Fresh from winning the T20 World Cup less than one week ago, England will be full of confidence heading into another white ball series against Australia.
The two arch-rivals will go head-to-head in three quickfire ODIs, giving fans another dose of top-quality international cricket before the red ball summer gets underway.
Josh Nevett takes a close look at the contest with his free preview and cricket betting tips below.
Australia vs England 1st ODI Preview & Betting Tips
Adelaide Oval, Thursday November 17th, 1:50pm (AEDT)
Squads
Australia: Pat Cummins (c), Sean Abbott, Ashton Agar, Alex Carey, Cameron Green, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Marnus Labuschagne, Mitchell Marsh, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, Marcus Stoinis, David Warner, Adam Zampa
England: Jos Buttler (c), Moeen Ali, Sam Billings, Sam Curran, Liam Dawson, Chris Jordan, Dawid Malan, Adil Rashid, Jason Roy, Phil Salt, Olly Stone, James Vince, David Willey, Chris Woakes, Luke Wood
Match Preview
The timing of this series means that there are many question marks heading into the opening game, the first of which surrounding team selection.
Both teams head to Adelaide with a few fresh faces. Australia have welcomed Ashton Agar, Travis Head and Sean Abbott back into their squad, the latter replacing Glenn Maxwell who recently sustained a freak leg injury which will see him sidelined for months. For England, Ben Stokes, Mark Wood, Harry Brook and Liam Livingstone have left to join the test team in Pakistan, while Liam Dawson, Olly Stone and Luke Wood are new names to look out for.
England have only had a few days off since their World Cup triumph, so there is a good chance that a few star players will be left out of the XI for Game 1, giving Australia the upper hand.
The Aussies will roll out a similar bowling attack to the World Cup, but the batting ranks will see a shake-up. Travis Head is set to open, replacing the retired Aaron Finch, while Cameron Green should slot into the middle order as an all-rounder.
In terms of picking a winner, the aforementioned selection uncertainty make it difficult.
Australia has been underwhelming in the ODI format this year, winning eight of their 14 matches against Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Zimbabwe and Sri Lanka. Notably, home soil has proven to be a significant advantage, with the home record sitting at 5-1.
England’s recent results have similarly been a mixed bag. It’s no surprise they beat the Netherlands 3-0 at the start of the year, but since then the three Lions have won two of five against India and South Africa.
Given the timing of this first clash and Australia’s relatively settled line-up, I’m predicting a victory for the hosts in Game 1.
Prop Bets
Sam Curran has been on fire in recent times, capping off a sublime World Cup by winning the Player of the Series award with 13 wickets. The competitive left-armer also took wickets against Australia heading into the tournament and, with Mark Wood and Ben Stokes out of the ODI side, he should lead the pace attack in Game 1.
England Top Wicket Taker – Sam Curran $4.00 (Ladbrokes)
Australia will enter this series with a new opening combination – Warner and Head. While Warner is a proven force at the top of the order, it may take Head some time to adjust to his new role. As such, I’m backing a wicket to fall early in the Aussie innings.
Australia Fall of Wicket 1 – Under 26.5 $1.83 (Ladbrokes)
