Sports Blog 22/01/2015: Cricket Preview – Australia vs England ODI Tri-Series, Friday 23rd January 2015

England will be hoping to build on the form that saw them thrash India by 9 wickets as they continue their preparation for the Cricket World Cup at the 2015 Carlton Mid Tri-Series in Australia.

From their two games so far in the mini-tournament, England have lost one and won one; a 3 wicket loss against Australia saw England reach 11 defeats against the Aussies in 13 matches, whilst a victory against India saw a first win for newly-adorned captain Eoin Morgan, who recently took over from Alastair Cook. With each team only playing each other twice in this year’s Tri-Series due to the looming World Cup in February, the pressure is on for England to perform in their second match against Australia on Friday.

So far in the tournament India have been the whipping boys, with England’s aforementioned win joined by an Australian 4 wicket victory in their second match of the tri-series. In both of Australia’s ODIs Mitchell Starc has been voted man of the match, and he reached 6-43 against India, the second best ODI figures at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. With that in mind, Starc’s Player Performance spread is 37-42, where a player is given 1 point per run and 10 points per catch, with 20 points per wicket and 25 points per stumping.



It was Eoin Morgan’s performance in the last match against Austrialia that saved England from embarrassment, as he achieved 121 runs compared to a combined total of 93 for the rest of the team. In the follow-up match against India Morgan was this time joined by strong performances by man of the match Steven Finn, who got 5-33 in his one-day best, and James Anderson, who took 4-18 after returning from a knee injury. Here at Spreadex we have Morgan’s Player Performance spread at 34-39, with Finn at 30-35 and Anderson at 32-37.

In terms of fixed odds betting, Spreadex have Aaron Finch favourite to be top Australian batsman at 10/3, with Steven Smith at 7/2, Shane Watson at 4/1 and both Shaun Marsh and Cameron White at 9/2. For England, Ian Bell is favourite at 10/3, with Moeen Ali, James Taylor and Joe Root are all at 4/1.

England are in dire need to a win against Australia to build up the confidence that has recently been dented before they begin their World Cup campaign; a victory in the tri-series would provide just the boost they need. However with Australia on home turf, and hoping to win the World Cup in front of home-fans, England may face an uphill battle; our Spreadex clients can’t see past the Aussies, at a Australia/England Cricket Supremacy spread betting quote of 7-17.