It’s crunch time down under for England; they currently trail Australia 2-0 in The Ashes after two heavy defeats and Joe Root knows that if his side lose this 3rd Test then Australia will win The Ashes. The WACA will be the venue for the do or die 3rd Test starting on Thursday and it will certainly be a hostile atmosphere that welcomes this England side.
England have been in disarray on this tour, with Ben Stokes missing out after his alcohol fuelled discretions, things haven’t stopped there though with Johnny Bairstow and now Ben Duckett being involved in their own alcohol related incidents. Things have not been helped by two heavy defeats on the field and Root knows that his side face an uphill challenge to avoid losing The Ashes.
Australia, on the other hand have been excellent so far, going about their work professionally and efficiently. They will be confident of picking up a series clinching win in Perth on a ground that England have traditionally struggled on. England have lost their last seven tests in Perth by big margins and the pace and bounce have consistently caused England problems in the blistering heat. England have named an unchanged side for the 3rd Test, with the only change being a switch in batting positions for Johnny Bairstow and Moeen Ali.
Betting Tips
No England player has managed a century so far in this series and that is one of the major things holding them back; if no one is scoring heavily, you aren’t going to win matches. You can get 1/1 on that trend continuing in the first innings for England at the WACA or 4/5 on someone finally doing the business. I think someone will step up and that 4/5 looks a decent bet to me. Who it will be is a tougher question; Joe Root is available at 13/5 to be the top English batsman, with Alistair Cook at 4/1 and it’s very hard to look past either of those two when thinking about this market. They are the two most talented England batsmen and Joe Root is currently the overall fourth highest scorer in the series with 142 runs.
In terms of bowlers, Jimmy Anderson at 5/2 to be the top England bowler looks like a sure thing for me. The WACA pitch is quick and bouncy and if Jimmy is in the mood, he could really do the business in this test. For Australia, you’d have to fancy Mitchell Starc at 11/5; it’s his sort of pitch and he can cause England plenty of problems here.
In terms of the result, England haven’t won at the WACA since 1978, but Australia have only won one of their last four test matches here. I think a victory for England could be a step too far and the odds of 4/1 reflect that, but if England bat well, then the draw could be a real possibility. Both sides will mainly be wanting to avoid defeat and at 4/1, the draw could be an interesting bet in this one.