That desire to look at new players did lead to a rather
lopsided line-up, with many believing the team was a bowler light. However, one
bowler may have just played his way onto the plane to Australia this winter.
Boyd Rankin, at 29, is no spring chicken, but his desire to switch allegiances from Ireland to England could be a significant one, with the cricket betting odds suggesting he has earned himself an Ashes spot.
The 29-year-old was the standout bowler in all three games for England, his powerful 6foot 7in frame able to extract extra pace and bounce out of often lifeless pitches.
His haul of five wickets from three matches does not really do his displays justice, most notably at the Rose Bowl in the final game, where Rankin had a economy rate of 2.83. The next best economy rate was 5.40 from Chris Jordan in an innings where Australia racked up 298.
Back in 2010 Chris Tremlett proved to be one of the key cogs in England’s wheel as the cricket betting swung back in their direction and retained the Ashes down under. Rankin has the same tall powerful build as Tremlett and so should also be able to profit from the hard, bouncy pitches of Australia.
The latest cricket betting suggests that he may well be one of England’s surprise weapons when the two great rivals meet again in November, making this below-par one-day series worthwhile.
