Five reasons why England can regain the Ashes this summer
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Despite being whitewashed in Australia, England are just 3.35 on Betfair to regain the Ashes. The reason for the rather short price, beyond patriotic punting, is that Australia have lost some big names while Andrew Strauss’ men are much harder to beat at home. Here are five reasons to be optimistic:
1. Since Australia last won the Ashes away from home in 2001, England have contested 15 home series. Of those they have won ten, drawn three and lost just two, boasting an aggregate test score of 30-8.
2. That contrasts with England’s poor form prior to Australia’s last win here in 2001. Ahead of that, England had won just six of the last 15 series they had hosted and had a negative aggregate test score of 18-20.
3. Prior to the last six Ashes series, Australia had won at least four of their previous five test series. This year they arrive in nowhere near as convincing form, having lost two of their last four - against India and South Africa.
4. The decision to replace Michael Vaughan, first with Kevin Pietersen and now Strauss, could prove shrewd. England have won successive home Ashes series three times since 1945 and two of those came after switching captains.
5. Australia have lost Shane Warne (and reserve spin bowler Stuart MacGill), Justin Langer, Damien Martyn and Glenn McGrath to retirement while coach John Buchanan has stepped down. In England four years ago, Warne took 40 wickets, twice as many as their second-most successful bowler Brett Lee and 16 more than Andrew Flintoff, the winners’ top wicket taker.
Tags: Andrew Flintoff, Andrew Strauss, ashes, Australia, Betfair, Betting, Brett Lee, Damien Martyn, england, Free Bet, Glenn McGrath, Home Form, India, John Buchanan, Justin Langer, Kevin Pietersen, Michael Vaughan, Series Winner, Shane Warne, south africa, Special Offer, Statistics, Stuart MacGill, Test Series, Trends
Posted: July 1st, 2009 by Michael Lintorn | 
2 Responses to “Five reasons why England can regain the Ashes this summer”
By Ottayan on Jul 2, 2009 | Reply
The author has selective amnesia.:)
By football on Jul 3, 2009 | Reply
It was bizarre having an end of season match without stress - for positive reasons - for a while. I’m sorry to see Luton go. But I suspect Leagues One and Two will be affected by points deductions for some time to come.