Cricket Blog: What has this Summer’s Ashes Taught Us?

On paper it’s been a great summer for England – test series victories against New Zealand and in the big one against Australia – 3-0 nonetheless. But were England at their best? Probably not.

But it’s worth remembering the 1990s when we were blown away series after series by Australia so fans of that era would take a victory against the Aussies however it came.

This summer, the bowlers and batsmen performed at different times and did the job for England throughout the summer. Joe Root scoring 180 at Lords; Kevin Pietersen also scoring a ton and Ian Bell having the summer of his life with over 500 runs including 3 tons. The big 3 bowlers – Swann, Anderson and Broad were brilliant throughout the Ashes taking over 20 wickets each and causing the Australian batsmen plenty of problems.

England may have lost the ODI series following the test series. But plenty of players got a rest including Bell, Cook, Swann, Anderson and Broad – meaning when the Ashes start again down under in November they will be arriving well rested whereas the Aussies have a trip to India to contend with and that will influence our cricket betting tips for the Christmas Ashes series.

There has also been much discussion about the makeup of the squad for the tour down under – the recent ODI series has pushed Ben Stokes and Boyd Rankin to the front of the selector’s minds. These young players who have performed when given the chance; demonstrate the fast bowling stocks of talent that England has and also how they’ve managed to stay fit. In direct comparison, the Australians have had to deal with continual injuries to their young stars; Cummins, Starc, Pattinson, Bird amongst others.

This summer may not have been as magical as 2005 or 2009 but England are winning series after series against the best teams in the world now. A victory in the return series down under would put Alistair Cook and his players in the history books – firstly winning 4 series on the trot against Australia but also winning 2 series within 12 months of each other. Another 3-0 victory for England would not be out of the question.

The Winter Ashes Betting Tips

England to win 3-0 – 20/1 from Betfair

England to win 5-0 – 39/1 from Betfair

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By Raj Bansal