Will McGrath and Warne dominate?

With the clock ticking until the start of the Ashes, bet365 have produced some interesting markets surrounding some of the bowlers in the series, notably Glenn McGrath, Shane Warne and Steve Harmison.

McGrath and Warne have been the two biggest tormentors of England's batsmen over the past decade, and how they perform is likely to a long way to deciding the outcome of the series, while Harmison is England's great hope with the ball.

bet365 make McGrath 5/6 (1.83) to take 23 or more wickets in the series while it's the same price that he ends up with fewer than 23. Now McGrath may be no spring chicken, but he's still a world class bowler. His 499 wickets have come in 109 Tests - in other words, at more than four and a half per Test. On paper, if he were to repeat that average then he'd finish with 22.5, and of course injury and illness could keep him from playing in every match.

However, his record against England is superb. His 117 wickets against England have come in 22 Tests, at better than five per Test. In England, it's incredible, with 68 wickets in 11 Tests. McGrath also enjoys playing at Lord's, the venue for the first Test, so 5/6 is probably the best price you'll get. In the last four Ashes series, his hauls have been 19 (4 Tests), 32 (5), 24 (5), and 36 (6), with the two thirtysomethings coming in England.

The story is fairly similar for Warne, who is the bane of the England team, though bet365 make him 5/6 (1.83) to get 24 or more wickets, while it's the same price for 23 or fewer. The leg-spinner has taken 132 wickets in 26 matches against England, at a wickets-per-game rate of just over five, a record that would be enough to beat the 24 mark. Like McGrath, he loves playing in England. In 1993, he was the top wicket-taker, with 34 in six Tests. In 1997, he took 24 wickets in six, and in 2001, he ended with 31 wickets in five Tests.

Now obviously there a maximum of 100 wickets to share among the Australia bowlers, but Ricky Ponting's side only play with four frontline bowlers, and McGrath and Warne are guaranteed to play all five, if fit.

The key to England's chances
As said, Harmison carries most of England's hopes with the ball and his extra bounce and his pace has already troubled the Australian batsmen this summer. In his 30 Tests, the Durham paceman has taken 121 wickets (just over four a game). Of those 121, 71 have come at home, while his sorry tour Down Under in 2002/03, when he took just nine wickets in four Tests, can probably be discounted.

bet365 make him 8/11 to take 19 or more wickets, while he's evens to finish up with fewer than 19. They also make England spinner Ashley Giles 5/6 (1.83) to take 12 or more wickets, which doesn't seem to bad if he remains fit for five Tests. All these markets will be void unless the player stated plays two Tests.