Ashes Betting

[Spogs]

From the Ladbrokes site.

Most Runs for the series:

Slater 6.00 (Short but he is going to bat every innings)
Ponting 7.00 (Probably where I'd put my money)
S.Waugh 7.00 (A touch short)
M. Waugh 9.00 (Not bad value)
Hayden 9.00 (Not on current form)
Gilchrest 17.00 (May not get a bat...hehe!)

Atherton and Trescothick are the shortest Poms both at 11.00 and either would be worth a spare tenner.

Most Wickets for the series:

McGrath 3.25 (He probably will but that is short)
Gough 5.50 (If he doesn't take them who will?)
Lee 6.00 (Poms will be patient against him)
Warne 8.00 (Unknown)
Cad**** 9.00 (No thanks)
Gillespie 9.00 (He's got my money at that price)

Australia is 1.22 for the series, England 6.00 and the draw 7.00. Strangely England is longer at 7.00 for the first test at Edgbaston where in 30 tests they have played there they have only lost 4 times. Against Australia they have played 10 times, won 4 lost 2 and drawn 4. So they should be most confident for the first test.

 

[WCE2000]

Cad**** is a good buy at 9 dollars.

He is a very good bowler, and with a weak attack, he will be required, along with Gough, to take the bulk of the wicekts - and he can definetaly do that.

 

[dees01]

STEVE WAUGH & DARREN GOUGH WOULD BE MY BETS.
GOUGH IS THEIR ONLY QUALITY BOWLER WHILE STEVE WAUGH ALWAYS GETS RUNS BUT IT WILL DEPEND ON THE AMOUNT OF OPPORTUNITIES WHICH IS WHY SLATER WOULD ALSO BE A GOOD BET.

 

[London Dave]

Cadnob is not bad value. Goughie is the best bowler by a street, but is very unlucky. a few of you lot might be suprised with White. The guy was a genuine dud a few years ago, but I watched him last year and the boy can play. Check out his odds for 20 wkts.

 

[Darky]

The batting chances among the Aussies are very evenly spread. All players down to Gilchrist have a realistic chance to top the run tally, because all are capable of hitting a couple of big hundreds (150+) except for Mark Waugh, who backs it up well with lots of 60s and 70s.

Matthew Hayden is a player who can hit a really huge score, and takes apart ordinary attacks like the Poms have. Gough is a quality bowler, and Cad**** and White are good back-ups, but I don't think Hayden will be threatened by any of them. If he gets to face nuffies like Collingwood and Croft for a few overs every innings, he will absolutely take them to the cleaners.

The lack of a quality spinner makes it look like the brunt of the workload will be worn by Gough, Cad**** and White, and this will suit Adam Gilchrist who likes the ball coming onto the bat hard. Batting at 7 he might not get as many chances to bat, but he is capable of hitting some big scores if given the opportunity, and has done so in the past when he has come in at 5 for not many. With a decent 6 batsmen in front of him, he may not get that many opportunities, but at $17.00 he'd be worth a few bob.

Similarly, the Aussie bowlers are very even. The three experienced guys (Warne, McGrath, Gillespie) have very good records against the Poms, and Brett Lee has a good record against everyone he's bolwed to so far. At the odds mentioned, smart money's probably on Gillespie or McGrath - Gillespie for big wicket bags, but always a possibility of missing one or two tests. $9.00 is very appealing though. McGrath doesn't often take more than 5 in an innings, but rarely takes less than two, so his consistency may get him across the line.

Cad**** and Gough DO take most of the wickets for England, but if the series is to be as one-sided as many expect, the Aussie bowlers will share in 20 wickets per test, and the English bowlers will share in about 13-14. Therefore it is probably unlikely that any English bowler would exceed 20 wickets for the series (or if they do, it won't be by much).

My money would be on (with odds taken into consideration):
Aussies : Hayden (bat) & Gillespie (bowl)
Poms : Thorpe (bat) & Cad**** (bowl)
Overall : Hayden & Gillespie

 

[Spogs]

I'm surprised how highly people on this board rate Cad****. From what I've seen of him lately he has improved a lot but he'll still doesn't move the ball much sideways and at his pace he'll be cannon fodder for the Aussie top order.

I've got a lot of time for Gough but he hasn't been hugely successful against Australia and this series will be no exception. Which is a big problem for the English because if Gough doesn't take 20 odd wickets there's no way they are going to bowl Australia out twice.