The Ashes 2023 Betting Guide: Who Will Win?

Outright Winner

This is perhaps the simplest way to bet on the Ashes or any other cricket event. Simply choose the winner of an individual test or the overall series, and if your side is victorious, your bet wins. You can also bet on a draw if you believe that is the likely outcome.

Highest Opening Partnership

This market allows you to bet on which team will score the most runs before losing a single wicket. If your chosen team’s opening partnership scores more runs in the match, you win.

Cricket Prop Bets

Prop bets are wagers on specific statistical outcomes during a match or the overall series. For instance, you can bet on which team will hit the most sixes, the total number of fours in a match, the score of the first innings, the number of runs a team will score, or any number of other “propositions”.

Player Prop Bets

Player prop bets are similar to the bets mentioned above, but they refer to outcomes for a specific player. You can bet on who will be the top batsman in a match, the top run scorer, the top wicket-taker, or whether a specific batsman will score 50 runs. There are also markets available that pit two or more players against each other, such as which of two bowlers will take more wickets in a match.

Cricket Over/Under Bets

A totals bet, which is also known as an Over/Under bet, asks you to choose whether a figure will finish above or over a given number. The most popular of these is the total runs bet, in which you predict how many total runs the teams will combine to score in a given test.

Draw No Bet

Typically, if you bet on the winner of an Ashes match and the test ends in a draw, you will lose your wager. A Draw No Bet wager protects you against this outcome. In this market, you will pick either England or Australia to win a match. If your team wins, your bet is a winner; if the test ends in a draw, you’ll get your stake returned, as if the bet never happened.

Tied Match

In this bet, you wager that a match will end in the unlikely result of a dead tie between the two teams. While this is a reasonable outcome in a T20 match, it is very rare in test play. Only two test matches have ever ended in a tie, and it has never occurred in an Ashes contest.

Total Runs

In this market, you will bet on whether the total runs scored by both teams will be over or under a stated number. Other versions of this bet ask you to predict how many runs will be scored by one team, or how many runs will be scored throughout the entire series.

Man of the Match

This is a special bet in which you will predict which player will win the official Man of the Match award for each test. The bookmaker will list odds for every player, and if your chosen man earns the award, your bet is a winner.

To Retain the Ashes

This bet will ask you whether you believe Australia will retain the Ashes at the end of this series. If you believe Australia will either win or draw the overall series, then you’ll want to bet yes, as the Australians will retain the trophy in the case of a draw.

Correct Score of the Series

You can also bet on the overall score of the series. For instance, you might wager that England will win 3-1 with a single draw, or that Australia will be victorious by a 3-2 margin. Each result will have its own payouts, with the most unlikely results (5-0 for either team, for instance) fetching longer odds.

Most Series Centuries

This bet asks you to predict which batsman will end the Ashes series with the most centuries. A century refers to a batsman scoring 100 runs in a single innings, which means players will typically have two opportunities to record a century in each match.

Consider Home Advantage

No visiting squad has won the Ashes since England won in Australia in the 2010-2011 series. In fact, only two of the past 12 Ashes series have been won by the visiting team.

However, it’s worth noting that Australia did manage a draw the last time they visited England in August 2019, splitting the series 2-2 with one drawn test. Still, while Australia has held the Ashes since 2018, England’s home advantage still makes it the favourite in 2023.

Be Aware of Injuries

While much will be made of the overall squad strength for both nations, injuries could make a huge difference as the Ashes draw closer. If you plan on betting on the Ashes, be sure to be up to date on the latest injuries for both sides.

Both England and Australia have several veteran test players who are age 35 or older. These players are more vulnerable to picking up injuries, meaning they could either be left off the squads or be limited in availability this summer.

Form Matters

One of the best indicators as to how both teams will play in the Ashes is how they perform in the leadup to the series. Both teams will play warmup tests before the Ashes. England is scheduled to take on Ireland from June 1-4, while Australia played four tests against India in March, and could still schedule further matches.

Individual form matters as well, and looking into how players have performed in ODI and T20 play (for those who cross over into those formats) may also be valuable, especially when it comes to head-to-head results against bowlers or batsmen on the other team.

Find the Best Odds

We can’t emphasize enough how much line shopping matters when it comes to Ashes betting. This is one of the biggest cricket competitions in the world, which means that all of our top online bookmakers will offer Ashes odds.

It’s important to join at least two or three of these sites so that you can compare odds and always take the best payouts possible. While the difference between 9/4 and 2/1 may seem small, picking the more generous 9/4 odds will help you make bigger profits and better overall results in the long run.

Know Your Pitches

In previews of each test match, you will be able to read about the condition of the pitch. If the pitch is flat and consistent, then batsmen will do well and fast bowlers will find more success, while spin bowlers prefer a slightly uneven ground. Rain can create wet ground, which will slow down the ball, but can also make it difficult for batsmen to pick up the motion of swing bowlers.

Be aware of the pitch conditions and weather, as this can impact the overall result and the kinds of player prop bets you may wish to make on a match.