Ashes

At the start of the 2010 English summer (no, seriously, there was one, you didn’t miss it did you?), England were 100/30 outsiders to win the upcoming Ashes with Australia firm 2/5 favourites. Winter series yielding a draw in South Africa and an unconvincing win over Bangladesh failed to set the pulses racing back at home, and with Australia claiming series white-washes of Pakistan, the West Indies and New Zealand around the same time, back then it was difficult to find reasons to back Andrew Strauss’ side to return home with sport’s most famous urn.

Fast-forward six months, and England are now 13/8 with the Australians even money to get the better of the five-match tussle, a result of which means Andrew Strauss’ men are ODDS-ON to retain the magic urn at 4/5. So what’s happened? Well, put simply, over the last six months England have been good and Australia have been bad, a pattern which emerged shortly after England’s victory over the old enemy at the World Twenty20 final in Barbados. Since then, as well as losing a NatWest ODI series again to England, the Aussies have lost their last three Tests and are without a Test match victory since July, while England have breezed to victory in seven out of their last eight.

If the reason for Australia’s demise is hard to put a finger on at present, the secret for England’s success certainly isn’t. Graeme Swann has tweaked, turned, and spun both himself and his country close to the top of ICC web of world rankings right now, and his particular propensity to dislodge left-handers (of which Australia have many) has helped him become the third fastest off-spinner to reach 100 test wickets of all time. Blue Square make him 11/10 (from 7/4) to take the most wickets for England in the series, but with Stuart Broad (7/2), James Anderson (9/2) and Steven Finn (6/1) all likely to get assistance from bouncy wickets that price does seem like a short one to me.

England’s Top Batsman market is much more wide open however, and you could probably make a case for all its runners. Strauss (7/2) and Kevin Pietersen (4/1) are popular selections as you’d imagine, but with Jonathan Trott (9/2) averaging 55 in tests and Ian Bell (5/1) in the form of his life it really is a close one to call. For my money, Alastair Cook (his place now assured after some decent scores in the warm-ups) and Paul Collingwood (15/2) demand respect too, with the former just about getting my tentative vote at 11/2.

As for the Australians, Michael Clarke (9/2) and Ben Hilfenhaus (11/4) look the pick of their respective batsmen and bowlers. ‘Hilf’ took more wickets than any other bowler during the 2009 series (22 in total), and while many of the home side’s batsmen are struggling for form, Clarke’s nous and expertise against spin should see him through some fascinating battles with top-spinner Swann (something that can not be said for all).

Don’t forget the special bets on offer as well, where Blue Square are offering 2/1 about Ricky Ponting make a duck in the series and 6/1 for Australia not to win a single match….both of which would be fantastic to see!

Sir Ian Botham has teamed up with Sky Bet in their charity Ashes challenge and he is backing Ian Bell not only to inspire England to victory but also to raise a heap of money for Leukaemia & Lymphoma Research in the process.

Bell to score the most runs in the series at 11/2 is just one of Beefy’s top tips ahead of the start of the Ashes and he is also backing Graeme Swann to take most wickets and England to beat the hosts 3-1. Sky Bet guarantee to donate £5,000, as well any winnings from Botham’s charity bets, to Leukaemia & Lymphoma Research; a charity very close to his heart.

As England attempt to retain the urn in Australia for the first time since 1986/87, Botham, who will team up with David Gower, Mike Atherton, Nasser Hussain, David Lloyd and Shane Warne in the Sky Sports commentary box, is bullish about an emphatic win for Andrew Strauss’ men.

“England have got all the momentum and, as I said at the end of last summer, they will win this series by two Tests. I’m expecting that to be the case, not hoping it is” he said.

Sky Bet’s PR Director, Dale Tempest, said: “It will be no surprise to anyone that Beefy has tipped England to win the Ashes but it may surprise a few that he thinks the Aussies will be destroyed. His 3-1 score line prediction may seem optimistic but if he’s right it will be a great winter for English cricket fans.”

As well as selecting four pre-series bets, with Sky Bet placing £250 on each, Beefy will also be given £800 to stake on four separate bets before each of the five Test matches. He expects England’s meticulous preparations to pay off and is backing them at 15/8 to take a 1-0 series lead at the Gabba.

“England looked good in the summer and are a tightly-knit, focused unit in which everyone is prepared to pull for each other and that gives them a distinct advantage going into the first Test. They know they have to hit the ground running from day one and everything in their build-up – that ridiculous boot camp aside – suggests they are in great shape to do so,” Botham explained. (more…)

Ashes excitement is underway today following the announcement of England’s touring party and bookie Paddy Power reports the 9/4 odds for England’s first Ashes victory Down Under since 1986/87 is proving hugely tempting for punters.

At the early stage of the betting Paddy Power has currently taken four times more money on England’s tempting 9/4 odds than has been taken on the 8/13 Australian win and 11/1 series draw combined.

In the correct score betting punters’ most wanted scoreline in England’s favour at the moment is 3-1 for Andrew Strauss’ boys at 12/1 although, conversely, the 4-0 and 5-0 scorelines for Australia are also proving popular at 18/1 and 20/1.

Darren Haines, spokesman for Paddy Power, said: “Punters are excited that England can finally win the Ashes in Australia although we saw similar excitement back in 2006 and we all know what happened then. Punters haven’t forgotten either with the Australia 5-0 victory looking like a small insurance saver for punters just in case our dreams once again turn into a nightmare.”

Andrew Strauss is tipped to lead from the front and is 3/1 to be England’s top runscorer in the five match series. Strauss is followed in Paddy Power’s betting by Kevin Pietersen at 10/3, even though the former Hampshire batsman was recently dropped from England’s ODI outfit following his poor summer of form. (more…)

Following the announcement of England’s 16-man squad for the upcoming Ashes series, Sky Bet make Andrew Strauss’ men 6/5 to retain the Ashes (8/13 not to retain the Ashes).

The England selectors have recalled both Chris Tremlett and Monty Panesar after impressive domestic campaigns. It’s 9/2 for the Surrey fast bowler Tremlett to play in the first Test with Panesar, who hasn’t played a Test match for England since July 2009 when he famously batted out for a draw in the first Ashes match in Cardiff, 10/1.

This afternoon’s announcement also sees the return of Kevin Pietersen after he was dropped for the one-day internationals against Pakistan. It’s 1/33 for KP to play in the first Test and 3/1 he is England’s leading batsman.

Ian Bell, who missed the four-match Test series against the Pakistanis through injury, is 1/4 to start in Brisbane and 5/1 to be England top batsman.

Sky Bet’s Tim Reynolds said: “Apart from Tremlett and Panesar there where no real surprises with the Ashes squad. We can now sit back and look forward to November 25th when the first Test gets underway in Brisbane.” (more…)

Following another disappointing innings from Alastair Cook in England’s first innings of the third Test against Pakistan, Sky Bet have eased the price on Cook to play in the first Ashes Test to 4/6 (from 4/9). Much of the pre-match talk was about the form of Cook but after getting caught behind for just six runs, the England opener did nothing to silence his critics.

Cook is 9/4 to score a half century in England’s second innings (1/3 not to) and 7/1 to go on and record his first Test century since scoring 109 not out against Bangladesh in Dhaka in March (1/16 not to).

Sky Bet’s Tim Reynolds said: “It was disappointing to see Cook fail to deliver the goods once again. He now need’s an instrumental knock in England’s second innings if he’s going to keep his place for the first Ashes Test especially with the form that Michael Carberry and Adam Lyth are showing week in week out on the county circuit.” (more…)

The Ashes pendulum has swung more times this summer than Ravi Bopara’s bat as Australia and England exchanged betting favouritism on four occasions across the five Test series.

A look at Paddy Power’s Ashes Betting Graph below shows all the fluctuations of the closely fought series, highlighting the moments when Australia held the upper hand but, crucially the key moments when England won the urn – most notably Jimmy and monty’s last stand at Cardiff (point 3 in graph), Australia’s collapse at Lords and Stuart Broad’s series-winning performance on the second afternoon at The Oval (11).

Click Graph To View Full Size

The Key Moments In The Series

1. Opening skirmishes, England score 336 runs on First day (for 7) to just bring in their odds a little
2. Australia pile on the runs with England facing a big defeat
3. Monty and Jimmy Anderson’s last stand saves the match and give England renewed hope
4. Australia collapse on Day 2 of the 2nd Test to put England in the driving seat and favourites to win the urn for the first time since 2006
5. The second innings fightback by Clarke and Haddin at Lords give England a few wobbles
6. England finally wrap up victory to go 1-0 up in the series and Australia, epitomised by Mitchell Johnson’s problems look all at sea…
7. A key word in the Series – momentum – proves beneficial to England as the rain effected Edgbaston peters out to a draw and Ricky Ponting is left with two Tests to save the Series putting their odds out to as big as 13/2
8. But the whole series is turned on its head at Headingley’s 4th Test. England’s first day collapse put Australia back in the driving seat and their odds to win the series plummet from 11/2 write offs when the two teams arrived at the ground to just 7/4 by lunch
9. England lose inside three days for Australia to level the series. That word momentum is all with Australia now, the heavy favourites to wrap up victory at The Oval.
10. England make a steady start to the 5th Test and there is little to choose between the two teams
11. The Series turns on it’s head again for the fourth, and surely last time, as Stuart Broad takes 4 wickets in 21 balls on the afternoon of day two at The Oval to put England within touching distance of the urn.

Following the news that Kevin Pietersen has been dropped for England’s one day internationals and Twenty20 matches against Pakistan, Sky Bet have eased the price of KP to play in the first Ashes Test to 2/7 (from 1/14).

Pietersen will instead make his debut for Surrey tomorrow in their CB40 game against Worcestershire and it’s 5/6 for the South African-born English cricketer to score 33 or more runs (5/6 32 runs or fewer). 3/1 is on offer for Pietersen to be Surrey’s top batsman against the Royals and it’s 7/1 he silences his critics by scoring a century.

Sky Bet’s Tim Reynolds said: “Kevin Pietersen is a class act and it would be a major shock if he was left out of the first Ashes Test. He’s scored a total 232 runs in his last nine Test innings so a return to the county circuit will allow Pietersen to find his form again before England fly out to Australia.” (more…)

Sky Bet have eased Alastair Cook’s odds to 4/9 (from 1/4) to play in the first Ashes Test following another disappointing innings from the England opener against Pakistan in the second Test at Edgbaston. Cook was widely tipped to start the Brisbane Test but after scoring just 41 runs from his four innings against Pakistan, he’s now coming under some strong criticism. Cook’s last century came against Bangladesh in Dhaka but since then the opener has only scored 100 runs in seven Test innings, with a top score of 29.

With Cook’s poor run of form the England selectors could turn to Jonathan Trott as a replacement to partner Andrew Strauss. Trott has excelled on the Test circuit and Sky Bet make the Warwickshire man 1/3 to start the first Test in Brisbane.

Another option for the England selectors is Michael Carberry. The Hampshire opener, who has already scored a total of 1197 County Championship runs at an average of 63, is now 5/2 (from 5/1) to start the first Ashes Test.

Another player who is putting his claim down is Adam Lyth. The Yorkshire man, who is currently the second top scorer in the County Championship, is 7/1 to start against Australia on the 25^th November.

Sky Bet’s Tim Reynolds said: “Cook needs a massive performance at the Oval next week if he is going to keep his place in the England team especially with the form that both Michael Carberry and Adam Lyth are showing week in week out on the County circuit.” (more…)

England have been cut to 6/1 (from 7/1) to win the 2011 World Cup after they successfully overcame Australia by 7 wickets to claim the ICC World Twenty20.

Craig Kieswetter, who gave England the perfect platform to build on with a man-of-the match innings of 63 runs from 49 balls, is 10/3 to be England’s leading one-day batsman in 2010. It’s 5/1 for the South African-born English cricketer to score a century when England take on Bangladesh at Trent Bridge on July 8th.

After defeating Australia in the final of the ICC World Twenty20 to capture their first ICC World trophy, England are 5/4 to retain the Ashes when they get underway at the end of November (4/7 not to retain the Ashes).

Sky Bet’s cricket betting spokesman Tim Reynolds said: “Australia were our worst result in the outright market so we were ecstatic when Paul Collingwood’s men managed to land the spoils, as were our customers who backed England at 8/1 at the beginning of the tournament.” (more…)

Following the news that Andrew Flintoff plans to play four-day cricket for Lancashire this summer, Sky Bet are offering a selection of cricket betting markets for the England international. Flintoff, who hasn’t played since England’s Ashes victory at the end of August 2009, is 16/1 to play in the 2010/11 Ashes series which gets underway in Brisbane on the 25^th November (1/100 not to play).

Sky Bet’s Tim Reynolds said: “The news that Flintoff is going make himself available for the County Championship is great news. If Freddie can stay fit on his return, then every English cricket fan will be hopeful that he can take part in England’s defence of the Ashes in Australia.”

Other cricket betting markets on offer sees Flintoff 9/4 to score a half century in his first County Championship innings. It’s 8/1 that he marks his comeback by scoring a century in his first innings and 14/1 he gets out for a duck. (more…)