Cricket betting tips: Australia v England ODI preview and best bets
The cricket circus moves to Adelaide on Thursday, as England and Australia kick off a three-match ODI series – Richard Mann previews the action.
Cricket tips: ODI Australia v England
1pt Travis Head top Australia batsman at 7/2 (General)
1pt Travis Head top match batsman at 15/2 (Sky Bet)
One suspects there were a few sore heads in the England camp on Monday, following their T20 World Cup final triumph over Pakistan at the MCG a day earlier, and that could have a real bearing on the outcome of the three-match ODI series with Australia which starts in Adelaide on Thursday morning.
As Aaron Finch stated after the T20 World Cup final, England have been the benchmark in white-ball cricket for several years now and all things being equal, I’d expect them to prove too strong for Australia.
The betting disagrees, with the hosts around the 4/6 mark to win the series – possibly with the potential for an England hangover in mind. I wouldn’t be surprised were England to lose on Thursday, and still win the series.
Head and Billings worth interest
For now, it’s the side and specials markets that are of more interest, and I’m sure there will be plenty of punters wanting to back both teams to score big runs in Adelaide, though 300+ for each of them is only 11/4 with Sky Bet.
Adelaide can be a good ground for runs. We saw that when England cantered to a run chase of 169 against India in their T20 World Cup semi-final clash, with the true nature of the surface and short square boundaries both inviting for batsmen.
I’m just a little bit cautious about England in this match in terms of preparedness, while the fitness of Dawid Malan and form of Jason Roy are also unknowns at this stage.
However, given how well he performed in last winter’s Ashes, TRAVIS HEAD warrants significant interest in the top Australia batsman market now given first crack at replacing the recently retired Finch at the top of the order.
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Head made a century and a fifty from three innings when opening the batting in Pakistan earlier in the year and given this is his home ground and he comes into this match on the back of a half-century against New South Wales, he looks to have plenty going for him.
Prices around 7/2 look fair, though splitting stakes with Head to be top match batsman at 15/2 also makes sense, especially if England do fail to fire as they try to raise themselves again after Sunday's triumph.
For England, don’t underestimate Sam Billings who boasts a solid record in this format and would have played much more international cricket were England’s white-ball batting stocks not so impressively deep.
Billings has played plenty of cricket in these conditions in the Big Bash, so will have no concerns on that score, and it’s worth watching out for team news and possible batting orders as game day approaches.
For now, I’ll stick with Head to make home comforts count in a match that England could probably do without.
Preview posted at 1645 GMT on 14/11/2022
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