England Bet On Ben Stokes To Lift Their Ashes Spirits

The young Ben Stokes – Image source: Flickr

Your choices are quite limited if you like to bet on sports in the UK over the winter. Joe Root and Chris Silverwood, in charge of the England Ashes side, have the same problem. They’re still to name their final XI and whilst you can bet on Ben Stokes to change things up, issues remain. Still, his return to the side does mean your bet on the best England batsman in the series gets more fun. Even if it doesn’t sort out England’s middle-order morass or their odds on the Ashes at Bet365.

“From a cricketing point of view, we’ve seen how devastating he is with bat and ball.” Chris Silverwood was effusive in his praise of Ben Stokes. “He is lively around the dressing room and a leader in his own right.” He continued. “We felt a lift when his name came back into the hat for being on tour.” Which is great. However, should England really bet on Ben Stokes to come back and save the day? He’s barely played any competitive cricket and this is no time to be rusty.

You can bet on the Ashes to test those in form, let alone those just back from prolonged absence. So maybe England shouldn’t bet on Ben Stokes to give them a shot. The Ashes odds don’t give them a shot. Not a realistic one anyway. So one man won’t make that much difference. However, you can see why England think it might. Every time you’ve bet on England recently it’s been a bet on Joe Root. Those odds on England at online betting sites in the UK like bet365 were his.

Ashes Betting Odds

• Draw – 7/1
• England – 9/2
• Australia – 1/3

England Remain Firmly The Ashes Underdogs

So it’s hard to argue that perhaps they shouldn’t bet on Ben Stokes as a savoir. Perhaps that’s just how Chris and Joe see the side. One or two bright sparks amid a bunch of filler. Unfortunately the bookies don’t think that’s a winning formula. That’s why online bookies in the UK like Bet3465 give odds on Australia far shorter than those on England. Indeed to look at the prices you’d think a bet on Australia the only sensible Ashes wager available. Which is probably true.

Bet On England’s Best Batsman

• Anyone Else – 25/1+
• Jos Butler – 10/1
• Dan Lawrence – 9/1
• Ollie Pope – 7/1
• Jonny Bairstow – 6/1
• Zak Crawley – 6/1
• Haseeb Hameed – 5/1
• Dawid Malan – 5/1
• Rory Burns – 9/2
• Ben Stokes – 4/1
• Joe Root – 6/4

Pat Cummings, like Joe Root might face the odd tricky question at the press conferences, but at least he’s got the better side. Yes, Steve Smith will raise some eyebrows as vice-captain but after their T20 World Cup win, they know they’re good. England know they aren’t. That’s why they’ve bet on Ben Stokes to have a positive influence. Not that you’ll find any sign of that in the England Ashes odds at online sportsbook sites in the UK like Bet365. They remain very long.

Bet365 Has Your Bet On Ben Stokes Batting Or Bowling

Bet365 give England just 9/2 to win the Ashes. In a two-horse race that’s appalling. However, it is unsurprising so we may need to look elsewhere. Fortunately, you can bet on the best England batsman instead of just who wins the Ashes. There’s lots of side bets in Cricket, the stat man’s dream. Indeed you can bet on Ben Stokes to come out top, he gets 4/1 to bat best. Although, as is obvious, Joe Root gets slightly better at 6/4. Stokes even gets 7/1 to bowl best for England.

Bet On England’s Best Bowler

• Joe Root – 50/1
• Dom Bess – 33/1
• Craig Overton – 16/1
• Chris Woakes – 11/2
• Ben Stokes – 7/1
• Jack Leach – 13/2
• Ollie Robinson – 3/1
• Mark Wood – 7/2
• James Anderson – 4/1
• Stuart Broad – 11/4

This is a slightly more optimistic wager. Bet on Ben Stokes to beat out Broad, Anderson or Wood? I don’t think so. That’s stretching the whole superhero thing too far. Still with few other choices that make any sense you can see Silverwood and Root heaping responsibility onto Stokes. Something unlikely to end well. So, you’d have to bet daft to take advantage of UK gambling laws to back England to win the Ashes, but bet on Ben shaking things up? Sure. 

Click here to visit the bet365 Sportsbook

We take a look at why a bet on Ben Stokes to save England is far-fetched, but his odds on being England’s best batsman are quite good.