Australia favourites for Ashes 2017-18?

Ahead of the 2017-18 Ashes Series, both sides Australia and England have been involved in intriguing warm up tests but it’s Aussies who have enjoyed the best of the exchanges. The Hosts were completely dominant in their recent games and will start as red hot favourites against England after their previous Ashes encounter in which England have won the five-match series 3–2.

As for England, there were some positive signs in their winning tests against Bangladesh but what do the tourists need to do to upset the predictions?

With the next year 2017 is edging closer maybe it's time you start checking out the latest odds and to make a bet on the cricket tournament where the aussies punters do!

Key areas

Australia did show a little vulnerability against the new ball and the pace of the opponents opening attack.

The Aussies recovered to post strong totals but is there an issue at the top of the order that England’s James Anderson and Stuart Broad can exploit? Unfortunately for Alastair Cook’s side, the middle trio of Steve Smith, Michael Clarke and Adam Voges are in top form so they will need to make early inroads if they are to keep the tourists’ batters in check.

A welcome return

The most positive factor in England’s series with the Kiwis was the return to form of Captain Cook. The Essex man scored a century and looked in perfect touch throughout, showing that an absence of one day cricket has helped him rediscover where his off stump lies.

There were further tons from Ben Stokes and Adam Lyth while Joe Root also made good runs at Lord’s. Lyth’s 100 was a particular comfort to the selectors after a long search for Cook’s opening partner but in contrast, Gary Ballance and Ian Bell are hopelessly out of form.

There are further concerns over Moeen Ali who was batting as low as number eight, suggesting that the selectors view him as a front line spinner. The Worcester man’s bowling was woeful however, and must surely force a rethink with Yorkshire leggie Adil Rashid hoping for a chance.

Compare and contrast

Ahead of the Ashes, England have too many players out of touch. Along with Bell, Ballance and Ali, the bowling has many question marks too. Stuart Broad took wickets against New Zealand but was particularly expensive while James Anderson passed 400 test victims without ever really looking at his best.

Mark Wood made an impressive debut at Lord’s but having never played back to back first class matches before, the Durham quick was down on pace at Headingley. Compare this to Australia’s pace battery where Mitchell Starc, Mitchell Johnson and Josh Hazlewood are all in top form and ready to make it an uncomfortable few weeks for English batsmen.

There is hope for England ahead of the Ashes which starts in The Gabba on November next year. It’s a promising new era where young players such as Stokes, Lyth, Root and Wood could be stars for years to come while the return to form of Captain Cook is another huge bonus.

Home conditions could also favour Australia but on balance. This is a side at the top of their game and while we might not see another 5-0 whitewash. England to retain the urn looks to be the safest call of the 2017 cricket season.

India vs England: James Anderson to miss first Test

England skipper Alastair Cook has confirmed that James Anderson will not be playing in the first Test in India as he struggles to recover from a shoulder injury.

Due to a stress fracture in Anderson’s left shoulder right shoulder, the seamer also forced himself out of the current series in Bangladesh.

The 34-year-old recently stated that he was hopeful of returning back to action in India, but he is unlikely to be part of the opening Test to be played in Rajkot on November 9.

Anderson sustained the injury against Sri Lanka earlier this summer, and has not featured since August because of a stress fracture.

He made his Test debut in 2003, and has claimed 463 wickets, makes him the England's leading wicket-taker.

Three-year-old son cashes out wining bet worth £50,000 for £7

The unlucky man was twenty-four-year-old Gary Walters from Birmingham. He, as many of us do, placed a longshot football accumulator(https://www.footyinformer.com/football-accumulator-tips/) for the weekends fixtures, in this case a £10 bet on 13 matches. His excitement was short lived as his son accidently cash the bet out, when playing with the phone. 

The unfortunate cash-out took place after Gary had already predicted 3 results and he then had to sit and watch the other 10 roll in! 

The hapless punter was quoted saying: “I left him in the back seat next to my phone briefly and when I picked up my phone again and got in the front seat it said I had cashed in on £6.99”. 

Already gutted, he watched each result roll in one after the other with no which can only be described as an absolute nightmare”. Despite loosing out on a small fortune, his spirits remained high stating his son was “too young to understand” and therefore it was not worth telling him off. 

Very few people can boast that they have picked 13 correct results, and from Gary success he gained £7 and a story to tell his son in 15 years.

India squad for the first three ODIs against NZ

Indian star batsman Suresh Raina and Hardik Pandya both have been recalled to the first three matches of the five-match One Day International series against New Zealand, that gets underway on October 16.

The 15-member squad led by the wicketkeeper batsman Mahendra Singh Dhoni, who last played his limited over match in Zimbabwe in June.

However, off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin and all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja both have been ruled out of squad.

The first match will be held in Dharamsala on October 16 followed by the 2nd in Delhi on October 20 while the third will be played at Mohali on October 23.

India Squad: Mahendra Singh Dhoni (Captain), Rohit Sharma, Ajinkya Rahane, Virat Kohli, Manish Pandey, Suresh Raina, Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Jayant Yadav, Amit Mishra, Jasprit Bumrah, Dhawal Kulkarni, Umesh Yadav, Mandeep Singh, Kedar Jadhav.