England face a huge task if they’re to beat Australia in their own back yard for the first time since 2011 and wrest the Ashes from their old foes, according to the odds.
Tim Paine’s men are 3/10 to win the series and hold on to the urn they reclaimed in 2018 and retained a year later with a dramatic drawn series in England.
England are 4/1 on the Sportsbook to pull off a famous victory over five Tests.
On Betting.Betfair, we’ll have series previews as well as tips for every Test from Ed Hawkins. There will also be special Ashes episodes of the
Cricket…Only Bettor podcast where you can get betting insight from Ed alongside fellow cricket experts.
The first Test starts three weeks today (8 December) in Brisbane and the Aussies are 1.715/7 on the Exchange to open with a win. England are 3.7511/4 and the draw is 6.05/1.
The last time the teams met at the venue, in 2017, Australia won by 10 wickets. That series ended 4-1 to the hosts and a repeat outcome is 7/2.
England were without Ben Stokes for that tour but, after initially looking unlikely to be involved again after time away from cricket for personal reasons, he was on the flight to Australia. According to Root, Stokes is on track to play in Brisbane.
Stokes performed heroically for England in the 2019 series and was England’s highest run scorer. He is 4/1 to claim that honour in the upcoming series with Root the favourite at 8/11.
Australia, meanwhile, have announced a 15-man squad for the first two Tests.
The National Selection Panel has named a 15-player squad for the first two matches of the Vodafone Men’s #Ashes Series against England!
Tickets: https://t.co/yhYqPqaGFD pic.twitter.com/rDynzKb7rW
? Cricket Australia (@CricketAus) November 17, 2021
The Aussies are not without problems coming into the series. Paine hasn’t played all season (it’s summer in Australia) due to a neck injury. His last competitive game was in April.
Steve Smith is 7/5 to be Australia’s top runscorer across the series, just as he was two years ago in England.
Marnus Labuschagne 9/4 and David Warner 7/2 come next in the betting.
Warner was the star man for Australia, winning player of the tournament, as they won their maiden T20 World Cup last Sunday.
