Richard Mann strikes his first bet for the Ashes in this antepost preview, with a familiar face backed at big prices to return with a bang this winter.
Cricket betting tips: The Ashes
2pts Marnus Labuschagne top Australia series batsman at 9/1 (Sky Bet, Paddy Power, QuinnBet)
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We’re still around a month out from the start of the Ashes, so with many markets yet to be priced up, and others still to become properly formed, value is generally thin on the ground. But not everywhere.
The England markets don’t appeal much at this stage. For once, the tourists head Down Under with a settled side, and I only need to see Mark Wood bowl in the flesh after a summer of false promises before I officially get excited about England’s chances.
And with Australia captain Pat Cummins highly unlikely to feature in the series opener in Perth – and I’ve said already that I don’t think we’ll see much of him all winter – I do harbour hopes that England can be competitive in Australia for the first time since the 2010/2011 series.
In the main, Australia’s concerns centre around their top three. Cummins would be a huge loss, of course, but that is still a mighty fine bowling attack with or without him. The top three is anything but.
Usman Khawaja is the ‘rock’ at the top of the order, but take out a hundred on a flat pitch in Sri Lanka and it’s been a lean couple of years for the 38-year-old who doesn’t look the player he was. Expect this series to be his swansong.
Refreshed Labuschagne back on song
After that, Sam Konstas is the other incumbent opener, fresh off another duck in the Sheffield Shield overnight, while Cameron Green is a very inexperienced number three who could yet move back to six in order to make room for the return of MARNUS LABUSCHAGNE.
It’s remarkable to think that Labuschagne, who averages over forty in Ashes cricket, was dropped from Australia's starting XI in the Caribbean a few months ago, but this remains a high-class operator who has 11 hundreds, 23 fifties and over 4,000 runs to his name in Test cricket.
His form has clearly tailed off in the last 18 months, but that happens to most players at some stage in their careers, and in the last home Ashes series, Labuschagne finished as the second highest runscorer on either side, just behind Travis Head.
A brilliant technician, Labuschagne clearly suffered a crisis of confidence and was for a time being held back by a lack of intent, something that appears to have been remedied so far this winter, with the 31-year-old kicking off the domestic season with three centuries in his last four innings.
On the back of that strong start to the new campaign, Australia head coach Andrew McDonald has talked up Labuschagne’s chances of making a swift return to the team, suggesting he could well open the batting, just as he did in the World Test Championship final earlier in the year.
McDonald said just a few days ago: "We definitely see Marnus as an opening option. He had an outstanding record at three for Australia. He is doing all the right things at the moment with three domestic hundreds.
"It’s not necessarily the output we’re looking for. Sometimes it’s the way he’s going about it, subtle changes that he has made to his game.
"To see those implemented first up in Shield round one, big tick for Marnus for all the work he’s done. Maybe he’s nice and fresh at the moment, he’s making some good decisions around his game."
Konstas gone for a 🦆 - this is the fifth time in four games Boland's got him! 😬
— ESPNcricinfo (@ESPNcricinfo)
Everyone will interpret those quotes in their own way, but with Konstas struggling, and the number three position not yet locked down, I personally find it hard to believe Australia won’t usher Labuschagne back into the fold as quickly as possible.
Labuschagne still one of Australia's big guns
At this point, I find myself asking a few basic questions: Is Labuschagne one of Australia’s six best Test batters? Of course he is. Does he bring experience and a strong Ashes record to the table? Tick. And does his current domestic form put him ahead of his rivals for one of those top three positions? Another resounding yes.
I'm very confident he'll start in Perth, and with 9/1 still readily available for him to finish the series as Australia’s leading runscorer, we just have to play and get ourselves firmly ahead of the odds. For context, Labuschagne was sent off 5/2 for this particular market in the 2021/2022 series in Australia.
That’s not to say he’ll definitely win, but I think this is a case of clear value in a market I only rate him behind Steve Smith to win. I’ve not been convinced by Travis Head in the last year or so, and while Alex Carey’s form is red-hot, he’ll have a job on finishing as leading runscorer from number seven.
Snap up the 9/1 about Labuschagne is my advice.
Preview published at 1440 BST on 15/10/25
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