THREE tests down, two to go, and with a 2-1 series lead over the Aussies on home soil, the English will fancy their chances of regaining the Ashes.
The third test at Edgbaston lasted just three days, with the Australians bundled out for a mere 136 in the first innings on the opening day.
English spearhead Jimmy Anderson did the damage in the opening innings, taking six wickets in a devastating display of swing bowling.
In its reply, England was able to score 281, setting up the side to cruise on to a comfortable eight-wicket victory.
Ian Bell was the standout performer in both innings for the home side, scoring 53 and 65 to regain some much-needed form and take the game away from the Australians.
The win gives the English a 2-1 series lead heading into Trent Bridge, with Sportsbet offering $1.67 on the home side to win the 2015 Ashes series. This is a stark contrast from the $5 on offer prior to the third test.
The Australians have gone out to $3.75 after their capitulation in Birmingham, with the draw the least likely result according to Sportsbet.
Injury news – Anderson suffers side strain in third test triumph
The big story coming out of Edgbaston was the injury sustained by English fast-bowler Jimmy Anderson.
Anderson, who had ripped through the Australian side with six wickets in the first innings, was forced to leave the field after feeling a twinge on the left side of his body.
The English spearhead did not return to the field of play and is unlikely to play again this series.
The market has acted accordingly, with William Hill moving the English superstar out to $19 to end the series with the most wickets for England.
How does Anderson’s injury affect the fourth test?
Jimmy Anderson looked to be the series-defining bowler after his six-wicket haul at Edgbaston, but the injury has thrown a spanner into the English works.
The English spearhead not only has great control in restricting opposition scoring, but he has an uncanny knack of making the duke ball do things other men cannot even fathom.
His loss is immense – especially considering the next test, which is played at Trent Bridge, is Anderson’s best wicket-taking venue.
Nowhere else on earth has Anderson more effective with the ball than at Trent Bridge, where he has taken an incredible 53 of his 413 Test wickets.
The loss of Anderson gives Australia the edge according to Sportsbet, with Australia slight favourites to take the fourth test at $2.20.
England are $3.05 to win, with the draw at $3.65
Best batsmen markets – Aussies dominate the betting:
Even though the Australians are 2-1 down in the series, the market still has the visitors’ batsmen squarely in the frame for most runs.
Steve Smith – who prior to the test at Edgbaston was the $2.25 favourite with Bet365 to score the most runs in the series – is now second favourite behind Rogers to be the leading scorer in the series.
Bet365 has Rogers at $2.10 to score the most runs, with the world’s number one ranked batsman Smith at $2.30 just behind the Aussie opener.
Rogers sits atop the runs scored list for the series with 385, 31 runs clear of Steve Smith at 354.
Joe Root is the next man in the market and the top ranked English batsmen in the market at $5.50.
Root is 72 runs shy of Rogers with 313, with the Englishman the only other man inside 300 runs scored for the series thus far.
These three men are the only batsman for either side under double figure odds.
Australian opener Dave Warner – who has threatened to, but never really stamped his authority on this series – is at $17 to end the series with the most runs.
Ian Bell’s back-to-back 50s at Edgbaston placed him in the market, with Sportsbet placing the red-headed number four at $51.
Best bowler markets – who can have the biggest impact with the ball?
With no clear cut wicket taker in the third test, the betting market remains wide open for the overall series leading wicket taker.
Anderson would have been the standout after his six-wicket haul in the first innings, but with his injury that may keep him out of the remaining two tests, Australia’s Josh Hazlewood is the favourite with Sportsbet at $3.10.
Hazlewood has consistently taken wickets throughout the series left Edgbaston with a further four to his name, taking his total to 14 for the series, the most of any bowler.
England’s Stuart Broad is the next best, at $4.50.
Aussie off-spinner Nathan Lyon is at $5 while Left armed pair Mitchell Johnson and Mitchell Starc round out the single-figure market with odds of $6.
Broad, Lyon and Starc are all locked on 12 wickets apiece heading into the fourth test.
Forgotten man Steven Finn’s man-of-the-match performance has catapulted him into the market, with his eight wicket haul from Edgbaston moving him into $15.
