From Roy getting out in single digits to misfiring Starc - Funky Predictions for first Ashes Test

ByAnirudh Suresh, SportsCafe Editor

07/31/2019

England take on Australia in the first Test of the Ashes at Edgbaston on Thursday, and all things assured, there will be crazy incidents that will unravel. Sport is all about unpredictability but what if we can predict the unpredictable? Let’s indulge in a bit of fun.

Smith, Warner, and Bancroft will not dare to tamper with the ball

The last time these three played together, you know what happened. Of course, they wouldn’t be stupid enough to repeat it again, but we won’t mind it if they do it once again, you know!

Jonny Bairstow will be undone by a ball coming into him

From Kemar Roach to Shannon Gabriel to Tim Murtagh to Mark Adair, there hasn’t been a single soul who hasn’t troubled Jonny Bairstow with the incoming delivery. It happens so that Australia also have the No.1 Test bowler in the world, who is pretty good at bringing the ball into the right-hander. Poor Jonny!

Marnus Labuschagne will score a fifty in the match

We’re not sure who is underestimating Labuschagne more - the English fans or the Aussie fans. But we’re pretty sure that he’ll come up with the goods at Edgbaston. Remember, you heard it here first.

Jason Roy will be dismissed for single digits in one of the innings

He might have scored a 72 in the 2nd innings, but we still feel Roy is like a fish out of water in Test Cricket, and we completely expect the Aussie pacers to have the measure of him with the new ball.

Australia to suffer a top-order collapse in the match

We saw it thrice in the World Cup, and there is no reason why we won’t see another in the first Ashes Test. We trust the Aussies completely to make our prediction come true!

Nathan Lyon will get the better of Moeen Ali

The kind of form Moeen Ali is in, you don’t need a Nathan Lyon to get him out, but anyway, we expect Lyon to enter the field and complete the formality of taking Ali’s wicket.

Mitchell Starc will misfire big time - and get away with it

Thanks to the “X-factor” he possesses, Mitch Starc has been getting away with a string of mediocre performances in Test Cricket, match after match. We completely expect it to be the same case at Birmingham on Thursday. Or perhaps, he will get some help from his buddy Bancroft and turn things around, maybe?

Ben Stokes will torment the Aussies - with both bat and ball

He missed the last Ashes due to his involvement in a brawl, but you can be sure that the only brawl he’ll be involved in this time around will be on the field. Can he do a Flintoff 2005? Time will only tell.

England will hit more boundaries than Australia

Considering the English batsmen were still in ODI mode in their match against Ireland, it won’t be surprising if they come into the first Test aiming to hit more boundaries in case of a tie. It doesn’t make sense, but do they know?

We’ll have a low-scoring, close encounter at our hands

With both sides not in the greatest of forms with the bat, we highly expect this one to go in favour of the bowlers, but saying that, we don’t expect anyone to get bowled out under 100.