The Ashes First Test Betting Tips: England to Take the Lead

July 8, 2013 Thatsbettingtips Staff

The 67th Ashes series gets underway on Wednesday with the first test taking place at Trent Bridge.

The hosts England are favourites to win and we take a look at the betting for the first test and offer our tips for the England vs Ausratlia test match.

Ladbrokes are providing all of our prices for this event and they are running a fantastic offer where if Alastair Cook or Michael Clarke top score in their team’s first innings they will refund all losing match bets as a free bet – click here for more details.

England are heavy favourites to retain the Ashes and are subsequently odds on to win the first test. They go in to the series in pretty good form in test matches with series wins against New Zealand and India. They also performed reasonably well in their recent warm up match against Essex. Their batsmen, in particular have been in fine form with Alastair Cook, Jonathan Trott and Joe Root all putting in solid performances in recent matches. Alastair Cook and Jonathan Trott both hit unbeaten half centuries against Essex before each retired out. Joe Root played brilliantly in the Test series against New Zealand where he made scores of 71 in the first test and then 104 in the second.

England’s bowlers could also do some damage with the bat, as they showed in the warm up match with Essex where Graeme Swann made an impressive 94 and Tim Bresnan him a fantastic score of 105 not out. Swann also bowled very well in the same match, taking 5 wickets in the Essex second innings. Graham Onions also made a push for a start in the first test by taking 4 wickets. Joe root also impressed with the ball, taking 4 wickets in the Essex first innings. England’s bowling attack is one of the world’s best and whatever 5 bowlers they select in the first test will have the ability to hurt the Aussie batsmen. England go in to the match with a great deal of confidence and if they play to the best of their ability they should comfortably with this first test.

The current Australia squad are said to be one of the worst ever going in to an Ashes series but their warm up match against Worcestershire. Their two most talented batsmen performed well with Shane Watson making 109 in the first innings before Michael Clarke made an impressive 124 in the second. There were also half centuries in the match for Phillip Hughes, Steven Smith, Christopher Rodgers and Edward Cowan. This will give the relatively inexperienced batting lineup some confidence going in to the opening test match of the series. The bowlers performed fairly well with Jackson Bird impressing most by taking 4 wickets in the Worcestershire first innings. Ryan Harris and James Faulkner both took 4 wickets in the match. Australia will need to be at their best to beat an England team playing with bags of confidence but with some solid batting and a fierce bowling attack there is no reason why Australia can’t upset the hosts and take the opening test match.