The Aussies remain odds-on despite poor showing in Twenty20 World Cup
It’s less than a fortnight until the 2009 Ashes series begins, and the bookmakers are in little doubt as to which team are likeliest to triumph. They might have had a lousy time in the Twenty20 World Cup, but Australia are no better than 8/11 (Stan James) to retain the tiny urn and take some kind of revenge for their narrow defeat in 2005. Few can forget the five contests that took place four years ago, when the Aussies raced into a 1-0 lead, before England dramatically triumphed 2-1 and confounded the odds on that occasion.
Quite whether they’re equipped for another victory is another matter, although there is sure to be plenty of patriotic money at 9/4 (Ladbrokes) for the home team. They will have to achieve this without Ashes-winning captain Michael Vaughan, who was the driving force behind the success of 2005. Steve Harmison also misses out, although surely another 5-0 whitewash in favour of the visitors is out of the question? Firms such as Blue Square and Ladbrokes are only prepared to offer 20/1 about this outcome, something that happened when the sides last contested the Ashes in Oz. Without Shane Warne, Glenn McGrath and Justin Langer, they might also not be the force of old, could this be a closely-fought tussle?
The player of the 2005 tournament was Andrew Flintoff and it appears that his fitness holds the key to England’s success this time around. The man affectionately known as Freddie is 9/2 (Paddy Power) to be the home team’s Top Batsman once again (he claimed 24 wickets in 2005), a price which has injury concerns factored into it. The favourite on this market is James Anderson (5/2 Ladbrokes) who will almost certainly be selected to fill the gap left by Harmison and Simon Jones. Nevertheless, Graeme Swann (4/1 Sky Bet) could be the ace in the pack on his Ashes debut, especially if the pitches can provide plenty of turn during the later stages of each Test.
Batting-wise, the three names that spring to mind for England are Kevin Pietersen (11/4 Blue Square), Andrew Strauss (7/2 Stan James) and Alistair Cook (9/2 Victor Chandler). This trio hold the key as far as getting runs on the board are concerned, especially the flamboyant KP who is a cracking bet at the above price to score the most runs for his team. Big games require players with courage and you get that in droves from the Hampshire man. He’ll be the player that takes the game to the Aussies, with the only criticism being that he sometimes gets carried away by his massive array of shots. Staying on a favourite-backing theme, Aussie captain Ricky Ponting is a 7/2 chance (Coral) to hit the most runs for his team over the five Tests.