The Ashes: The WACA Is Waiting…
December 12th, 2013 by G WaldorfThis Ashes series has been sheer theatre so far. Mitchell Johnson has been the star of the show, but he has been ably supported by a cast of heroes in baggy green caps, and the tourists are staring down an all-but impossible task if they are to retain the Ashes. To make matters worse for Alistair Cook and his English side, the next stop in the series is the WACA, and a Perth pitch famous for its pace and bounce. What will concern Cook most is that his key personnel have shown a lack of relish for the battle, to say the least. You expect players to go through times – sometimes painfully long times – when they’re horribly out of form, and we feel for Matt Prior, and were even a little pleased to see him put together some runs in the second innings at Adelaide. But Cook and Flower need their senior players to really stand up in Perth, where the conditions will be most hostile for them, and where the test will be sternest. It will make compelling viewing, and we will definitely be watching.
But where are the good bets to be had now that the series has swung so dramatically Australia’s favour? Going into the Test at the WACA, England are a $3.50 bet to win, where you’ll get $1.66 for the Aussies. It’s usually a result pitch, and usually it’s a win for Australia at the WACA, so maybe think carefully about a bet on the draw at $5.45. We might be tempted at $1.59 by a bet for the Aussies to hold a lead after the first innings, looking at the troubles the English batsmen have had in the series so far, and their struggles to pass the modest 200 milestone. But if you think that stern words and careers on the line have the potential to spark an English resurgence in the unlikely surroundings of the WACA, then England are a $2.32 to score more in the first innings: it’ll need some serious heroics from a top-order batsman, but if you think one of the English stars has it in them to register a potentially-match-winning double century, that’s an $8.00 bet…
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