Odds On The Ashes Hang In The Balance As Players Decide

Image source: Flickr

What if they held an Ashes and no one came? Well apparently Australia and the ECB have slightly different views on the matter. The Aussie hosts claim the age-old contest will go ahead regardless of who arrives, they just need the right accents. The ECB, on the other hand, have sent the odds on the Ashes at online sportsbook sites in Australia like Bet365 into a tizzy.  They just might cancel it if they can’t send a good enough team. So can the ECB persuade players to play?

Some of the players don’t want to go. This isn’t because England are likely to get battered by Australia. England are used to that. No, this is because the conditions under which the players would live whilst on tour are a tad draconian. This is an issue. For some players, those in the T20 World Cup as well, that would mean a four-month stint away from home. So, if the Australians prohibit families from visiting the team the odds on the Ashes will fall flat fast. England won’t go.

Oh sure the ECB will scratch up a team of volunteers but it’ll not look like the England you know. Well. Apart from the results, which will probably resemble those the real England team could get quite close. Many of the big names will simply opt-out of representing their country at the Ashes. So whilst you can, at present, take advantage of Australian gambling laws to pick up odds on the Ashes, you can’t actually bet on the Ashes going ahead yet. Well. Not properly.

England Players Balk At Conditions For Ashes Tour

“Our focus is to ensure the tour can go ahead with conditions for players and management to perform at their best.” Said the ECB. Just a little unfortunate then that Australia has a different focus. One of a slightly larger magnitude. “We remain in regular and positive dialogue with Cricket Australia over these arrangements.” Which means they haven’t sorted it out yet. So those odds on the Ashes are soft numbers at best. Until we know who’ll go, the Ashes odds are useless. 

Odds On The Ashes

• Draw – 8/1
• England – 13/2
• Australia – 1/5

“The picture,” The ECB confided as if it were news to anyone, “is constantly evolving.” Which is corporate code for no one really knowing anything. The players will call the shots on this one and the ECB know it. Not even English cricketing authorities can frog-march players around the world in time of crisis. So, the odds on the Ashes very much depend on which way the top tier players jump. Hence, those who like to bet on sports in Australia are reticent to pick a wager.

Bet365 Have All The Best Odds On The Ashes

The ECB aren’t helping their own case. Some players off to the T20 World Cup in Oman and the UAE can’t tell families when they’ll come home. Because they don’t know. The ECB can’t tell them. That’s wholly unacceptable. If the ECB keep that up you can bet on England arriving in Australia with very little experience among its ranks. Unfortunately, the ECB seems to have bet on Australia changing their rules and regulations to suit England. This entirely is delusional. 

“The Ashes are going ahead.”

• Tim Paine – Captain, Australia

The odds on Australia changing their rules just to suit a bunch of visiting foreign sportsmen are ridiculous. They have bigger issues. Likewise, the odds on England players giving up their lives for 4 months just to play five Test matches are daft. Which means the odds on the Ashes going ahead at all are not as good as Australia make out. So, before you hit up online betting sites in Australia like Bet365 just be sure the tour is going to happen at all. Because it just might not.

Click here to visit the bet365 Sportsbook

We take a look at why the odds on the Ashes are all over the shop as the ECB tries to persuade the England team to tour.