The Ashes 1st Test Match Prediction: Australia versus England. Who Will Win?

Like many cricket fans, we are getting excited for the The Ashes which is played every two years between Australia and England. This year, Australia are the hosts, with the first Test held at The Gabba, Brisbane, from 8th - 12th December. With the first bowl bowled at 10:00 local time, this means there is a very early start for Indian fans wanting to tune in at 05:30 IST.

Gain insight to our cricket match prediction right here as we keep you up to date with all the upcoming test match cricket, perfect if you enjoy online cricket betting.

Australia Team Preview

Cricket Australia are on a high at the minute following their recent success as T20 World Champions. This victory will be instilling confidence into the red ball team.

The uncapped Alex Carey joins for the first and second tests with an average of 34.73. The decision to add Carey to the squad comes after Tim Paine’s shock resignation two weeks ago. This also paved the way for Pat Cummins to take on the role of skipper. Cummins is the first fast bowler to captain Australia. Steve Smith promises to bring some heat with his sensational batting Test record. Smith has a batting average of 62 runs from 77 matches. He just falls short of claiming the ICC’s top spot for Test batting, being second to Joe Root. We will potentially see both their places cemented in the table after this series.

England Team Preview

England will still be enjoying their victory over Australia by eight wickets in the Super 12 stage of the 2021 T20 World Cup. However a lack of pre-test practice due to bad weather on the field could rebound on them and cause problems. Skipper Joe Root acknowledged that their preparation for this series has been ‘unusual’ due to spending time and training in quarantine. Root is currently at the top of ICC’s Test batters list after making six Test centuries this year alone.

Ben Stokes has suffered a slight injury to the forearm during a recent net session. This comes as a further twist as Stokes was originally ruled out due to a previous finger injury, which required surgery. England are hoping for another extraordinary run from Stokes, as seen from his 135 not out against Australia in 2019.

Jimmy Anderson dropped a place in the ICC’s Test bowling rankings to eight this year, compared to Cummins who is the number one. Anderson remains confident knowing that ‘Australia are beatable’.

Toss Prediction

The toss prediction is a difficult one to call. For this five day Test match, if the conditions were on the dry, hot side, with a flat hard true batting wicket, then the team who won the toss might choose to bat to set out to get a solid platform of a high first innings total. However, with overcast and cloudy conditions forecasted, quick seam bowlers might not relish this, and the captains might choose to put the opposite team in first to bowl.

Pitch Conditions

Kevin Mitchell Jr, the groundsman for The Gabba, remarks that the pitch holds well and is relatively flat. The pitch will aid consistent pace bowling, although it’s common to see this turn as the days pass. Spinners often find a little more assistance as there is a healthy bounce, making it difficult for batsmen to gain an edge. For the batsmen, they will find a fairly consistent pitch to play over certainly the first four days of the Test. If the weather forecast remains the same, we could see major disruptions to play with thundery showers and winds predicted for the 9th and 10th. The rain could also reduce the amount of bounce that the Australian pace attacks crave.

Our Match Prediction

In the 71 Ashes series to date, the win rate between both teams has been fairly balanced with Australia just ahead with 33 wins to England’s 32. In respects to The Gabba, Australia is far ahead with 33 matches under their belt compared to nine from England, with their last win in 1986. Australia are on great form, we think they will claim the first victory and the betting sites for cricket seem to agree.

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