Last weekend, England’s Cricket team took on the Australians at The Gabba in Brisbane, a fortress for the home side over the years and the game, which started very evenly over the first few days, finally got away from the visitors on the final two days of the Test Match.
With England skittled out for barely 190 in their second innings, it left the home side chasing just 170 for the win, which they managed to do over the final evening and morning of the game without even losing a single wicket, claiming a 10-wicket win and going 1-0 up in the best-of-five series.
Coral have been closely following all the action on Coral Sports and also via their In-Play betting service as the days in the test progress and now with the Aussies leading the series, England must find a way to strike back immediately in the Second Test, which takes place in Adelaide starting on Saturday 2nd December.
Let’s quickly recap on some of the key information on the Ashes Series before we take a look ahead to Saturday’s Second Test and some of the most exciting bets available on the match.
England and Australian Squads
Both England and Australia come into this Ashes Series without the most experienced of squads at their disposal. England, if anything, have the squad with more Ashes experience but only a few of those players can remember England’s last disastrous trip to Australia back in 2013-14.
The England squad is as follows:
England – Joe Root (Captain), James Anderson (Vice-Captain), Moeen Ali, Jonny Bairstow, Jake Ball, Gary Balance, Stuart Broad, Alistair Cook, Mason Crane, Tom Curran, Ben Foakes (Wicketkeeper), Dawid Malan, Craig Overton, Mark Stoneman, Chris Woakes, James Vince
Australian hopes have been pinned on a group of younger players with a few star names and more experienced dotted throughout the line-up.
Australia – Steve Smith (Captain), David Warner (Vice-Captain), Cameron Bancroft, Jackson Bird, Pat Cummins, Peter Handscomb, Josh Hazlewood, Usman Khawaja, Nathan Lyon, Shaun Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, Tim Paine (Wicketkeeper), Chadd Sayers and Mitchell Starc
There are some key players missing particularly for England where all-rounder Ben Stokes misses out on the tour due to a disciplinary procedure following an incident at a nightclub in Bristol over the course of the summer. His absence, with bat and ball, will be keenly felt as England do not have a direct replacement who can bat and bowl to the same level as Stokes.
Indeed, Stokes absence was keenly felt in that first test where England’s bowlers toiled in the second Australian innings and indeed failed to make a breakthrough on a pitch that was set up more in favour of the batsman.
The Ashes Series 2017-2018
This is a best-of-five test series and will be completed early in 2018. The five test matches are outlined below:
- 1st Test – 23rd – 27th November – The Gabba, Brisbane – Australia Win
- 2nd Test – 2nd – 6th December – Adelaide Oval, Adelaide (Day/Night Test)
- 3rd Test – 14th – 18th December – WACA Ground, Perth
- 4th Test – 26th – 30th December – Melbourne Cricket Ground, Melbourne
- 5th Test – 4th – 8th January – Sydney Cricket Ground, Sydney
Historically, Ashes test series taking place in Australia have been miserable experiences for many England teams over the years. The last win in Australia of the Ashes series came back in 2010-2011, but the series either side of that, in 2006-07 and 2013-14 have both ended in 5-0 whitewashes for an entirely dominant Australian team.
Indeed, prior to that win in 2010-2011, England’s last series win in the Ashes in Australia came back in the 1980s, while over that time Australia have racked up a number of big wins over their most fierce rivals including several series where they have won four or more test matches.
Indeed, of all the Ashes Tests played in Australia, the home side have won just over half of the games played, with England’s success rate now around the third mark, with the remaining 20% of games or so ending in draws.
In Ashes Test history, the Australians have won 131 tests, England 108 and 89 have been drawn. However, in terms of Ashes Series, the teams are both tied and oddly enough, both have the same record home and away. Both teams have won 18 Ashes Series on home soil and 14 away from home with a total of five Ashes series ending in draws.
So which team will add to their total when the Second Test at the weekend is complete? Let’s take a quick preview of the game to find out.
Second Test – Adelaide Oval (Day/Night Test) Preview
The Second Test will set a new precedence in Ashes history as it will be the first ever Ashes Test Match between the teams that will be played under Day/Night conditions. The excitement of playing to a packed crowd under the lights may well inspire the teams, the question is which of the two teams will it inspire the most?
It is hard to envisage Australia making too many changes to the team that performed so well in the first test, especially over the fourth day, when their bowlers decimated the English batting attack and their openers steered them to what was in the end, a dominant and comfortable victory.
Australia Likely Team: Cameron Bancroft, David Warner, Usman Khawaja, Steve Smith, Peter Handscomb, Shaun Marsh, Tim Paine, Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood, Nathan Lyon.
With Ben Stokes still unavailable, although there are rumours he could join the squad as early as the Third Test if police do not charge him, England are likely to resist making too many changes to their team for the second test.
England Likely Team: Alistair Cook, Mark Stoneman, James Vince, Joe Root, Dawid Malan, Moeen Ali, Jonny Bairstow, Chris Woakes, Stuart Broad, Jake Ball, James Anderson
England are the last team to beat Australia at the Adelaide Oval, winning back in December 2010 by an innings and 71 runs on their way to a rare Ashes Series win in Australia. However Australia gained revenge for that defeat in December 2013 and they have also beaten India, New Zealand and South Africa at the ground in recent years.
Top Tips
Coral are offering odds of 8/13 on Australia to win the second test with England an 11/4 chance, while the draw is a 4/1 option. Although Australia’s win in the first test looks dominant, it was only really the fourth day which saw the Aussies grasp control of the game as until then, it was very close indeed. I think England are not too far away but they are missing Stokes a great deal and as such, I can’t back them to win here, but I think a draw at 4/1 is a solid option.