It has already been an exciting summer of cricket with the Cricket World Cup 
taking place in the UK from May 30th and now that exciting series has come to an end, England’s cricketers now have an even more important prospect in front of them in the test format of the game.
That is because this summer is an Ashes summer, which means the Australian test team, our long-time foes and frequent nemesis, will be staying on in the UK to compete in a series of test matches against the home nation with a view to retaining the Ashes that they won in comprehensive fashion in the winter of 2017/18 on home soil, by a 4-1 scoreline.
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That said, the Australian team has not won an Ashes series in England since the summer of 2001, when they were comfortable 4-1 winners over the host nation and their three most recent successes in the series have all come on home soil.
If you fancy a flutter on whether England can win the Ashes, or perhaps a few bets on each of the different test matches making up the series, then bet365 Sport is a great choice thanks to its varied markets available on the Ashes series. If you are not yet a customer with bet365, then you can join using the latest bet365 New Player Bonus, which has a nice added incentive to bet when you sign up. Add to that fabulous Live Streaming options with over 140,000 different events a year, plus In Play betting and you have all you need to enjoy the Ashes series and more.
Let’s now preview the Ashes series with a look at some of the key fixtures and dates in the calendar before we predict whether it will be English or Aussie cricketing fans and players celebrating an Ashes win at the end of the series.
The Ashes
Ashes History
The first Ashes test series was held in 1882/83 in Australia and in these early years
of the game, England dominated the series, winning all but one of the first 12 series. These early series from 1882/83 to 1896 were played over varying numbers of test matches (ranging from one up to five) but by the 1897/98 series, the format had been set at five test matches.
What is notable about Ashes series is that teams have tended to win clusters of series together, rather than winning one, losing the next. England’s record of eight series wins in a row from the first Ashes test series to the eighth was matched by the great Australian team from 1989 to 2003, who won all eight Ashes series over this period.
In terms of series, it could not be closer between the teams. A total of 70 Ashes series have been played so far with Australia winning 33, England 32 and just five series have finished in draws.
Of those 33 wins for Australia, 19 have come on home soil, with 14 in England, while England have won 18 on home soil and 14 in Australia. Three series in England have been draws with two in Australia.
When it comes to actual Test Matches within the series though Australia hold a considerable advantage. Of the 330 Ashes Test series matches played, the Australians have won 134 of the games compared to 106 for England, with 90 matches between the two teams finishing in draws.
England have never whitewashed the Australians in an Ashes series, the closest they came was a 5-1 win in Australia in the 1978/79 series which was one of the few played over six tests. Australia however have whitewashed England 5-0 on three occasions, in 1920/21, 2006/07 and 2013/14, all on Australian soil.
Australia have not won an Ashes Test Series in England since 2001, when they were 4-1 winners. England have won the last four series on home soil by scores of 2-1 (twice), 3-0 and 3-2.
The 2019 Ashes Series
The schedule and venues for the Ashes series in 2019 are as follows:
- First Test – 1st – 5th August 2019 – Edgbaston, Birmingham
- Second Test – 14th – 18th August 2019 – Lord’s, London
- Third Test – 22nd – 26th August 2019 – Headingley, Leeds
- Fourth Test – 4th-8th September 2019 – Old Trafford, Manchester
- Fifth Test – 12th – 16th September 2019 – The Oval, London
The Ashes will be the first series in the inaugural ICC World Test Championship, which will see the top nine test nations in the world playing six opponents over two years, with the top two ranked teams at the end of those six test series meeting in a final in England in the summer of 2021.
The Teams
England
England will be confident in this series having some very strong test players under the guidance of captain Joe Root. The likes of Ben Stokes, a fabulous all-rounder, will have a massive impact on the performance of the team and the strength of the batting line up with the likes of Moen Ali, Jos Buttler, Stokes, Jonny Bairstow and Eoin Morgan mean England can and will bat deep.
James Anderson will once again lead the bowling attack but the emergence of Jofra Archer as an option has many England fans excited at the prospect of having a genuine pace bowler in the team once again.
England have the talent to win the Ashes, the question is whether the team can perform to the best of its ability. If it can then they should start this series as the slight favourites to win it.
Australia
The current Australian side may not have the talent of some of the previous teams to hail from Down Under but this is a very strong side with the likes of Nathan Lyon, Usman Khawaja, Steve Smith, David Warner and Mitchell Starc likely to be amongst the key players for the Aussies.
The Aussies are likely to be given a tough time by the home crowd, as is customary in an Ashes series and it will be interesting to see whether they can end their run of poor results on English soil over the course of the summer.
Who Will Win the Ashes?
At the current moment in time England are 3/4 to win the Ashes series this year, with Australia 7/4 and it is 11/2 the draw, all with bet365. My money would be on a narrow England win here.
