England v Australia top Ashes series runscorer and wicket-taker predictions

Where to watch England v Australia

First Test at Edgbaston
Sky Sports Cricket & Main Event, 11am Friday

Best bets

Ollie Pope top England series runscorer
1pt 4-1 Betfair, Paddy Power

Travis Head top Australia series runscorer
1pt 6-1 Coral, Ladbrokes

Ollie Robinson top England series wicket-taker
2pts 13-5 Betfair, Paddy Power

Zak Crawley to score fastest series fifty
1pt 10-1 bet365

England v Australia Ashes predictions

The 2023 Ashes series starts at Edgbaston on Friday and there are plenty of special bets to consider as England attempt to regain the urn from Australia.

Top England runscorer
Joe Root won't have many fond memories of the 2021-22 Ashes series, in which he captained England to a 4-0 defeat in Australia, but he did finish as his side's leading batsman, scoring 322 runs – 78 more than Australia's star Steve Smith.

Back in the ranks under new skipper Ben Stokes, Root scored centuries in three of England's first four Tests last summer and he made 153 not out and 95 in a losing cause against New Zealand in Wellington in February.

Still only 32, he is clearly enjoying his post-captaincy career and is a worthy favourite to be England's top series runscorer again but number three Ollie Pope looks the value at twice the price.

Pope had a miserable series in Australia, making just 67 runs in six innings, but he has relished the responsibility of batting at three, where he averages 49.8 compared with an overall mark of 35.3.

He scored 145 in last summer's Trent Bridge win over New Zealand, made another ton against Pakistan in Rawalpindi, and racked up a career-best 205 against Ireland earlier this month.

Pope has also shown he can score runs in tough situations, contributing 73 in a first-innings total of 165 in England's defeat to South Africa at Lord's, and the newly-appointed vice-captain can show his class against the Aussies.

Top Australia runscorer
Steve Smith is understandably a hot favourite to top-score for Australia as his last ten Test innings in England, including last week's WTC final against India, have been 143, 144, 142, 92, 211, 82, 80, 23, 121 and 34.

It's a stunning body of work but Smith was outshone by Travis Head in their matchwinning partnership against India at The Oval and the free-scoring left-hander is a big price to top the Aussie batting chart.

Head was named player of the match for his 163 in the WTC final and he was the top runscorer on either side in the 2021-22 Ashes despite missing the Sydney Test due to Covid.

His 152 off 148 balls in the first Test in Brisbane felt like a breakthrough innings and he showed his versatility when called upon to open in India in March, finishing the series with scores of 49 not out, 32 and 90.

Smith and Marnus Labuschagne take out a big chunk of the market but Head, averaging 55.6 in Test cricket since the start of the last Ashes series, is a tempting price to upset the front two.

Top England wicket-taker
This is a trappy heat given that James Anderson, Stuart Broad and Mark Wood are highly unlikely to play all five Tests so Ollie Robinson looks the right favourite.

The Sussex man is already a crucial part of the England attack, taking 66 wickets at an average of 21.3 despite playing seven of his 16 Tests on tough tours of Australia and Pakistan.

Robinson's home record is outstanding, with 40 wickets in just seven games against New Zealand, India and South Africa, and he has troubled some of the world's best players, dismissing Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma three times and Smith, Head, David Warner and Cheteshwar Pujara twice.

Top Australia wicket-taker
Australia's Pat Cummins took 29 wickets in the 2019 Ashes in England, six more than any other bowler, and he is favourite to lead the way with the ball again.

However, the Aussies shared around the wickets in their WTC final victory over India, with captain Cummins and Mitchell Starc each taking four while Scott Boland and spinner Nathan Lyon bagged five.

Josh Hazlewood, who claimed 20 scalps in four Ashes Tests in 2019, should also be available for Friday's first Test so no bet stands out in the top Australia series wicket-taker market.

Series specials
England's management have shown great faith in Zak Crawley's ability and, while the opener is inconsistent, on a good day he can be destructive.

Crawley has full licence to go after the new ball and he scored 56 off 45 balls and 12 not out off four in this month's win over Ireland at Lord's.

His four Test half-centuries in the Stokes-McCullum era came off 36, 38, 47 and 39 balls while he also stroked 77 off 100 against Australia at the SCG so he is worth an interest to make the fastest fifty of the series.  

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