There’s been a general air of despondency among English cricket fans since their comprehensive defeat in Perth and Andrew Strauss and his team have been on the drift ahead of the Fourth Test, which gets under way in Melbourne at the latter end of Christmas Day in the UK. Betfred have the tourists at 15/8 to win at the MCG and retain the Ashes, while Australia are a general 6/4 to take a 2-1 lead in the five-match series.
The betting to be Australia’s top batsman in Melbourne is interesting, with most layers having Michael Hussey, Shane Watson and Ricky Ponting vying for favouritism at 4/1. The first two named is understandable, ‘Mr Cricket’ Hussey has more or less held the Australians’ together in six innings so far while Watson has consistently been the hosts’ top scorer among the upper order. But Ponting’s contribution so far has been negligible and a broken finger is hardly going to improve matters. Vice-captain Michael Clarke ( 11/2 with Betfred and Victor Chandler) also looks out of touch, while the England bowlers appear to have Philip Hughes‘ (6/1 with Skybet) measure. Brad Haddin could be overpriced at 11/1 with bet365 if England make early inroads into the Aussies’ batting, however, as long as he doesn’t allow his feud with James Anderson to get the better of him.
England’s confidence took a bit of a battering at the WACA but they’ve displayed an ability to bounce back from similar maulings under Andrew Strauss in the past and there’s no guarantee their tormentor-in-chief in Perth, Mitchell Johnson, will get the same assistance from the Melbourne pitch. Ian Bell has arguably been the most consistent of the England batsmen over the three tests so far and there’s talk the Warwickshire batsman will be promoted up the order for the Fourth Test. Bell is a general 5/1 to be England’s top run-scorer at the MCG, with Strauss, Alastair Cook and Kevin Pietersen, who have already scored big centuries in the series, a best 4/1 with most layers. Jonathan Trott is quoted at a best 9/2 and it’s difficult to see beyond these five in this market.
Just as Australia clearly weren’t as bad as they looked in Adelaide, England are a lot better than they showed in Perth and the outcome of this series remains in the balance. The draw at 13/5 with bet365 looks an attractive option in Melbourne.
