The Ashes starts next Wednesday in Brisbane
England defend, having won this summer 3-0
Swann took 26 wickets, Ryan Harris 24
Shane Watson and Ian Bell topped the batting in terms of runs for their teams
I have really struggled to find value for this series, looked every day for the past ten days and lots of things look priced in
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In terms of what to expect. I think it will be close. Australia are an improving team particularly in seam bowling. The pitches will definitely not be prepared to start dry and turn early, as the English pitches were. Absolutley no point giving Swann a sniff, so neutralise him and go fast and pacy in terms of pitch preparation and take your chances
A drawn series is 9-2, but thats too skinny. England to win at 11-10 definitely too tight
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Brisbane - tends to be flat, batsman's pitch
Adelaide - always flat....slight change this time due to extensive ground redevelopment that encloses the ground and could aid swing
Perth...fast, bouncy. Australia usually win here
Melbourne..tends to give tall seamers a chance
Sydney..often turns, but again extensive redevelopment here and swing has been coming back to the fore
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Two suggested bets
1.
Ian Bell this summer was in the form of his life. In the Ashes this summer 562 runs including 3 centuries and 2 fifties. Impeccable technique, superb temperament and right in the sweet spot of his career
Unibet offer 6/4 2 or more centuries this winter.http://www.oddschecker.com/cricket/ashes/ian-bell/total-centuries
6/4 is generous, in my opinion. There is comparatively little weather threat, and we should expect Bell to have ten innings.
Not sure if Unibet is on the thread list. Medium sized bet if so
2
Top Series Run scorerThis is for both sides combined
Alistair Cook had a poor summer. In the Ashes 277 runs only, 3 fifties, 0 hundreds.

There was a hint of a technical flaw outside off-stump and against the new ball he was not as prolific as usual
Contrast this with two other stats
His Test Career 97 matches 7801 runs at 48, 25 hundreds
Last time in Australia 766 runs, ave. 127.66, 3 centuries, 2 fifties
So the questions
- Is he on the downside?
A. Probably not, only 28 years old and a fantastic worker. Has ironed out problems with Gooch before and come back to score lots of runs
- Are Australia better than the last Tour where he excelled?
A Probably, 766 runs is not likely this time round!
Sky Bet 6-1 888 11/2 and Unibet 11/2 are all too high for Top series batsmanhttp://www.oddschecker.com/cricket/ashes/top-batsmanWinner of this market will need to score 550+, probably 600+ runs
Any injury risks coming to the fore with Clarke (back), Pieterson (knee) gives a boost to the bet too
Of the other candidates Watson has been playing cricket constantly for 18 months, a few niggles aside. A good chance he'll be injured this series
Rogers, Warner, Smith and Bailey probably not prolific enough to score 550+ Bailey was a tempter at 16/1 e/w but will likely bat 6. Big ask to be scoring heavily all series from there
Trott and Bell are risks to the bet
Carberry, Root - asking a lot for them to score the 550+ needed to win this bet on their first Australian tour
Personally, doing my usual of pricing it up before I looked at the market, I made Cook 4-1 favourite here. Taking the view that a rebound in form was likely and going from there.