On July 14, 2019, England’s 45 year wait to finally get their hands on the World Cup Trophy was over, as they edged out New Zealand in an enthralling final that could well go down in history as the best one-day international final ever.
That thrilling set piece occasion was watched by over four million people in the UK, a resurgence in popularity for the sport that administrators, players and journalists will hope spills over into English cricket’s other big summer showpiece: the Ashes.
England are certain to start as favourites with bookmakers for the series, which gets underway with coverage on SKY on August 1. The home team are rated as Evens favourites by many bookmakers, with Australia at 17/10 and the drawn series available at 9/2.
The reason for that favouritism is partly home advantage. Since Michael Vaughan’s Ashes heroes of 2005 ended the long period of Australian dominance, the Aussies have failed to win a series in England, losing out in 2009, 2013 and 2015. Their last Ashes win on English soil came in 2001, under the captaincy of Steve Waugh. That streak isn’t simply down to the decline of the Australian Test team, but has also reflected an overall global trend of touring teams finding it harder to win in unfamiliar conditions, perhaps as a result of changes to the ICC regulations over pitch preparation, which have been tweaked in the last decade following a run of high-scoring stalemates.
In fact, seven of the last eight Ashes series have been won by the home team, the exception being the 2010-11 series, when an England team approaching the peak of their powers out-thought the Australians, who at that time were deep into a period of transition.
And going into this year’s contest, the Australian team once again has an unsettled look to it. The banishing and then the return of David Warner, Steve Smith and Cameron Bancroft, has disruptive to Cricket Australia’s plans, and ahead of this series, Australian selectors have turned to the expedient of pitting two teams of Australians against one another in England in an attempt to solve some of their numerous selection dilemmas, most notably, the composition of their top order.
England have a few potential issues of their own. Their opening pairing is not settled, they have yet to identity a regular number three and they don’t have a front-line spinner to match Australia’s Nathan Lyon, although the much-underestimated Moeen Ali is capable of doing a solid job.
But momentum can be a powerful force in top level sport and the joy and confidence of their World Cup win will undoubtedly help the England players to approach this Ashes series with optimism. And many England fans, with the cheers of Lord’s still ringing in their ears, will be sharing in that optimism as they look for the best odds on an England Ashes win with Bigbetbookmakers.com.
