We are heading towards Christmas at a rapid rates of knots and that means that we have some juicy Test cricket to look forward, with one of the best series of the winter for my money being the one between Australia and New Zealand, which gets underway on Thursday morning.
These two rivals will meet in a three match series which should bring out the best of them as they battle each other for bragging rights and some valuable points in their quests for the World Test Championship title.
Schedule
1st Test: 12-16 Dec at Perth
2nd Test: 26-30 Dec at Melbourne
3rd Test: 3-7 Jan at Sydney
Australia
This has been quite some summer and indeed year for Australia in Test match cricket. They successfully retained The Ashes in England earlier in the year and have begun their home international spell with a convincing 2-0 series win over Pakistan. This will be a tougher test than that one proved to be, but there has been nothing in their play over the last five months that suggests they are not capable of winning the battle.
Ominously for New Zealand, the Australian top four all found big runs over the course of the last few months, and if that continues then the home side are going to take a lot of beating in their own conditions. The reason why their top four scoring big runs is significant is because their array of bowling options is something nearly every other nation in the world will be jealous of at the present time.
New Zealand
Australia are not the only side to warm up for this battle with a series win. New Zealand did likewise and you could actually argue that theirs carried more merit against an England side who had enough about them to be competitive. As it turned out New Zealand saw them off with relative ease and that will have done wonders for their confidence as they make the short flight over to Australia to look to pull off a shock here.
New Zealand go about their Test cricket in a different way to Australia. Australia are aggressive in all that they do while New Zealand play in a more cautious manner but it is no less effective. They have a batting line up which all know their roles and they have a skilful seam attack that keeps on coming and maintains pressure throughout the innings. They are very tough to beat at home but we’ll see what they are made of away from home here.
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Head-to-Head
These two nations have met in 23 previous Test series with Australia coming out on top in 14 of those and New Zealand just the three. There have also been six draws in that time as well. 12 of those series have been in Australia where the home side have come out in front in eight of them with one for New Zealand. Three have been drawn. You have to go all the way back to 1990 for the last time the Kiwis beat Australia in a series and 1985 for their last win on Australian shores.
Betting
I’ll go with three bets for this series. Many expect this to be quite tight but I’m not so convinced. I think in these conditions Australia are very good things right now. The simple facts are that New Zealand have only won one of their last 22 Tests in Australia dating back to 1985 and if the kookaburra doesn’t swing for very long, which is the way it usually goes, I’m not sure their attack is enough to get stuck in here. Australia are clearly in good nick right now. Their attack can be effective when the ball stops swinging and their batting is on fire right now, particularly the top order. I don’t see New Zealand winning a match and I think the 2/1 on Australia to complete a clean sweep is a touch on the high side.
Nobody has more Test match runs this year than Marnus Labaschagne and that could be key when it comes to the Top Australia series batsman market where understandably Steve Smith is the favourite. I get that. Smith is special and in excellent form but with Labaschagne ahead of him in the batting order I wonder if the man who spent the first half of the English summer with Glamorgan is the better option at pretty much double the price. Labaschagne heads into the series off the back of scores of 185 and 162 against Pakistan. He’s my pick.
I think there is value in a man who top scored for New Zealand against England recently which is BJ Watling. He is the kind of player who can repel this Australian attack whereas you worry about their top order doing that. Their openers didn’t look a huge amount against England and Australia always go after captains which is why I’m not so keen on Kane Williamson. Ross Taylor could be a danger but BJ Watling has the attributes I’m looking for. I’ll take a chance on him at a monster price.
Tips
WON – Back Australia to win series 3-0 for a 3/10 stake at 3.00 with 888sport
WON – Back M.Labaschagne Top Australia Series Batsman for a 2/10 stake at 4.25 with 888sport
Back them here:
Back BJ.Watling Top New Zealand Series Batsman for a 1/10 stake at 17.00 with BetVictor
Back him here:
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