England v Australia - ODI Series 2018

Australia will embark on a five-match ODI series followed by a single T20 International in England later this month, with the first game taking place on Wednesday 13th June at The Oval in the first of three day/ night matches.  

It will be a very different Australia team to the one that demolished England 4-0 in the Test series six months back.  In addition to the absence of the suspended Steve Smith, David Warner and Cameron Bancroft, Australia are also missing their trio of pace bowlers from the recent Ashes-winning series, with Josh Hazlewood, Pat Cummins and Mitchell Starc all ruled out through injury.

It leaves new captain Tim Paine and new coach Justin Langer with an inexperienced and limited bowling attack consisting of with Jhye Richardson, Kane Richardson, Billy Stanlake, Andrew Tye and Michael Neser, with Nathan Lyon and Ashton Agar providing the spin options.

There is more strength and experience in the batting department, in the likes of vice-captain Aaron Finch, Shaun Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, Marcus Stoinis, Travis Head, D’Arcy Short and Paine himself, but the absence of Smith and Warner can’t be seen as anything other than weakening the team.

From an Australian perspective, the England tour has to be seen as preparation for the ODI World Cup in 2019.  Any positive results will be a bonus, but the performances of individual players could see them stake a claim for a place in the Australian squad for the World Cup in the UK in just under a year from now.

By contrast there is a wealth of ODI experience in the England ranks, with captain Eoin Morgan able to call upon the likes of Joe Root, Jonny Bairstow, Jos Buttler, Ben Stokes, Chris Woakes, Liam Plunkett and Mark Wood among others.

Also, unlike in Test Match cricket, England has been hugely successful in the one-day game in recent times and go into the series high on confidence.  Taking into account that the series will be played on home soil and under conditions that will undoubtedly favour them, it really does look set-up for England to win the ODI series with a bit to spare.

Recommended bet: England to win ODI Series