The batsman had not wanted to give up the thought of playing in the third Test, having missed so much international cricket in the past 18 months for very different reasons. His bid to play at Headingley only five days after the vicious blow to the neck he copped from Jofra Archer - and only four days after he was diagnosed with delayed concussion - always seemed highly ambitious but when he told teammates on Monday his condition had improved, playing cards with them on the team bus to Yorkshire, there was a glimmer of hope.

That was shut down on Tuesday when he failed to join fellow squad members in their pre-match training session at Headingley and was ruled out of the match.

Two days after being withdrawn from the final day at Lord's, Smith was back in an Australian team tracksuit and at the ground but instead of being put through his paces with the rest of the squad or even training lightly he was locked in conversation with Langer in the middle of the venue before speaking with team doctor Richard Saw and having a long discussion with former Test captain Mark Taylor, who is in England on media duties.

Smith had admitted he had needed to train on Tuesday and then face fast bowling in the nets on Wednesday - as well as pass concussion tests - to get the all clear - and the fact he could not even take that first step clearly pained him.

The 30-year-old did not have to sit out a set number of days before resuming playing under Cricket Australia's concussion and head trauma policy but had to make a staged return to physical activity so couldn't just wake up on match eve, grab his bat and ask net bowlers to do their best.

There had been hope he would recover in time when he reported his condition had improved on Monday but Australia must now cope without him.

After standing in successfully for Smith as a concussion substitute on the last day at Lord's, Marnus Labuschagne is set to be the player to replace him again at Leeds, expected to slot straight in at No.4 where he scored a crucial second innings half-century to steer Australia to safety.

Labuschagne was also felled by an Archer bumper at Lord's and copped another one in the grille of his helmet at training on Tuesday from a Mitchell Starc short ball. He was cleared to continue after being assessed by Saw.

The make-up of the bowling attack had not been confirmed but there were signs that despite employing a squad mentality with the quicks in England selectors may stick with the same pace line-up of Pat Cummins, Peter Siddle and Josh Hazlewood that featured at Lord's despite having indicated previously that James Pattinson was likely to play here after being rested.

The big question, however, will be how Australia can live without their talisman, particularly with the next most senior batsman David Warner in such a run scoring rut. He has been the rock for Tim Paine's side in his comeback to Test cricket, even more so than he was before his suspension, with twin tons at Edgbaston and then almost a third in succession at Lord's before he ran into Archer.

Joint vice-captain Travis Head is confident Australia can make do without his sizeable influence as they seek to retain the Ashes, which they can do with victory here.

"Obviously Marnus came in and played beautifully, he has been fantastic over here in the county season, got a lot of hundreds," Head said. "[Matthew Wade] got a hundred at Edgbaston so I think we have got guys who are in form.

"I think it showed without Steve [on Sunday] we were able to get the job done, which is a positive. I think we have got the batting in the sheds that can do the job."