Australia and England play the second of three ODIs in Sydney on Saturday morning – Richard Mann previews the action.
Cricket tips: ODI Australia v England
1pt Sam Billings top England batsman at 8/1 (Coral, Ladbrokes)
England should have blown their T20 World Cup cobwebs away, having been brought back down to earth a little when beaten by Australia in the ODI series opener at Adelaide on Thursday.
The action switches to Sydney on Saturday, and it’s worth remembering that this was a good ground for runs in that T20 World Cup, though we’re a fair way out at the time of writing and the prices currently available do temper enthusiasm for a bet there.
Travis Head came close to rewarding followers of these pages in Adelaide, his 69 not quite enough to get him over the line in the top Australia batsman market.
The angle there was that Head was playing on his home ground in Adelaide, but home comforts will now be enjoyed by the likes of Steve Smith and David Warner, so it’s a no bet from me on Head this time.
I do expect England to be sharper, though, and StarSports have dangled the carrot by chalking up Jos Buttler’s side at 9/2 to win the series at 2-1. I remain convinced they are the better side.
A big tick for England is the return to full fitness of Dawid Malan, and his brilliant 134 underpinned England’s score of 287-9 in Adelaide.
They might need to score bigger in Sydney, and I’ll have to leave Malan alone having seemingly missed the boat in that series opener – so sure was I that he wouldn’t be fit in time having missed the T20 World Cup final through injury just a matter of days earlier.
Malan could remain a tough nut to crack in the top England batsman market, but I flagged up SAM BILLINGS in my preview of the first match and at much bigger odds, he’s the one I want to be with here.
For starters, Billing ought to know conditions at the Sydney Oval better than most of his teammates having turned out for Sydney Sixers and neighbours Sydney Thunder in the Big Bash for the last few years, and he certainly has plenty of happy memories from the success he has enjoyed on these shores.
I rate Billings highly so was pleased to see him bat at number five on Thursday – hopefully a sign that he will be afforded continued opportunities going forward. He certainly should do, given he has never let England down in this format, nor in T20I cricket, when he has been called upon.
Having made a promising start in Adelaide (17), he appears to be hitting the ball well enough and there are enough doubts about Jason Roy’s form up to suggest the England middle order isn’t out of the running in this series.
We know how good Australia’s pace attack is with the new ball, so the 8/1 available (Coral, Ladbrokes) about Billings to star in the middle order looks plenty big enough to warrant a bet.
Returning to my earlier point about runs, a look at the weather forecast nearer the start time and whether a new, or relatively new, pitch will be used for this match is really important for punters.
Betfair Sportsbook offered 3/1 about both teams to score 275 runs in Adelaide – which returned a comfortable winner in the end. If the cards fall into place pre-toss in Sydney, that is the sort of price to lure me in again.
Sportsbook haven’t priced up that market at the time of writing, but a check closer to the match is advised.
For now, I’ll go solo with Billings to make that middle-order spot his own.
Preview posted at 1550 GMT on 17/11/2022
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