The Ashes Is Here
England's nail-biting 2-1 win over Australia in 2005 is the only time they have beaten the Aussies in a series in 20 years. Spread bettors everywhere are now getting ready for the latest Ashes installment and after England's crushing 5-0 defeat in Australia two years ago, they will be hoping for a much better performance. Buyers of the England series win index spread will be pleased that from the Aussie line-up in 2007, no less than five top players have left, perhaps most notably Shane Warne who will join the Sky Sports team. Buyers will also take confidence that the Aussies were dumped out of the World Cup Twenty20 tournament so early at the group stages. These two great rivals have played 64 Ashes series over the years and in that time Australia have won 31, England 28, with five being drawn. Supporters of England on the spreads should be aware that in 316 Ashes tests, Australia have won 131, England 97 and 88 have been drawn.
Buyers of the English series win index spread will be encouraged that the first test is being played in Cardiff and not the usual Lord's ground, as the Aussies have a particularly good record there. Good news for buyers of England's series spread is that Edgbaston and the Brit Oval have proved more troublesome grounds for the Australians where they have losing records. Sellers of the Aussie series win index spread at 64-68 (25 points per test win, 10 points per draw) will have taken note that the Brit Oval has been a particularly poor ground for them; they have won six and lost 15 of their 34 matches there. During the last nine tests at the South London venue, Australia have won just the once and lost three times. However, buyers of the Aussie series spread will remember that the two losses in 1993 and 1997 were somewhat irrelevant as the series had already been decided. Punters looking for a spread bet on the highest score of the series will be interested to learn that England averaged 506 runs per match in the 2007 series, whilst in the last series on English shores they averaged 592 runs per match.
Followers of the player series markets will have been paying close attention to the squads and the current injury concerns. Currently it looks as if all the big names will be in contention for the first test. One key player for the Ashes series will be Kevin Pietersen who is the batsmen the Australians fear the most. Buyers of KP's total series runs spread at 400-420 will have noted that he has scored a huge total of 963 runs at 53.50 in 10 tests against Australia. One man that has the ability to stop Pietersen � and the rest of the England line-up - is pace-man Mitchell Johnson, who played excellently against South Africa in their last test. He also showed he can bat, after averaging 85 in South Africa this year, including a first test hundred. The Sporting Index traders have set Johnson's series bowling index at 235-250, and patriotic English spread bettors will be hoping he doesn't take after his predecessor Glenn McGrath.
Related links:
