Ashes
England v Australia Fifth Test Preview
England and Australia will head back down to London for the final Test of this year’s Ashes series, with the tourists knowing they have retained the urn whatever the result after a bitterly disappointing washout in Manchester last weekend.
We preview the action below.
England v Australia – Thursday 11:00
England will have to wait at least another two and a half years to try and win the urn again after their dominance in last week’s fourth Test at Old Trafford was sabotaged by heavy rain. It’s a rather puncturing end to what was shaping up to be one of the all-time greatest series, with England looking good value to win an Ashes campaign after being 2-0 down for the first time in their history.
Despite the atmosphere being a bit deflated, England will want to avoid a home series defeat for the first time since 2001, so there’s still a lot of pride to play for. They start as the 11/8 favourites to level the series at 2-2, which was the scoreline the last time these two sides faced eachother in the UK in 2019.
If the fourth Test is anything to go by, then that 11/8 price looks very good value. Australia were totally outplayed by the hosts across the first three days, with England posting their highest Ashes home total since 1985. Captain Pat Cummins was uninspiring with both the ball and his tactics, and it will come as a huge relief for the tourists that they were bailed out by the adverse weather.
They of course miss their star spinner in Nathan Lyon, whose absence has definitely checked the Australian’s momentum, and may need to abandon their no-frontline spinner policy adopted in the fourth Test in what will be a much drier Oval surface. They start as the 7/4 underdogs for victory – the highest price they have been prior to a Test in the whole series – whilst another draw is 13/5, something that can evidently not be ruled out.
Zak Crawley is now the top run scorer in the series after his devastating 189 in England’s first innings in Manchester, and is the second favourite at 9/2 to rack up the most runs again for the hosts. Joe Root leads the pack at 3/1 after looking in great touch for his 84 at Old Trafford, whilst Jonny Bairstow is good value at 7/1 after his rapid 99*.
The picture for Australia looks a bit more ambiguous. Steve Smith has struggled since his century at Lord’s, but Marnus Labuschagne seems to be finding some form at least – whilst Zak Crawley was awarded man of the match, it was probably Labuschagne’s knock that killed enough time to save the game for Australia. The Queensland number 3 has been boosted from 7/2 to 4/1 to score the most runs for the tourists, and certainly looks the most in-touch out of the Aussie top order.
England have a very good record at the Oval in Ashes Tests and are certainly our selection in the match winner market. Ben Stokes’ men to win the game and Mitchell Starc to be the top Australian bowler was 8/1 but has been nudged up to 10/1, which certainly seems worth backing.
