The Ashes - Top Bowlers

Australia are big outsiders for the Ashes series – a 5-0 whitewash is only 12/1 – but the bowling attacks of the two sides are far more closely matched than those odds would suggest and a big part of the series is likely to go down to who can get on top with the ball given both sides having suffered collapses.

With both sides having such quality, finding an individual choice for either side to lead is a tricky task, and of much more interest is Stan James’s combined series handicap. That might not appeal to some given the depth of quality involved but the winning margins in this market have been fairly comprehensive - 16, 3, 2, and 7 since 2003 – and there’s good reason to think that with extremely responsive pictures and good weather, plenty of wickets will be up for grabs.

Put pure and simply, we think England have the slightly better bowling attack than the Australians and crucially, the easier targets to aim at with several of the Australians unable to convert strong starts into big scores and several of the Australian order averaging well under 50, which the case is vice versa for the England side.

 

At the end of the day any number could take a hand, but we here believe that James Anderson and Stuart Broad are two of the best fast bowlers on the planet, and that they are both going to be spearheading the English fast bowling challenge. Anderson is 30 now but in the form of his life, save for a poor tour of New Zealand where he found the pitches unresponsive, and has a mastery of pretty much any pace bowling.

While proficient everywhere – he took 12 wickets in India last winter – he is nothing short of deadly in England and should enjoy facing a top order that he has beaten time and again before. Anderson took seven more wickets than anyone on the tour of Australia and should be at the forefront of any chances. Only the fourth bowler to take 300 test wickets, and the leading ODI wicket taker in the country’s history, Anderson can come clear at the top of the charts.

When both have played the full series in the last two years – the two series between England and New Zealand and the South Africa series last year – the gaps between the two have been 3, 1, and 2 in Broad’s favour, primarily thanks to heavy clusters of wickers that Broad has gained as a strike bowler (7/44, 6/51 and 5/69).

The presence of Graeme Swann – who took 10 wickets against New Zealand earlier this year – will always be a threat, and given the circumstances in his favour he’s tremendously hard to get away from, but England’s fast bowling has always been the cornerstone of their attacks and we’ll stick with the tried and tested combination that has served England so well in the past.  Steven Finn is a talented player but is likely to be wearing down the opposition for Anderson and Broad and isn’t guaranteed a place in the side.

As for Australia, expect James Pattinson, Peter Siddle, Mitchell Starc and Nathan Lyon to take the lead, with any one of the four capable. Starc’s physical shape is very interesting with bouncy pitches aplomb and the left armer may be able to use that to good effect like Trent Boult did during the winter, but Pattinson has the most pure talent in our eyes for those looking to back Aussie.

Advice

1 pt each/way James Anderson on Bowlers handicap (9/1 Stan James)

1 pt each/way Stuart Broad on Bowlers’ handicap (11/1 Stan James)