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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Adam Magrath replied to Hell On Eels's discussion We Don’t Lose Games in Moments. We Lose Them in Minutes.
"I've already suggested we start DeBelin for the reasons mentioned in this blog. Anyone else got some solutions? I think junior's reached the end as being a starting prop and the Dylan walker starting at lock isn't it either."
6 minutes ago
CarloEEL2 replied to Hell On Eels's discussion We Don’t Lose Games in Moments. We Lose Them in Minutes.
"HOE are you also able to identify the " dead zones " or particular minutes  where I cover my eyes or go upstairs to the loo to avoid visually witnessing carnage 🤔🤔😆😆
just for pre planning and my mental health "
10 minutes ago
Mallee57 replied to Hell On Eels's discussion We Don’t Lose Games in Moments. We Lose Them in Minutes.
"Manipulate the ref = Win the game - Penrith are experts at this"
48 minutes ago
Muttman replied to Hell On Eels's discussion We Don’t Lose Games in Moments. We Lose Them in Minutes.
"Incredible work mate. Send it to the club for them to pass on to the Coaching staff. They may be across it already but it never hurts. Really well done. "
54 minutes ago
Coryn Hughes replied to Hell On Eels's discussion We Don’t Lose Games in Moments. We Lose Them in Minutes.
"Cohesion's the word for me.Under pressure in attack and defense you can trust the guy next to you and Penrith have this I'm not sure other teams do.
The more and more you swap out combinations through selection or injury the process defensively…"
54 minutes ago
Angry Eel replied to Hell On Eels's discussion We Don’t Lose Games in Moments. We Lose Them in Minutes.
"So the solution is control the ruck and line speed? Pretty hard to do when the referee is waving his hands in the air like he just don't care. Improvement for us needs to come from better 1st contact. We haven't been great in this area, particularly…"
1 hour ago
Avon Barksdale replied to Offside's discussion Panthers then daylight
"Their line speed narrative is a myth. When you are at the game they are offside every single play but they don't get called whereas every other team does"
1 hour ago
Archie replied to Hell On Eels's discussion We Don’t Lose Games in Moments. We Lose Them in Minutes.
"Terrific blog HOE. Love the stats.
i believe we haven't got the muscle up from to start games well. We are dominated up the middle for the first 25 minutes and always on the back foot. We come into our own once fatigue sets in and have the speed and…"
2 hours ago
Hell On Eels replied to Hell On Eels's discussion We Don’t Lose Games in Moments. We Lose Them in Minutes.
"Thanks Mutts, I did. But it was only after looking at the patterns and zones in Foxs' match graphs over the last few weeks.  Then, I heard Reni Matua mention "death zones" to Braith Anasta in their podcast, and it all crystalized.
I believe the term…"
2 hours ago
Muttman replied to Hell On Eels's discussion We Don’t Lose Games in Moments. We Lose Them in Minutes.
"Mate did you come up with this analysis yourself re zones? It's incredibly insightful. "
2 hours ago
Cʜɪᴇғy Mclovin🐐 - Mark O'neill' Sack ! replied to Hell On Eels's discussion We Don’t Lose Games in Moments. We Lose Them in Minutes.
"My take is that our forwards have been beaten convincingly in every match both in defence and attack, especially in the first 30 minutes when.teams have their starting packs on.
The dragons had the majority feild position, but lacked the finesse in…"
3 hours ago
Coryn Hughes replied to Cʜɪᴇғy Mclovin🐐 - Mark O'neill' Sack !'s discussion Eels Targets 2027
"I'm persisting with him I like the athleticism and ball skills on the edge he's an ascending player not a descending one.I think out of all the back rowers we have I think JR rates him highly as he's picked every week.You also got o have some sought…"
6 hours ago
fake midget pseudoachondroplasia replied to Offside's discussion Panthers then daylight
"I would love to Penrith GPS stats vs other teams.  They seem to maintain line speed all game where other teams have to pick and choose as you can not physically maintain top level line speed pressure all game but Penrith do.  It also doesn't affect…"
9 hours ago
fake midget pseudoachondroplasia replied to Offside's discussion Panthers then daylight
"How do Penrith maintain line speed, pressure and intensity for so long each game.   Sports science is always developing and I believe they have found a loophole.  Every club works hard and have the toughest preseason ever so I don't believe 1 team…"
9 hours ago
Richard Jackson replied to Cʜɪᴇғy Mclovin🐐 - Mark O'neill' Sack !'s discussion Eels Targets 2027
"EA, Apa played 7 in cup 2 0r 3 weeks ago and managed the game perfectly. His passing game is a thing of beauty and he never delivers a bad pass. The guy has time and is poised, calm and calculated as opposed to Lorenzo, who runs first and when he…"
10 hours ago
Darren Munro replied to Cʜɪᴇғy Mclovin🐐 - Mark O'neill' Sack !'s discussion Eels Targets 2027
"🤣🤣🤣"
12 hours ago
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Keaon done deal

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