The Ashes is upon us, with the 1st Test starting at Cardiff’s Sophia Garden/Swalec Stadium tomorrow (Wednesday 8th July).
Australia’s Steven Smith will be looking to continue his remarkable run of form throughout the Ashes. A run which effectively started at the Oval back in 2013, when Smith scored his first century for Australia, and which has culminated (so far) with him becoming the World Number 1 ranked Test batsman.
Smith is favourite to be top Ashes run scorer, and obviously that makes him favourite to be the top Aussie run scorer. To top the overall Ashes series run scorer charts, Smith is a best price of 4/1 with Betvictor.
While to be the top Australian Ashes batsman, Steve Smith is a best price of 9/4 with bet365 (you can open a bet365 account here and claim a £200.00 Welcome Bonus).
Personally, I don’t think Smith can continue this form for much longer. He has just been promoted to Number 3 in Australia’s Test side, and with the possibility of him coming in early on in English conditions, I believe he might find the swinging Dukes ball not to his liking.
Steve Smith’s Ashes run spread with Sporting Index, is to Sell at 445, and Buy at 465, that means he would have to score (on average) around 45 runs every time he bats, assuming he bats 10 times (if you haven’t got a Sporting Index account, you can open one here and claim their £100 Welcome Package).
Coming in at Number 3, whether Australia dominate the series or not, it is pretty much a certainty that Smith will bat twice in all 5 Test matches. Depending on match situations, in the 2nd innings he will either be batting properly to possibly save a Test match, throwing the bat Warner style to set a target (like in most of the last Ashes series in Australia), or chasing a small target to win a Test match.
So unless it is a scenario where Australia are chasing a very small target to win a Test match, it looks like Smith will at least have the opportunity to fill his boots every time he bats.
I think it would take a brave punter to Buy Steve Smith’s runs at 465. I would probably leave this one, but if pushed to make a call, I think I would be selling Steve Smith’s runs at that particular spread.
If you are new to spread betting and a bit unsure, we have an information page on how Spread Betting works.