Australia v England fourth Ashes Test predictions and cricket betting tips

Free cricket tips, best bets and analysis for Tuesday's fourth Ashes Test between Australia and England in Sydney.

Where to watch

BT Sport 1, 11.30pm Tuesday

Best bets

Marnus Labuschagne to score a fifty in the match
2pts 11-8 bet365

Marcus Harris to score over 21.5 first-innings runs
1pt 5-6 BoyleSports

Team news

Australia
Travis Head is out after a positive Covid-19 Test. Usman Khawaja is set to replace him in the middle-order although Mitchell Marsh, Nic Maddinson and Josh Inglis have also been added to the squad. Leg-spinner Mitchell Swepson is pushing for a Test debut.

England
Rory Burns could be recalled in place of struggling opener Haseeb Hameed while seamer Ollie Robinson, who has played in the first three Tests, may be replaced by the fresher Chris Woakes or Stuart Broad.

Fourth Test preview

Australia's odds of completing a 5-0 Ashes clean sweep have been on the drift but that market move is due to a grim weather forecast for the fourth Test in Sydney rather than any renewed confidence in a beleaguered England side.

Thunderstorms are expected to disrupt the SCG Test, with the outlook particularly bad on days one and two, and the draw has gone odds-on in the build-up to the match.

Four of Australia's last seven matches in Sydney have ended in stalemate but given England's batting in the first three Tests they will need plenty of rain delays if they are to avoid a fourth straight defeat.

Joe Root's men were outclassed in Brisbane, lost the day-night Test in Adelaide against an Australia side missing their best two bowlers, skipper Pat Cummins and Josh Hazlewood, and were bowled out for 68 in Melbourne as the Aussies stormed into an unassailable 3-0 lead.

The MCG Test was a shocker as England's dismal batting condemned them to an innings defeat despite their impressive bowlers restricting Australia to a modest 267.

Debutant Scott Boland took 6-7 in four overs during England's second-innings defeat in Melbourne yet such is Australia's bowling depth means he may well be dropped at the SCG.

England, missing head coach Chris Silverwood due to a positive coronavirus test, are 10-1 to overcome both the Aussies and the storms and get a win on the board while Coral offer 5-2 that they claim a first-innings lead.

That looks unlikely given that only Root (three times) and Dawid Malan (twice) have reached 50 in the first three matches and Australia's star batters have formidable records in Sydney.

Steve Smith has three centuries and six fifties from just 12 innings, David Warner averages just under 58, and Marnus Labuschagne has scores of 38, 91 and 73 against India and 215 and 59 against New Zealand in his three Tests at the venue.

Labuschagne's threat is demonstrated by the fact that some bookmakers quote his first-innings runs line higher than Smith's and he should be backed to bounce back from a rare failure in Melbourne.

Before his dismissal for one at the MCG he had made 74, nought not out, 103 and 51 in the series and he looks a big price to score another half-century in the match despite potentially awkward conditions.

Opener Marcus Harris overcame a tricky MCG pitch to battle his way to 76 in the Boxing Day Test, comfortably the highest score of the match, and he can build on that effort in Sydney.

A runs line of 21.5 looks too low for Harris, whose confidence will be high after his contribution in the third Test, and the left-hander made his highest Test score of 79 at the SCG against India in 2019.

Weather forecast

Heavy thunderstorms forecast for days one and two with scattered storms during the rest of the Test and temperatures of 25C to 28C.

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