Richard Mann provides his latest Ashes in-play preview, after England made a strong start to the fifth Test on day one in Sydney.
Cricket tips: Day two betting update
No recommended bets
Rain curtailed the opening day of the fifth Ashes Test in Sydney, but not before England had made a strong start to their bid to leave with Australia with back-to-back Test match victories.
Having won the fourth Test in Melbourne, the tourists carried that momentum forward with the bat, closing day one on 211-3, in the main thanks to an unbroken stand of 154 between Joe Root (72) and Harry Brook (78) after they had initially slipped to 57-3.
Root's half-century means the pre-match preview has a 15/8 winner in the bag already, with the top England batsman bet also alive and kicking.
Joe Root coolly reaches his 50 at the SCG 👏 pic.twitter.com/pzS4lv9mor
— Cricket on TNT Sports (@cricketontnt) January 4, 2026
More rain is forecast on day two, meaning the current 4.5 about the draw on the Betfair Exchange could shorten further, and those to have taken the 32.0 after those early wickets are now sitting pretty.
However, tomorrow’s rain should be the last we see, and there is still ample time for either side to force a result, with two batting line-ups that have hardly been bombproof across the series.
Australia are clinging onto favouritism at 2.38 (Betfair Exchange prices), with England currently available at 2.7, but perhaps that’s the wrong way round.
England really should be eying a first-innings total in excess of 400 from here, with another 35 overs until the second new ball and Australia having not selected a spinner in their XI.
Brook, in particular, has the potential to put Australia to the sword on day two, and it might well be England who are favourites this time tomorrow.
I’m not especially interested in playing the match market at present, however, unless for trading purposes, and none of the current prices have enough legs to lure me in.
Fingers crossed Root can finish the job, then, and with Usman Khawaja – who is making his final international appearance this week – to come in the top Australia batsman market, we have enough running for us on the second day.
There is so much cricket to come in this match that more opportunities ought to present themselves as the game progresses, and it will be interesting to see how this pitch holds up with some better weather in that forecast.
Posted at 08:30 GMT on 04/01/26
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