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

Coryn Hughes replied to Hell On Eels's discussion Gus: Eels Showed "Real Grit"
"See the problem is here you are now giving the keys to a guy that is here for 5 minutes and we are paying 1.3 to Mitchell who is the second best halfback in the comp and your answer is to take the ball out of Mitchell's hands and let Jonah be the…"
22 minutes ago
Coryn Hughes replied to Hell On Eels's discussion Gus: Eels Showed "Real Grit"
"Much like the team I already have the line through him and ask whose next what's the clubs plan around the position and if it's a youngster is it all eggs.See for me I've never really understood this signing because Parra were never a player away…"
24 minutes ago
Nightmare Off-Season replied to Hell On Eels's discussion Gus: Eels Showed "Real Grit"
"Nice write up HOE, an interesting read & you make some good points as always.
Those tackles = losses stats are pretty evident of the impact of momentum from 6-agains. 
The Eels definitely showed some grit against the Dragons, in patches, but imo the…"
3 hours ago
EA replied to ParramattaLurker's discussion Round 4 Team List v Penrith Panthers
"I have been speaking about it a bit. Not to mention those teams were Broncos, Sharks and Roosters."
4 hours ago
EA replied to ParramattaLurker's discussion Round 4 Team List v Penrith Panthers
"We have our very own Makisini/Alamoti coming through the grades. Lorima Seuseu is in his first year of HM so 16 years old in a u17 comp. I hope he skips his second year of HM and plays SG Ball next year. Alamoti did that when he was a junior.…"
4 hours ago
KENDOZA replied to Make Parra Great Again's discussion Timoko given the tap to explore options
"Tigers ,dragons,titans will most likely get him we struggle to attract anyone"
4 hours ago
Nightmare Off-Season replied to Make Parra Great Again's discussion Timoko given the tap to explore options
"So he'd be our second best centre."
4 hours ago
Jack replied to Make Parra Great Again's discussion Timoko given the tap to explore options
"Yes get his defence right. Buy him and Xerri "
4 hours ago
Snottie Pimpin replied to Make Parra Great Again's discussion Timoko given the tap to explore options
"Hes Penisni with leg speed
Right down to the atrocious defence and penis hands"
6 hours ago
LB replied to LB's discussion Eels hooker opens up on thriving one-two punch combination
"Supereel mentioned he sees Smith as a Brandon Smith type off the bench."
6 hours ago
LB replied to LB's discussion Eels hooker opens up on thriving one-two punch combination
"Smith's workrate is high though this year i have found he has had a few times of "what the hell was that?" where 2025 he rarely had that. Not sure if he is trying to upstage Da Silva by doing what he does?
Da Silva's passing i felt was a little…"
6 hours ago
LB replied to LB's discussion Eels hooker opens up on thriving one-two punch combination
"Well if Da Silva is to show it, it has to be this year as a decision on Smith needs to be made sooner rather than later."
6 hours ago
Yehez replied to LB's discussion Eels hooker opens up on thriving one-two punch combination
"Ryley as the ball 13 is interesting. Wondering if it can work out and he can be Walker's replacement while also covering the 9. "
6 hours ago
Yehez replied to Make Parra Great Again's discussion Timoko given the tap to explore options
"I love him. That's a complete yes from me. He's worth the punt. "
6 hours ago
Bear replied to LB's discussion Eels hooker opens up on thriving one-two punch combination
"Da Silva reminds me a little of Benny Elias. Can be selfish and looking to turn the game upside down by himself, learning to get his passing and game organisational skills in focus, should be his first priority. Yes he has pace and can sniff a "…"
6 hours ago
Blue Eel replied to LB's discussion Eels hooker opens up on thriving one-two punch combination
"How do you get all the attributes into one player.
Rylie Smith, chases harder then anyone, does the 1%ers, tackles non stop, Rarely misses a tackle, an everready battery that is all heart. Great service, but hardly ever runs or ask questions of the…"
6 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: 2240

 

Charlie Guymer send off

I know we won, but the Jacob Liddle "strip" penalty at the 24:21 to go mark needs to be called out as a failure of the ref's knowledge of the rules.A penalty restart cannot legally occur until the referee has officially designated the mark. Yet, as…

Read more…
8 Replies · Reply by Hector Bob Down 15 hours ago
Views: 648

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