Ashes Series Betting: The key men to watch out for with bat and ball

Alistair Cook will captain England in an Ashes series for the first time

Ahead of the start of The Ashes this Wednesday, Callum Davis identifies the players who could decide the series in their country's favour...

Despite the widely publicised problems suffered by Australian cricket this year, the men from down under still possess the talent and desire to make this year's series a competitive one and England's key men will need to avoid complacency if they want to retain the urn.

Here we take a look at different areas of competition in the series and identify the likely match winners for each side.

Captains

Australia Captain Michael Clarke is his country's talisman and one of the most talented batsman in the world today. If the Aussies are going to compete in the series against England's fearsome bowling attack then the man they call 'Pup' will need to score big to lead the fight for his team. A price of 3.211/5 for Clarke to be Australia's top run scorer of the series seems a straightforward bet to make, but if you really fancy Clarke to star, you can back him at 6.86/1 to be the top scoring batsman in the series.

For Alistair Cook, this year's Ashes will be his fourth as a player, but his first with the considerable responsibility of captaincy to burden. 

Cook's talent for accumulating runs is borne out by him already holding the record for highest number of Test centuries of any Englishman. He is 3.8514/5 to be England's top scoring batsman in the series.

Bowling

Many believe England's bowling attack will be the trump card for the host side as they seek to win their third Ashes on the trot. James Anderson leads the English seam attack and the Lancashire man is most effective when bowling on the seamer-friendly pitches at home. 

Aside from Clarke, Australia's top order are not proven, world class, Test match players and if Anderson in particular is able to utilise his now notorious ability to reverse swing the ball then their batsman may be in for torturous summer. Anderson can be backed at 4.47/2 to be the top wicket taker in the series.

The spin of Graeme Swann has been integral to England's two previous Ashes series victories at home and away. Swann is 3.55/2 to be England's top series wicket taker which may be a little too short for some punters given the fact that the he is not guaranteed a starting place in the XI if any of the five pitches to be played on this summer prove not to be conducive to spin. Swann was dropped in the second test last year against South Africa for tactical reasons and circumstances could see a repeat decision this summer from Andy Flower and Cook.

James Pattinson is Australia's shortest priced prospect in the top wicket taker market, and the pacey seamer is likely to be a handful for the English batsman. Pattinson is 7.26/1 to take the top the standings for wickets taken and with the ability to swing the ball both ways and bowl upwards of 90mph, Pattinson should feature heavily in the wickets tally.

Batting

Shane Watson will be essential in providing stability at the top of the order for Australia.

Despite a checkered season which saw Watson suspended at one stage, the man from Queensland has the shown the power and technique in limited overs to blow bowling attacks away, and he will need to produce the same kind of game in the test arena to combat England's attack.

For England, after exclusion from the team last year, and more recently injury, the stage is set for a fit again Kevin Pietersen to prove his class in the biggest series of them all. Pietersen missed the test series with New Zealand earlier in the summer with the sole intention of ensuring he was able to face off against the Aussies. 

KP thrives on the pressure of a big occasion and is 5.04/1 to be England's top batsman in the series, and 7.613/2 to be the top scoring batsman overall.

However with Pietersen it can occasionally be boom or bust and a safer bet may be to back the ever reliable Jonathan Trott to be top English batsman at 4.3100/30.

Recommended Bets

Back Michael Clarke to be Australia's Top Series Batsman at 3.211/5
Back Jonathan Trott to be England's Top Series Batsman at 4.3100/30