Ashed 4th Test Betting Tips – Australia to Salvage some Pride

August 8, 2013 Thatsbettingtips Staff

England retained the Ashes after the rain-affected third test match at Old Trafford was drawn. The fourth test gets underway at Durham on Friday and we take a look at the betting and have two tips for you to consider.

Bet Victor are providing the prices for this event and are running a promotion where they refund all losing pre-event bets on the fourth test if England lose at Durham – click here for details. This could be a worthwhile bet after the third test where Australia really gave England some problems and came close to winning the match.

England go in to the test with the Ashes retained but are looking for the outright win. The match at Old Trafford was England’s weakest of the series and they probably would have lost the match if it wasn’t for the rain. Australia finally managed to exploit England’s weaknesses but time got away from them. The Australia bowlers exposed cracks in the England batting order. 3 of England’s opening 5 batsmen were dismissed for single figure scores and England’s batting order must collectively improve if they are to win the fourth test. Kevin Pietersen put in the only creditable score for the hosts with a 112 in the 1^st innings and if it wasn’t for his score they would have lost the test. England’s bowlers also struggled to make an impact across the five days with the four main bowlers all conceding 100 runs in the first innings. In fairness the Old Trafford pitch was very flat but Australia’s bowlers managed to bowl England out which raised the question of whether England’s bowlers could have performed better. Graham Swann did manage five wickets but that’s about as good as it got for the bowling line up. England really underperformed at Old Trafford and the momentum may be with Australia now so England will have to be at their best if they are to win the fourth test.

Australia really gave England something to think about in the third test with a fantastic batting display along with an impressive bowling attack on a pitch which really favoured the batsmen. Michael Clarke put in a captain’s performance in the 1^st innings with a score of 187 which helped Australia to making a huge total of 527-7d. 4 other players made half centuries which almost put the game out of England’s reach before they had even batted. Australia’s bowlers really impressed on a tough pitch to bowl on. The seamers took 9 wickets between them which helped bowl England out for 368. As I said, the momentum is with Australia now and they have a chance to draw the series and take some pride from it after their dismal start. If they play like they did at Old Trafford and the weather stays clear then they have a real chance of winning at Durham and at winning at least one test match in what has been a disappointing series for them.