so far
"Hunt and Reynolds both great but also retiring. They'll be gone target is firmly going to be on Pezet head "
39 minutes ago
Eli Stephens replied to Eli Stephens's discussion Jonah Pezet so far
"He was a bit off yesterday but still a decent outing. Easily outplayed dragons halves lol. Few bad options taken but "
39 minutes ago
Colin Good replied to Eli Stephens's discussion Jonah Pezet so far
"I was very disappointed with the way Moses played yesterday,at on point he passed inside that had the defence all over the attacker when if he had ofbpassed outside where parra had the numbers to score "
47 minutes ago
CarloEEL2 replied to Eli Stephens's discussion Iongi breach notice
"Good 
 "
57 minutes ago
Eli Stephens replied to Eli Stephens's discussion Iongi breach notice
""
57 minutes ago
Eli Stephens replied to Eli Stephens's discussion Iongi breach notice
"Probably a fine mixed in somewhere but meh "
58 minutes ago
Eli Stephens replied to Eli Stephens's discussion Iongi breach notice
"Got the scoop fellas, 1 game suspended sentence. So he's free to play but needs stay out of trouble. No stress "
58 minutes ago
CarloEEL2 replied to Eli Stephens's discussion Iongi breach notice
"Here's hoping 
never put anything past the penguin and his minions "
59 minutes ago
Cʜɪᴇғy Mclovin 🐐 replied to CarloEEL2's discussion Surprise surprise
"Why has this taken 5 weeks to complete the investigation.  This has to be a joke.   The nrl are incompetent fools"
1 hour ago
Eli Stephens replied to Eli Stephens's discussion Iongi breach notice
"it won't be much of a punishment lol, a fine and maybe 1 game at best. Probably not the worst thing to miss the panthers flogging and freshen up lol "
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: 2229

 

Jonah Pezet so far

Only 3 games into his eels career, plenty of ups and downs from Pezet but for the most part he seems a solid young half. His defence needs a lot of work but not sure moving to Brisbane and facing all of that pressure is going to help him. Looks like…

Read more…
21 Replies · Reply by Eli Stephens 39 minutes ago
Views: 289

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