Australia’s second string to hand England 10th straight loss
Published:If England succumb to a familiar defeat against Australia in the fourth ODI at Perth they will join a select band of English failures. Sadly for them even a weakened home XI will be too strong to knock over.
The forgettable Three Lion vintages of 1993 and 2001 both lost ten consecutive games of cricket across all formats and defeat at the WACA will usher Alastair Cook’s 2013/14 touring side into that unwanted bracket.
England are 7/4 to avoid the outcome, with Australia predictably priced up as the favourites at 4/9.
There is a slither of hope attached to the fact that the Aussie’s rotation policy is at it’s peak now the series has been won, with Michael Clarke, Brad Haddin, David Warner, Shane Watson and Xavier Doherty all sitting out of the match.
However, that won’t be enough for England’s confidence-shorn rabble to topple their nemesis, as the averages so far attests.
The bowling unit has leaked runs badly – only Ravi Bopara has conceded less than 4.5 runs per over in the series – while the batting has promised much but delivered little, with five men registering a top series score between 21 and 49 and only four half centuries being racked up.
Compare that to Australia, who have three men bowling at a economy rate below 4.5 and have six scores of 50 or more and one century to their name.
Then there’s the fact that this ODI is at the WACA, where the baggy green has reigned supreme in six straight visits and in 15 of the last 18 one day matches there.
With the match betting a foregone conclusion then, looking at some other markets can provide some interest from an English point of view.
Ian Bell has been one of the touring offenders in building a start with the willow without kicking on to register a big score.
His tallies of 41, 68 and 29 in the series so far mean that backing the 5/6 on him going over a 27.5 total run line is wise.
All Odds and Markets are correct as of the date of publishing.
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