The Final Test: England's Cricket Destiny

In true British sporting fashion there was no way England would win the Ashes before the final test. This type of easy viewing just does not take place in British sport. We have all sweated the cricket series throughout the summer and at 1-1 the match is balanced ready for the deciding contest. England must win the Ashes outright, so this match should be a real fight for victory which should be very entertaining to watch. Bwin.com offer odds of 5.25 for England to win the test, 2.00 for a draw and 2.55 for Australia to win. Bwin are favouring an improved performance from the fourth test as they are making a drawn result the favourite, but heavy outsiders to swing the match into a historic victory.

Andrew Flintoff is back in the squad for the last test and his performance will be critical in the outcome of the match. We all saw the disastrous England performance without him losing by an innings which was further marred by allegations that Flintoff had declared himself fit before the fourth test only to be left out by the selectors. Jon Trott has been drafted into the squad as a batting option after good performances at county level, with selectors announcing that he may even start the test.

The Oval is a strong batting pitch which makes England’s task of obtaining twenty wickets of the Australian batters even more difficult. Bwin have priced the odds of the respective teams winning the toss and choosing to bat at 1.85, choosing to field is 19.00 further highlighting the fact the Oval is a batting wicket. If England does bat first they must have a strong innings or the match may be over early. Paul Collingwood must produce a better performance than he has managed so far in the Ashes with Ian Bell continuing his good play replacing Pietersen as a key batsman.

Michael Clarke for Australia has had an excellent series and England have repeatedly failed to quickly obtain his wicket. He has scored very well and his odds for man of the match look good at 15.00. Andrew Flintoff is available at 11.00, the captain Strauss and James Anderson at 15.00. There are plenty of markets that you can bet on for this match with betting available on the best batters, bowlers, how the first wicket will be obtained and so on. Check the markets for more information.

The three-way betting for the fifth test offers Australia at 2.55. The sheer quality of Australia’s batting makes a low score from them seem very unlikely, although we saw that when it works for England as in the second test collapses can happen to anyone. Unfortunately this match is massive and the Australians rarely play badly when it matters most. Their team is very experienced and England must play the game of their lives to push through victory from a team that only needs to draw. Getting a win over a team that does not need to win is difficult, but the players know what is required and after all is said and done it is down to them to bring the Ashes home.

It has been a great series of cricket but this will mean nothing if England cannot bounce back and win the Ashes for the first time since 2005. Despite the gloomy predictions from the experts England tend to do well with their backs against the wall and a heroic victory could be on the cards. There are certainly some major obstacles to overcome. Will it be too hot for Trott? Will Flintoff give us one last amazing performance or will Ponting spoil the party? Get your bets on and let’s find out whether we get a happy ending or not.

By Malcolm Clarke