Australia vs England 4th Test Betting Tips 05/01/2022

January 4, 2022

Zohaib Ahmed, Senior Author

The fourth Test match of the Ashes 2021-22 between Australia and England will begin from Jan 5 (Wednesday) at Sydney Cricket Ground. The match is to begin at 5 am.

Teams Status

England

England’s super early surrender of the Ashes means that this will be the first of the two dead rubbers that the series will serve us.

After losing the series inside 12 playing days, the England camp has attracted a barrage of criticism, and to make matters worse, they have temporarily lost nine members of their support staff, including coach Chris Silverwood to Covid. Both him and captain Joe Root are under immense pressure and their futures will be on the line in the remaining two Tests.

The tourists are expected to make one change to their playing eleven, with Ollie Robinson going out and Stuart Broad being reinstated after missing the last Test.

Australia

Australia have cruised through this Ashes series against a weak and meek England side, and even though they have a few concerns regarding their squad, it won’t be anything major as the series is already in the bag.

Travis Head is out due to Covid but it shouldn’t be much of a problem as Usman Khawaja is more than capable of filling in for him.

They have an array of pacers to pick from, and based on what we’ve seen so far, any random selection can wreak havoc. The names do not matter at this point, so dominant the hosts have been. Josh Hazlewood is still nursing a side strain while Jhye Richardson has a shin niggle. Both are not in contention for this game.

The most important selection aspect probably is whether or not legspinner Mitchell Swepson gets his much-awaited debut.

What Do the Sportsbooks Say?

Australia	Draw	England
2.55	1.61	11.0
2.64	1.652	12.0
2.80	1.58	12.50

Australia are heavy favourites for the fourth Test of the Ashes. Parimatch has Australia priced at 2.55, England at 11.0, and Draw at 1.61. Paripesa has Australia available for 2.64, England for 12.0, and Draw for 1.652. Lastly, Sportsbet has Australia priced at 2.80, England at 12.50, and Draw at 1.58.

Tipster’s Angle

Tip: Draw at 1.652

The deck at Sydney Cricket Ground is famously flat and generally supports batsmen more than any other pitch in Australia. Batting has been the Achilles heel for England so some relief on that front will give them confidence. Furthermore, England have generally fared much better at the SCG than anywhere else in Australia. They have 22 victories in 56 Tests at the venue and the last time they won a Test in Australia, which was in 2011, was also at the SCG. Therefore, we think that England batters will raise their performance and so would the Aussies, which could see them cancel each other out and result in a Draw, which was also the result of the only Sheffield Shield match played at the SCG this season. The odds have been sourced from Paripesa.

Tip: England’s top batter in 1^st innings – Jonny Bairstow @ 5.20

We’re going to take a long punt on this one based on the fact that Jonny Bairstow was playing quite well in the first innings of the 3^rd Test and had 32 to his name despite not being prepared for the red-ball challenge. His dismissal in the second innings was also dodgy. Now that he has some familiarity with the conditions, on a batting-friendly track, we might see his A-game. The odds have been sourced from Parimatch.

Conclusion

Based on what we’ve seen so far in the series, it looks a folly to expect England to fare any better. But zoom out and see the larger picture and there are enough reasons for them to not be as miserable at the SCG as anywhere else. Therefore, we’d rather take a punt on them than lay the chalk on Australia.

Zohaib Ahmed

22:02, 4 Jan 2022

Senior Author

Zohaib Ahmed

Senior Author

22:02, 4 Jan 2022

Zohaib Ahmed is a sports journalist whose profession is to report and edit but whose passion is to predict and bet. He’s been in the industry for more than a decade and has worked/written for various bookmakers/tipsters. His expertise is in cricket, football, MMA, boxing and basketball.