England v Australia: Third Test preview, TV, team news and free betting tips

TV: Sky Sports Cricket & Main Event, 11am Thursday

Venue: Headingley, Leeds

England were frustrated by Australia’s Steve Smith in the first Ashes Test and by torrential rain in the second game of the series but neither of those forces of nature is expected to halt the hosts at Headingley this week.

Australia’s ace batsman Smith has scored 144, 142 and 92 in the first two Tests but he is out with concussion and the weather is set fair for Leeds, where the draw is as big as 7-1.

Smith’s absence has prompted a major plunge on England to level the five-match series at 1-1 and Hills likened his impact on the betting market to Cristiano Ronaldo being ruled out for Portugal.

That is no exaggeration – the former captain scored 39.7 per cent of Australia’s runs off the bat in the three innings in which he featured – but the 9-4 Aussies will be desperate to prove they are not a one-man team.

Best Ashes bets

The pre-match gamble on the draw at Lord’s was landed in the end and England have been similarly popular with punters in the lead-up to the Headingley Test.

Joe Root’s side played with great spirit in the second Test, finishing just four wickets short of an unlikely victory, and the performances of Jofra Archer with the ball and Ben Stokes with the bat boosted home fans’ hopes of an Ashes comeback.

Steve Smith’s absence seriously weakens Australia – he was trading as short at 6-4 to be their top first-innings runscorer – but the tourists still have an awesome array of pace bowlers to test a wobbly England batting unit.

Pat Cummins has led the attack superbly while Josh Hazlewood should come on for his impressive run at Lord’s and James Pattinson and Mitchell Starc are high-class options if Australia decide to rest veteran Peter Siddle.

Both teams’ top-order batsmen can expect a tough time against the new ball as Archer, Stuart Broad and Chris Woakes form a formidable England attack.

The top-runscorer value, then, may lie with a couple of players in the middle-order and Stokes looks a nice price to follow up his outstanding second-innings century at Lord’s.

Most of his best innings during the World Cup came when England were under pressure and his temperament and technique stood up at HQ last week as he made 115 not out in a total of 258-5 declared.

Stokes scored a first-innings fifty in the first Test at Edgbaston and made 100 and 58 against the West Indies in his last Test at Headingley in 2017.

With Smith unavailable for the second innings at Lord’s, Australia had to dig deep to hold out for the draw. Marnus Labuschagne (59) and Travis Head (42 not out) kept the hosts at bay and vice-captain Head should be backed to lead the way at Headingley, where he had a couple of spells with Yorkshire in 2016 and 2017.

Head is averaging just less than 50 after ten Test matches and he offered Smith useful support at Edgbaston, scoring 35 and 51. The talented left-hander is clearly in good nick, having made centuries in the tour matches against England Lions and Worcestershire, and he could shine in the third Test.

David Warner had a prolific World Cup campaign but he has been brought back down to earth in the Ashes, scoring just 18 runs in four innings.

He averages 30 after 19 Test innings in England – well below a career average of 47 – and is a vulnerable favourite in bet365’s first-innings runs match bet with Usman Khawaja.

The number three made 36 in the first innings at Lord’s – the second-highest score of the Australia innings – and, while Warner will surely come good at some point, England’s new-ball bowlers will be confident of extending his lean run.

Recommendations
B Stokes top England first-innings runscorer
1pt 11-2 Sky Bet
T Head top Australia first-innings runscorer
1pt 11-2 Betfred
U Khawaja to outscore D Warner in the first innings
3pts 13-10 bet365

Venue

England have a patchy record in Leeds, winning only four of their last ten Tests and suffering a shock defeat to the West Indies in 2017.

Their seamers were far too good for Pakistan last summer, however, and Headingley usually favours quick bowlers, although in the last County Championship match there South Africa spinner Keshav Maharaj took ten wickets as Yorkshire (520) wrapped up an innings victory over Somerset.

Team news

England
James Anderson is still continuing his recovery from a calf injury. Jason Roy will be assessed after being hit on the head in the nets so his Surrey teammate Ollie Pope is on standby.

Australia
Steve Smith (concussion) has been ruled out so Marnus Labuschagne is set to come into the 11. Fast bowlers Mitchell Starc and James Pattinson are pushing for recalls.