England v Australia 2023 Ashes 1st Test betting tips

England v Australia 1st Test predictions & best bets

2023 Ashes 1st Test betting preview

The 2023 Ashes kicks off on Friday as freshly crowned World Test champions Australia take on England and their ‘Bazball’ style for the first time.

The Aussies were very impressive in last week’s World Test Championship final, beating India by 209 runs. The damage was done early with the bat for Australia, as Steve Smith (121) and Travis Head (163) steered Australia to their big score of 469 in the first innings.

The Aussie bowlers also showed they could adapt to the foreign conditions, as wickets were spread amongst the bowlers across the two innings. Scott Boland was at his consistent best as he kept runs low while also taking five wickets across the match, whereas Nathan Lyon cleaned up in the second innings with four wickets.

Following their strong performance, expect the Aussies to remain unchanged for the first Test with their current team showing balance across both batting and bowling.

England have also played a Test coming into the Ashes, as they took on Ireland from July 1-3. Winning comfortably, it was hardly a challenge for England, but a good chance for some of their players to find some form as batsmen Ollie Pope (205) and Ben Duckett (182) peeled off run-a-ball centuries.

The English bowlers were also able to find some form, as veteran Stuart Broad and debutant Josh Tongue were both able to take a five-wicket haul.

Selection in the English batting line-up is expected to stay unchanged, with batting proving to be their strength over the past few series. However, picking their bowlers is a different story. Expect veterans Jimmy Anderson and Stuart Broad to be opening the bowling for England, but then there is the question whether they will go for a four-seamer attack or look to include a spinner in their team.

Historically, Edgbaston is one of the more spin-friendly pitches in the UK, but recently England spinner Jack Leach was ruled out of the whole series due to injury, with the hosts having to call upon spin-bowling allrounder Moeen Ali to come out of retirement to join the squad. If Ali is included in the England team, expecting him to be targeted by the Aussies, but also look to be extremely attacking with the bat.

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2023 Ashes 1st Test betting strategy

Looking at the 2023 Ashes odds for this one, there is no clear favourite as the No.1-ranked Australia travel to the UK.

It seems as though the Australian bowlers have adapted well to the English conditions, generating movement with the ball in the air and off the pitch, which regularly troubled the Indian batting line-up in the WTC final. Expect England to go hard at the ball, capitalising on any errant bowling.

Therefore, expect Scott Boland to frustrate the England line-up. The Victorian seamer barely bowls a loose delivery, often drawing out mistakes from batsmen trying to score at a rapid rate. Opening the bowling in the second innings last match, Boland looks to be a good bet to take the most wickets for Australia in the first innings at $4 with the top online bookmakers.

Last time these two sides met in Birmingham, Australia won by 251 runs thanks largely to the efforts of Steve Smith, who scored centuries in each innings. Coming off another century last week, it is set up for Smith to cause headaches for the English bowlers. With Australian left-handers traditionally struggling early, expect the right-handed Smith to be in early, settling himself in and top scoring for the Aussies at $3.70.

With both teams leaning towards higher-scoring rates, especially the English, a draw in this one looks out of the question. The question ever since the implementation of the ‘Bazball’ system has been whether the English batsmen can do it against a world-class bowling attack such as Australia’s. Look for England to score quickly, but also lose wickets quickly with the accuracy of the Aussie bowlers exposing flaws in their batting line-up.

An Australian win looks on the cards here with their batting line-up appearing too strong for the English attack, who have recently struggled to find any consistency in selection and performance. At most top bookmakers you can find the Aussies at around $2.20, which is decent value.

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