There was finally some fire breathed into The Ashes series at Lord’s last week and now England head to Headingley to take on Australia in the third Test from Thursday knowing that they have run out of wiggle room if they are to regain the urn.
The equation for England is simple. They have to win the last three matches beginning with this one. Australia know if they avoid defeat in one more match then they will be returning home with the urn once again.
England
I would imagine England will be pretty peeved at being 2-0 down in the series because they dominated the opening match and they were in a really good position in the second game but failed to take advantage of the opportunities they created for themselves. They now have to find a ruthless streak and gobble up every chance that comes their way while making sure that when they have a platform laid with the bat they maximise it.
The other thing England need to do in this match is forget the scenes of the final day at Lord’s and not go out for revenge. They need to play tough and look to bring the crowd into the game. Australia will be all too aware of how the match got away from them on this venue four years ago and if England can get the crowd vibrant and hostile they will gain a significant edge to be able to play their very best cricket.
Australia
It is quite something that this aggressive Australia side have come to England and taken on the role of being the defensive side looking to take time out of the game and restrict the opposition rather than play the style of cricket we have become accustomed to seeing from them. They have basically played the patient game, laid the traps and waited for England to fall into them and have been rewarded with that policy, even though they were a little fortunate to win the opening game.
The big difference between Australia and England is that the tourists have taken nearly every chance that have come their way in the series. The thing which will give them a lot of confidence is that they are 2-0 up in the series with only really one innings of any significance in the four that their two gun batters have played. You wouldn’t think they would go another three matches without big contributions so Australia look very nicely placed.
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Team News
England have already confirmed their XI and they will make three changes to their side. One was enforced with Ollie Pope out of the series with a shoulder injury while Josh Tongue and Jimmy Anderson are rested. Moeen Ali, Chris Woakes and Mark Wood come into the side.
Australia haven’t named their side for the match yet but we know they will be forced into a change with Nathan Lyon ruled out of the series. Todd Murphy is likely to be his replacement. There is also a suggestion that Scott Boland will come in for Josh Hazlewood.
Betting
I’ll go with one bet to begin with at Headingley and it comes in the form of a performance bet of Jonny Bairstow where his line of 108.5 points looks on the low side on what is his home ground being a Yorkshire player. That means he’ll know how this wicket plays and I expect him to maximise his potential as a result of that. Bairstow only totalled 71 points at Lord’s but he scored 148 points at Edgbaston and I expect a similar output here.
I say that largely because this is his home ground but also because I expect him to have a much bigger impact with the bat, assuming he stays in his crease, because he is getting moved up to number five and there will be three genuine batters to come after him so he won’t be with the tail whenever a wicket falls. He’ll also be extremely motivated after the second innings at Lord’s and I think that will fire him up too. On this ground he should get catches behind to top up the point scoring but we shouldn’t need many as I expect his run tally to be high here.
Tips
Back J.Bairstow’s Performance – Over 108.5pts for a 3/10 stake at 1.83 with Betfair
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