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

Randy Handlinger replied to Kurupt - Your Mums Favourite Thug's discussion Ryles Is Letting Us Down With His Trash Selections
"Gotta save some disappointment for '27"
1 minute ago
Randy Handlinger replied to Hell On Eels's discussion R11 Game Day Blog, Magic Round v Storm: Trauma and Redemption
"Rocks or Bigger Rocks..
Rocks or Boulders
Rocks or Dirt"
3 minutes ago
Randy Handlinger replied to Kurupt - Your Mums Favourite Thug's discussion Ryles Is Letting Us Down With His Trash Selections
"Accurate summation Kurupt
Moses & Joash are both adhd kids but Moses is medicated"
7 minutes ago
Mallee57 replied to Collaroy Eel's discussion Parra team =
"Agree "
9 minutes ago
LB replied to Collaroy Eel's discussion Parra team =
"Defensively yes. Errors wise that you suggest, i would not put that down too much on coaching more so excecution. Which can be brought on by fatigue, frustration and the like. We are unfit and weak. "
10 minutes ago
LB replied to Collaroy Eel's discussion Parra team =
"Too say those players don't make any difference is asinine. They make a difference. Enough to win more games then we lose? Probably not but we are a better team with all of them."
11 minutes ago
Mallee57 replied to Kurupt - Your Mums Favourite Thug's discussion Ryles Is Letting Us Down With His Trash Selections
"Elite 🤣 should be 'delete' coaching staff asap. Brad Arthur was better than this joker"
11 minutes ago
Mallee57 replied to Kurupt - Your Mums Favourite Thug's discussion Ryles Is Letting Us Down With His Trash Selections
"Possible but seeing some fresh faces would at least be brighter for the Eels fans to look at for a change"
12 minutes ago
Rock Guy replied to Hell On Eels's discussion R11 Game Day Blog, Magic Round v Storm: Trauma and Redemption
"Gold!!"
14 minutes ago
Mallee57 replied to Roy tannous's discussion Fmd
"This team is very poorly coached in my opinion. Apart from a few players who are just naturally gifted players no matter who coaches them like JAC for example the rest are playing like they're not training properly, unprepared, mentally weak school…"
15 minutes ago
Rock Guy replied to Hell On Eels's discussion R11 Game Day Blog, Magic Round v Storm: Trauma and Redemption
"OMG, I get you want to call out the entire team, but if you don't think the ref can also be blamed, I'm stunned mate. Really is that your stance?"
15 minutes ago
Randy Handlinger replied to Randy Handlinger's discussion Remember when we were told Kaizen was not a catchphrase.
"We have gone from Kaizen to "superstar youngsters will save us". 
It is "weapons grade"copium"
17 minutes ago
Rock Guy replied to Hell On Eels's discussion R11 Game Day Blog, Magic Round v Storm: Trauma and Redemption
"JDB killed it last week. FFS Guymer, every single week. "
17 minutes ago
Rock Guy replied to Hell On Eels's discussion R11 Game Day Blog, Magic Round v Storm: Trauma and Redemption
"hahaha - do you ever git sick and tired of asking that question each week. The guys is worse than rocks and diamonds
 "
18 minutes ago
Randy Handlinger replied to Kurupt - Your Mums Favourite Thug's discussion Ryles Is Letting Us Down With His Trash Selections
"Perhaps these High-quality players coming thru are just an illusion...a Mirage..a cruel trick of the light that plays on the eyes of the desperate, promising relief before crushing the last of their hope with a mouthfull of sand
 "
19 minutes ago
Rock Guy replied to Hell On Eels's discussion R11 Game Day Blog, Magic Round v Storm: Trauma and Redemption
"He gave the six again because the defender pushed up off the tackled player to stand.. This kent was going to do it all night.. I saw the Harry Grant penalty and then the two six agains and turned it off. I just can't watch these shit refs. Cowboys…"
19 minutes 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: 2423

 

Eels vs Bye - Who Wins?

Next week the Eels team will certainly have their work cut out for them when they go up against a relentless BYE team. It's obvious Captain courageous Mitch Moses who will be missing with Origin Duties will make the Eels job tougher in attempting to…

Read more…
0 Replies
Views: 4

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