Can England repeat 2005 triumph?

The hype, patriotic tub-thumping, claim and counter claim for the Ashes series have been justified on the most basic of levels: the 2005 was a thriller so the 2009 vintage should be just as good. It is questionable logic but when the spread bookmakers - those bastions of teams' respective abilities -believe it then it is best to prepare for a rollercoaster.

Click here to spread bet on the Ashes at Sporting Index

Sporting Index reckon this contest is going to be closer than the one four years ago - don't mention the 'forgotten series' in 2006-07 - and have priced up England and Australia on their win index markets closer than ever before in the history of these contests.

With 25 points for a Test win and 10 for a draw, England are chalked up at 49-53, a rise from 40-43 in 2005. Australia are 65-69, down from 77-80. There are many ways to illustrate how much the loss of Messrs Warne and McGrath have hurt the Aussies, but for cricket punters that change is one of the most stark.

Still, that is unlikely to stop bettors from getting long of Australia's price on a market which is fascinating to play. With the scoring system as it is, many an hour can be spent working out at where of the five venues Australia are capable of picking up points or dropping them.

The principles are the same, however. When playing the win index in Tests, the question you have to ask yourself is this: which side is the most likely to take 20 wickets? Most likely you will answer 'Australia' given their impressive 2-1 win in South Africa the last time out while England, prior to beating West Indies 2-0, had bowled a side out twice only once in 10 Tests.

Mitchell Johnson is Australia's gun bowler. His 90mph left-arm swingers (both ways), useful runs at No 8 and England's weakness against bowlers of his variety (remember when Zaheer Khan troubled them last year and in 2007?) makes him the one who could prove to be the difference between the two sides.

One of the beauties of spread betting is that it allows punters to support or oppose players in a far less constrictive way than on fixed odds. In that area of punting, the only way you can support Johnson is to back him for top Australia wicket-taker.

With Sporting we can play his series bowling performance at 235-250 (10 pts per wicket taken, 25 pts bonus for five-wicket haul in an innings), his series runs at 175-190 or his series all-rounder performance at 620-650 (1 pt per run, 10 per catch, 20 per wkt). To give you a clue as to how he might fare on each of those, Johnson averages 34 with the bat and 4.4 wickets per Test.

But if we're being honest, cricket is a batsman's game and the opportunity to bet on 22 individuals runs over the series is one which fixed-odds bookmakers do not compete with. From Strauss to Swann, Ponting to Siddle bettors have the chance to back their judgement on each man, positive or negative. Fixed-odds firms traditionally only offer to bet on a batsman to do well (top runscorer), not suffer disappointments.

If you believe Australia will expose Alastair Cook's weakness outside off stump then you can sell his series runs at 355. Likewise if you reckon Phillip Hughes' first innings against England Lions was more than an aberration you can sell at 370.

That could well be the bet of the series given Hughes' poor show in that game. He had a plethora of problems which England's bowlers could expose: a back-foot trigger movement which keeps him legside, difficulty playing the short ball and a perceived weakness against the moving ball.

Of course Kevin Pietersen and Ricky Ponting are likely to attract buyers of their runs at 420 and 410 respectively given their status as the two best batsmen in the series. But do bear in mind the word 'value' when having such a wager. If you buy at those prices, the potential downside is far greater than the upside.

Smarter trades are perhaps a buy of Paul Collingwood's runs at a cheap-looking 310 or Stuart Broad's at 165 - another possible bet of the series and a perfect example of a bet with limited negative outcome. Broad averages 31 in Tests and it is surely only a matter of time before he proves himself as a genuine all-rounder.

Sporting also offer the chance to bet on a player's ton-ups (aggregate runs over 100 in an individual innings), highest team score in the series (558-568), lowest all-out score (155-165), total series wides (35-38), a correct score market plus many more reasons why this series is so talked about.

Please note that odds are correct at time of publication and are subject to change.