England vs. Australia Ashes Betting Specials: Four tips across the five-Test series

We are rapidly counting down the hours until the 2023 Ashes gets under way at Edgbaston on Friday morning, as England and Australia do battle over five Test matches with the winner lifting the iconic Urn at the conclusion of the last Test this summer.

A fascinating betting contest awaits and the bookmakers are offering a whole host of specials for punters to take a look at and our in-house cricket pairing of Matt Banks and Steve Chambers have picked out the top four special bets that could offer some decent value...

Matt Banks

• Steve Smith to Score 5+ 100s in an Innings During the Series - 12/1 with Paddy Power

Comments about sandpaper aside, Steve Smith is truly one of the greats of the game and his record in England is absolutely ridiculous.

In 17 matches in England and Wales, Smith has 1882 runs, seven hundreds, and seven fifties at an average of 60.71.

In the 2019 Ashes, Smith scored 771 runs in just seven innings. On top of that, he’s just scored a majestic hundred against India at the Oval in the World Test Championship final and so he is coming into the Ashes in imperious form.

Unfortunately for England, it feels like we’re going to see a lot of Steve Smith this summer, so the 12/1 with Paddy Power for the 34-year-old to hit at least five centuries during the series looks a great bet.

• Ollie Robinson Top England Series Bowler & Pat Cummins Top Australia Series Bowler - 15/2 with William Hill

This Ashes series is unique in the sense that it’s going to be condensed into only six weeks, and any fast bowler would tell you playing five full games in that amount of time is an incredibly tough challenge.

Not only is Pat Cummins Australia’s best bowler, with a career average of 21.74 in his 50 tests, he is their captain and because of that they will want him to play all five, while rotating the others. If Cummins does play all five games, it would be a massive surprise if he wasn’t Australia’s top wicket-taker.

All the talk heading into the series in terms of England’s bowlers is surrounding James Anderson and Stuart Broad. Those two are clearly all-time legends of English cricket and will have a huge say if England are to win this series, but it seems as if Ollie Robinson is going under the radar.

He has quietly been England’s best bowler over the past 12 months, even in trying conditions in Pakistan, and has a career average of 21.27.

Like Cummins, this relies on the idea that Robinson will play the most games out of England’s bowling stocks. Anderson is 40 years old, Broad will be turning 37 during the series and there is no way Mark Wood’s body will be able to hold up to play four or five tests during the series. That leaves the reliable Robinson, who could spearhead the attack this summer and end the series as England’s most prolific wicket taker.

William Hill are offering 15/2 for Cummins to be Top Australian bowler and Robinson to be Top England bowler during the Ashes, so snap that attractive price up!

Steve Chambers

• Joe Root Top England Series Run Scorer & Marnus Labuschagne Top Australia Series Run Scorer - 10/1 with William Hill

There's no doubt that if England are to regain The Ashes this summer then former captain Joe Root needs to deliver with the bat.

While under the new Brendon McCullum/Ben Stokes regime he has become looser at the crease, but he is still the class act in the English middle order.

Averaging over 50 in Test match cricket propels him into the elite category and with an average of 38.76 against Australia he has shown he can deliver the goods against the old enemy!

While much has been made of England's attacking style from the get-go, the likes of Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett and Ollie Pope could struggle up top and it could be left to Root and his fellow Yorkshireman Harry Brook and skipper Stokes to pick up the mess and Root is capable of being a constant thorn in the side of the Aussies and he can land top English runscorer.

Moving attentions to Australia's batting line-up and you are immediately drawn to former disgraced skipper Steve Smith, who is near odds-on with the bookmakers to be top Australian runscorer, but while there's no doubting he's a phenomenon it leaves more value in Marnus Labuschagne.

With a stunning average in Test match cricket of over 56, Labuschagne has been a regular on the county circuit for Glamorgan in recent seasons, so can deliver in the conditions and with an average of over 45 against England then he could well just get the edge over Smith, who is sure to be under pressure from the baying home crowds

• All 5 Ashes Tests to be completed by the end of Day 4 - 6/1 with Paddy Power

Test cricket is certainly a very different specimen from yesteryear and the introduction of the nauseating 'Bazball' phrase has seen England become an attacking phenomenon that look to crush teams into the ground.

Well, with this new way of playing under the watchful eye of former attacking batsman Brendon McCullum, England have looked to finish games at a rate of knots.

Attacking from the first over, England's batsmen have looked to get runs quickly and put the opposition under pressure. Well, with a mouth-watering Australian pace attack sure to relish the likes of Duckett and Crawley attacking from ball one then the game could gather pace and we could see some rapid Test matches. 

Paddy Power are offering 6/1 for all five Ashes Tests to be completed by the end of Day 4 and while you are hoping for the British summer to hold up, as rain delays will certainly affect this bet, but if we do get a full day's play each day then there be no shock to see a game fail to reach the fifth and final day.