The battle for the Ashes beings on November 23rd as old rivals Australia and England stand toe to toe once again. It is one of the most enduring, thrilling and combative sporting events in the world and the character of England will really be tested as they head down under. The tourists are in possession of the Ashes, but no-one is expecting them to have an easy time of things defending it. They have suffered some terrible humiliations on recent Tours there and the Australians are eagerly awaiting their chance to knock them off their perch.
Ashes 2017/18 Fixtures
1st Test – The Gabba, Brisbane November 23rd – 27th
Australia are unbeaten in Brisbane since 1988. It’s a crazy run of form from them there and opposition have dubbed it the Gabbatoir. It’s probably the most intimidating atmosphere that a rival visiting team has to go through anywhere in the world. Back in the 2013/14 Ashes series England were bowled out for 136 and 179 at the Gabba and were destroyed in the end by 381 runs. England have won just four of twenty previous tests in Brisbane and their last win there was in 1986.They have posted a D2 L5 record at the Gabba since then. It’s a notoriously difficult place and if England falls behind in this Series, that’s a rough turn right out of the gate. There’s no question that the Aussies are going to want to come out of the blocks quickly and heap tremendous pressure on England.
2nd Test – Adelaide Oval, Adelaide December 2nd – 6th
Realistically there are no easy games for England in the Series. For the second test, they head to Adelaide where they lost by 218 runs in the last Ashes series down under. But they did win there in 2010 by a whopping innings and 71 runs on their way to retaining the Ashes. That was one of three wins on that tour, drawing three other matches. That 2010 success is England’s only win in their last five Test matches at the Oval. They are likely going to be down in the series at this point and they are really going to have to dig deep and show some early character. A draw wouldn’t be a bad result for the tourists.
3rd Test – WACA Ground, Perth December 14th – 18th
This is potentially where England really have to put in a good performance to keep the series alive. However, this has been a nightmare of a venue for the tourists having lost their last seven matches there in a row. Actually England have only ever won there once in their history with a W1 D3 L9 record in Perth. This has to be a bit of a write off and the best that England would probably be able to collect is a draw.
4th test – Melbourne Cricket Ground, Melbourne December 26th – 30th
England should have a whiff of a chance in Melbourne in the fourth Test. They picked up a win in Melbourne in their Ashes defence in 2010 and they will need another strong batting performance to stick in there. England have won two of their last five matches there but the defeats in that sequence of trips to Melbourne have been pretty big one. Every promise of producing the most comprehensive victory of the series for the victor whoever comes out on top.
5th Test – Sydney Cricket Ground, Sydney, January 4th – 8th, 2018
Imagine if the year starts off with this being a deciding match for the Ashes. What an atmosphere, what an occasion. England rounded off their successful 2010/11 Ashes defence with a win in Sydney despite losing the toss and batting second. England have won two of their last four visits there and the head to head between the two rivals is pretty even in Sydney. England hold a W22 D7 L26 in their history at the Sydney Cricket Ground. They should be competitive here but you wonder if it will all be too little too late in terms of the Ashes.
Ashes 2017-18 Odds
The hosts are strong odds on favourites at a price of 2/5 with bet365 to go and win the series. They have home advantage with boisterous crowds behind them so this will once again be a very intimidating atmosphere for England. The Tourists are 10/3 underdogs to get the win. A draw is a 7/1 price and that is all that England will need to retain the Ashes.
Top Batsman
Who will do the business at the crease over the course of the five match series? Naturally, the Australian players are going to be far more comfortable under their own conditions than the visitors are going to be. David Warner and Steve Smith are joint 3/1 favourites to be the top scoring batsmen in the Ashes. From England’s side they need the experience of Alastair Cook to fire and he is 6/1 to bet Top Batsmen, but their big dangerman is Joe Root who is a 5/1 option to steal the show.
Top Bowler
The fast tracks are set up for the quick ball in Australia and therefore only one man is likely to come away as the top man of the day and that is Mitchell Starc who was in ridiculously outstanding form during the warm up for the Ashes. It’s hard to see anyone getting the better of him over the course of the series, fellow pace bowler Josh Hazlewood the only contender to really get close.
The Teams
England are not carrying Ben Stokes because of his current disciplinary process that he is going through.That is a huge blow for the Tourists as he, along with Root was one of the leaders who could stand up on a given day and give England hope and runs. Once again James Anderson, who is vice captain is going to be so important for their bowling attack. If he doesn’t perform, England will struggle as a unit. They need him to swing the ball because the England bowling attack doesn’t have the outright pace to threaten the Aussie batsmen. Broad isn’t as prolific as he needs to be in Australia, and again, the loss of Stokes as a bowling option too is a tough pill to swallow. There’s tremendous pressure on captain Joe Root to perform with the bat or else he will get slaughtered by the Aussie press.
Australia can boast Starc, Cummings and Hazlewood. Australia have the pace to really rattle the England batsman. The presence of Mitchell Starc is going to be key for the home side. How are England going to play him? He recently took two hat tricks in one match on home soil for NSW. That’s a warning sign for England if ever they needed one. You pair up him with the consistency of Hazelwood and the fierce bouncers of Cummings England are going to have major problems. England’s batting line up has been pretty well slated already, but the two line ups are pretty comparable. But without question, Australia edge the bowling.
Ashes 2017/18 Prediction
There is going to be fascinating again. How will England cope in the face of some ruthless Australian crowds? They have been battered on recent tours Down Under. However, this may be close because the batting looks even, and it will all be the differences between the bowling departments. England can write off the first test at the Gabba and that puts the tourists on the back foot. It may not be the whitewash that Australia’s Glenn McGrath has touted about once again, but an Australia 3-1 correct series score at bet365 looks good. It doesn’t have the feel of being a series where there are going to be many drawn games. There are weaknesses in both which will prevent that.
