England Seeking Hat-Trick Of Ashes Wins For First Time In Over 30 Years Submitted by: Moneta Communications Tuesday, 9 July 2013 Alastair Cook will lead out his England side on Wednesday morning with the weight of the nation on his shoulders as it is the turn of the cricket team to continue a marvellous summer of British sport. England will be bidding to retain the coveted Ashes crown for a third straight series, making it a hat-trick of victories over their old foes for the first time since 1981. Australia have been all-but written off by the media and cricket aficionados and it looks like England's urn to lose! For over a decade, the English cricketing public would head into a clash with their Antipodean rivals with trepidation and could almost sense achievement if they managed to gain a solitary win from the five-match series but along with the Australian demise in recent years, the English setup has grown in stature and become one of the most revered teams in test cricket. Andrew Strauss and Andy Flower galvanised the English side and captain Cook has duly continued the positive mindsets of the players and his ability at the top of the order twinned with the talent of the likes of Kevin Pietersen, Jonathan Trott and James Anderson has seen them create a magnificent spine to the test outfit. Whilst English cricket has blossomed since that epic Ashes win in 2005, the ‘baggy greens’ have become a mere shadow of their dominant past and the setup went into disarray as Mickey Arthur was handed his marching orders from the coaching staff only a couple of weeks before the start of the first test at Trent Bridge. However, the Aussies are not a nation to under-estimate and with a fervent will to win it’s scandalous that Sir Ian Botham, one of the finest cricketers in English history, has made the audacious statement that over the next two series the Australians will face a 10-0 drubbing from their old adversaries. That is sure to send shockwaves round the Australian camp and new coach Darren Lehmann has already been gaining rave reviews from those connected with Australia Cricket and he is sure to have them firing on all cylinders for when Jerusalem plays out at the home of Nottinghamshire Cricket Club on Wednesday, 10th July. Paddy Power have installed England as the clear 2/5 favourites to hold aloft the urn come the series conclusion at the end of August and it’s right that the hosts are the hot favourites with their side oozing quality and with conditions to suit are sure to be a tough team to beat but the Aussies do possess their own firepower and could ruffle a few feathers over the next couple of months. Michael Clarke will be fit for the first test and he is one of the finest batsmen of his generation and with the hard-hitting duo of Shane Watson and the controversial David Warner likely to add substance to the visitors batting line-up, they could well prove a tough assignment for England’s bowlers, who will be relying on the guile and class of the aforementioned Anderson and Graeme Swann. Page 1 Australia, who are 7/2 to win the Ashes for the first time since 2007, do lack strength in depth in the bowling department with them looking extremely weak in comparison to previous Ashes campaigns but England have been habitual slow starters and if the Aussies can capitalise in the first test and sneak it then we could well be in store for some stunning action over the next few sizzling summer months. For more information about the 2013 Ashes series, including latest betting markets and score updates once play starts, visit http://www.betting-directory.com/cricket/ashes-betting.php Page 2 Distributed via Press Release Wire (https://pressreleases.responsesource.com/) on behalf of Moneta Communications Copyright © 1999-2021 ResponseSource, The Johnson Building, 79 Hatton Garden, London, EC1N 8AW, UK e: [email protected] t: 020 3426 4051 f: 0345 370 7776 w: https://www.responsesource.com.