The two biggest rivals in cricket collide once again from Friday when England head down under to take on Australia in the latest series of The Ashes, a tour which has been four years in the making and pivotal for both nations.
Their last meeting in England was a 2-2 draw so it is Australia who have the urn which means that England have to win the series if they want to get their hands on the famous trophy once again. We are guaranteed a competitive five matches here.
Schedule
1st Test: 21-25 Nov at Perth
2nd Test: 4-8 Dec at Brisbane (day/night)
3rd Test: 17-21 Dec at Adelaide
4th Test: 26-30 Dec at Melbourne
5th Test: 4-8 Jan at Sydney
Australia
There is talk that this is the worst Australia team in quite some time. Whether that is true or not, they have gone Win-RU in the World Test Championship so their credentials are there for all to see. This will be the first time that Australia have played Test cricket since the middle of July when they came away from the Caribbean with a 3-0 win over West Indies. Since then it has been a diet of white ball cricket for the national team but the Australia domestic season is in full swing.
One issue for Australia is they have a couple of injuries to their bowling unit so we are going to find out how good their depth is in the seam department in the early stages of this series. The three backup seamers in the squad all have good records in the Sheffield Shield this season though so while there is a weakness there, it might be being overplayed just how big the drop off is. The other issue for Australia is their opening partnership but if they can find a duo who work well then the series is theirs to lose.
England
Whenever England head to Australia it is always a pivotal series. They plan to peak in this the toughest situation that their players will experience and generally an era of English cricket is judged by how they perform when they go to Australia. England carry the burden of history on their shoulders in this series as they haven’t won a series down under since 2010-11. They haven’t won a single Test since then in Australia in some 15 attempts with 13 losses and a pair of draws.
In fact, the size of this England task can be measured by the fact that England have only won nine Test matches in Australia since 1980. If they are going to change that and pull off the upset it is imperative that their bowlers stay fit for as long as possible but the other thing they need is solid first innings runs, particularly at the top of the order. A fast start is necessary too because once you get behind to Australia on their own patch it is so hard to peg them back.
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Head-to-Head
These two nations have battled it out in 84 previous series with Australia still on top in them overall. They have won 40 series to the 34 that England have come out on top in. There have been 10 drawn series as well, the latest of which came when these two sides last did battle on English shores in 2023 when the two sides played a competitive series to contribute towards a 2-2 draw. Australia are unbeaten in series at home since 2011.
43 of those 84 series have been in Australia and the home side have won more than half of them with 25 series wins with four of them drawn. England have come out on top 14 times but there are a generation of English cricketers who haven’t won a series on Australian soil and the pressure is beginning to build as a result. As far as individual matches there have been 361 of them. England have 112 wins while Australia have come out on top in 152 of them. There have also been 97 draws.
Betting
As ever with an Ashes series, the longer the build-up the more a competitive series is expected but I’m not so sure that will be the case. The talk that this is the weakest Australia side in some time might be right, it might not, but the problem England have is that they are just not suited to these conditions and ironically having spent four years trying to put together a pace attack, they might well find seaming conditions which the attacks they have brought over in the past would profit better on.
The big issue I have with England is that the techniques of their batters just isn’t good enough to stand up to quality bowling and while the tourists have had a bit of a touch with Pat Cummins and Josh Hazlewood ruled out of the first game, the three replacement seamers in the squad are averaging 17.57, 24.28 and 14.69 in the Sheffield Shield this season so they aren’t bringing in any duds. I severely doubt the key England bowlers can stay fit for five matches and if Australia can pick up the win in what are still alien Perth conditions to England this could be another long six weeks for England. Australia are too short to back to win the series but when you consider that England haven’t won a match in the last three series in this part of the world, hedging bets on 4-0 and 5-0 Australia, with the former offering up some protection to rain or a ‘commercial’ wicket, might well be the best way to play the Ashes this time around.
Tips
Back Australia to win 4-0 for a 1/10 stake at 11.00 with Coral
Back Australia to win 5-0 for a 1/10 stake at 10.00 with Spreadex
