Bookies bet on Australia to win the Ashes series against England

The punters have put their money on Australia to win the upcoming Ashes series against Joe Root’s England side. Leading SA bookmakers BET.co.za have placed their bet on Steve Smith’s team as 7/10 favorites. England, who are the defending champions, are placed at 9/4 while a drawn series has been placed at 39/10. The Three Lions haven’t had the ideal start, leading up to the Ashes.

All-rounder Ben Stokes’ availability is still under the clouds while pacer Steve Finn has been replaced by Tom Curran. Finn suffered an injury while batting in the nets at Richardson Park in Perth last week. Finn had to leave the field at Adelaide Oval while his teammates sweated it out ahead of the four-day pink ball Test practice match.

England faces injury woes

“I twisted it when picking up the ball to throw it back to the net-bowler,” Finn said after the painful release. He also said that he went to pick the ball up after middling it and that is when the incident occurred.

England will look to shift focus on the job in hand. The visitors haven’t named the vice-captain for the tour and therefore former skipper Alastair Cook is likely to play the role in case Root has to leave the field under any circumstances. The first of the 5-Test matches will be played in Brisbane from 23rd November onwards, and it will be followed by the second Test at the Adelaide Oval. Take a look at the fixtures:

Magellan Ashes Series

First Test Gabba, November 23-27.

Second Test Adelaide Oval, December 2-6 (Day-Night).

Third Test WACA Ground, December 14-18.

Fourth Test MCG, December 26-30.

Fifth Test SCG, January 4-8 (Pink Test).

Gillette ODI Series v England

First ODI MCG, January 14.

Second ODI Gabba, January 19.

Third ODI SCG, January 21.

Fourth ODI Adelaide Oval, January 26.

Fifth ODI Perth TBC, January 28