Australia v England predictions: free Ashes cricket betting tips

Free cricket tips, best bets and analysis for 2021-22 Ashes series between Australia and England which starts in Brisbane on Wednesday.

Where to watch

Live on BT Sport; first Test starts at midnight on Wednesday

Australia v England best bets

Australia to win 4-1
1pt 13-2 bet365, BoyleSports

Australia to win 3-1
1pt 9-2 bet365, Hills

After a build-up overshadowed by coronavirus protocols, off-field scandals and La Nina rainstorms, cricket's longest-running rivalry resumes on Wednesday when Australia take on England in the first Ashes Test in Brisbane.

Australia captain Tim Paine resigned last month due to a sexting scandal but his successor Pat Cummins leads a confident Aussie team who were crowned Twenty20 world champions for the first time in November.

England are aiming to improve on their last two Ashes tours – a 4-0 series defeat in 2017-18 and a 5-0 rout four years earlier – and here is how the Ashes contenders shape up:

Australia v England: the batting units

Australia

Steve Smith has dominated the past two Ashes series, averaging 137 in 2017-18 before scores of 144, 142, 92, 211, 82, 80 and 23 in the 2-2 draw in England in 2019.

The former Australia captain is the pre-eminent Test batsman of his generation, with an average of just under 62 after 77 matches, and opener David Warner is also formidable at home.

The left-hander had a miserable 2019 series in England, scoring just 95 runs in ten innings, but back on home turf he cracked 154 and 335 not out against Pakistan and he should be full of confidence after a starring role in the T20 World Cup triumph.

England also have to worry about Marnus Labuschagne, who appeared as a concussion substitute for Smith in the 2019 Ashes, reeling off scores of 59, 80, 74 and 67 in his first four knocks.

Will Pucovski's ongoing concussion problems mean Marcus Harris will partner Warner at the top of the order. Harris has made just two fifties in his first ten Tests but eight of those appearances were against England and India and he is a prolific runscorer at first-class level.

Travis Head will start the series at number five, with the experienced Usman Khawaja in reserve. Exciting young all-rounder Cameron Green, the only man to score more runs than Head in the 2020-21 Sheffield Shield season, is inked in at six and wicketkeeper Alex Carey is set for a Test debut at seven.

England

The fragility of the tourists' top order is summed up by the fact that captain Joe Root has scored 1,455 Test runs in 2021 and their next-highest runscorer, opener Rory Burns, has 479.

The pressure on Root, who has never made a Test century in Australia, should be eased by the returns of two men who have: Ben Stokes and Dawid Malan, England's top runscorer on the 2017-18 tour.

Burns and Haseeb Hameed, recalled to the Test team five years after making his debut as a teenager in India, look set to open with Zak Crawley, Ollie Pope, Dan Lawrence and Jonny Bairstow vying for middle-order spots.

Crawley, who had great success as a youngster in Australian grade cricket, is highly regarded by England's hierarchy but averages less than 30 after 15 Tests despite making 267 against Pakistan in 2020.

All-rounder Stokes's availability enables England to play six batsmen plus wicketkeeper Jos Buttler at number seven but it is still hard to see them emulating the prolific 2010-11 Ashes-winning top order of Cook, Strauss, Trott, Pietersen and Bell.

Australia v England: the bowling attacks

Australia

Paine's departure means the hosts will be led by that rarest of beasts: a fast-bowling Test captain.

Pace ace Cummins has limited captaincy experience but he is part of a hugely experienced and settled bowling attack alongside fellow quicks Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood and Nathan Lyon, comfortably Australia's best spinner of the post-Shane Warne era.

That quartet has proved too sharp for most recent visitors to Australia and even India, who won 2-1 down under earlier this year, were skittled for 36 in the first Test in Adelaide.

Cummins, Starc, Hazlewood and Lyon played all four matches of the India series but the Aussies have not had a Test fixture since January so there are doubts over whether they can come through a five-match Ashes series.

Their consistency has restricted opportunities for potential understudies and the other two fast bowlers in the squad are the uncapped Michael Neser and Jhye Richardson, who has played just two Tests.

England

Jofra Archer's duel with Steve Smith at Lord's was arguably the high point of the 2019 Ashes series but an elbow injury has ruled England's fastest bowler out of this tour.

James Anderson returns for a fifth Ashes tour although England's record Test wicket-taker has only one five-wicket haul in 18 Tests in Australia, where Stuart Broad also has modest stats: 34 wickets in 12 matches at an average of 37.

The speedy Mark Wood, whose 21 Tests have been spread over six years, will be hoping for a breakthrough series but much could depend on the inexperienced Ollie Robinson.

He impressed during his first two series against New Zealand and India this summer and his former Sussex teammate Head believes he has similar attributes to Hazlewood – not a bad bowler to emulate on Australian pitches.

Chris Woakes and Craig Overton, who made his debut on the last Ashes tour, are the other quicks in the squad but Sam Curran's injury has deprived Root of a left-arm option and Stokes may be used sparingly given his long spell on the sidelines.

Lyon comprehensively outbowled England spinner Moeen Ali in the 2017-18 series and Jack Leach, if selected, is sure to be targeted by the home batters.

Australia v England: the verdict

Australia's most recent day of Test cricket was on January 19 when India brilliantly chased down 329 at the Gabba in Brisbane to claim a 2-1 series victory.

One day earlier, England had wrapped up a win over Sri Lanka in Galle, set up by Root's innings of 228, and the skipper swiftly followed up with scores of 186 and 218 in victories against the Lankans and India.

That was as good as it got for England this year and another chastening away Ashes series is looming. The return of Stokes is a boost but Archer's absence is a huge relief for the Aussie batters and splitting stakes between a 3-1 and 4-1 home series win could be the way to go.

There are question marks over Australia, beaten by an injury-hit India in their last series, but they rediscovered their swagger at the T20 World Cup and an experienced core of Warner, Smith, Starc, Hazlewood and Lyon will help new skipper Cummins find his feet.

England's inability to put big first-innings totals on the board is likely to scupper their chances of regaining the urn. They collapsed feebly on spinning pitches in India, were outplayed by New Zealand in two home Test matches in June, and lost 2-1 at home to India, who were denied a third victory by a final-day washout at Trent Bridge.

Australia's lack of red-ball cricket is a concern but England's hectic schedule has hardly been beneficial as they have used 25 players in Test matches this year.

Other than Root, only Anderson and discarded opener Dom Sibley have played ten Tests in 2021 and attempting to mould a new-look team during an Ashes series is a recipe for disaster.

India played some stunning cricket in their back-to-back series wins in Australia in 2018-19 and 2020-21. Apart from those losses, though, the Aussies have won 14 and drawn one of their last 15 home Tests against Pakistan, England, Sri Lanka and New Zealand and they should prove a cut above their Ashes rivals.

Australia v England: Test series schedule

December 8-12 Brisbane

December 16-20 Adelaide (day/night Test)

December 25-29 Melbourne

January 4-8, 2022 Sydney

January 14-18, 2022 TBA

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