Best bets and expert advice for England v Australia 1st ODI
England and Australia played out a 1-1 stalemate in their recent T20 series after the third and final match between the two sides was rained off.
Now the old rivals take each other on in a five-game ODI series, which starts at Trent Bridge on Thursday.
Here we pick out the best bets for that first clash in Nottingham.
England v Australia 1st ODI tips
- England to win @ 11/8
- Travis Head – Australia top batter @ 29/10
- Adil Rashid – England top bowler @ 16/5
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Hosts may be overpriced
Australia are a short price to get the better of this England side and that will largely boil down to the absences of Jos Buttler and Joe Root.
While the pair are undoubtedly a big miss for the hosts, there is certainly an argument to be made that England, who will be captained by Harry Brook in Buttler’s absence, are now overpriced.
Australia have an impressive batting lineup, containing Steve Smith, Glenn Maxwell, Marnus Labuschagne, Mitch Marsh and Travis Head.
However, only Head and Marsh participated in the recent T20 series and the other three could be a touch rusty, particularly in English conditions.
There are also legitimate question marks about the visiting bowling attack as Riley Meredith, Xavier Bartlett and Nathan Ellis are all injured, which will put a big strain on the remainder of their seamers.
England have a good mix of young stars such as Jacob Bethell and Jordan Cox looking to make a mark along with in-form veterans Liam Livingstone and Ben Duckett, who will be hoping to maintain their spots in the team.
Their bowling attack remains the question mark for this England team, but this looks closer to a toss up than the bookmakers suggest and the hosts are a standout price.
Head to hit heavy again
Travis Head was one of the only Australian batters in the squad for this clash to feature in the T20 series and he may be the player to side with to top score for his country in this first game of the series.
The 30-year-old has been arguably the most in-form white-ball player in the world over the last 12 months and has six half-centuries in his last 10 innings.
The Australian batting lineup is stacked but it could be Head who rises to the top once again to lead the scoring for the visitors.
Rashid too big
With question marks about England’s bowling attack in this series, expect Adil Rashid to be the mainstay while the home team chop and change their pacers.
The spinner could relish the late-summer English conditions, with the ball likely to turn more than it would earlier in the year.
Rashid took 3/16 in his last game of The Hundred recently and picked up wickets in both of England’s T20 clashes with these opponents.
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