Fourth Ashes Test
England fought back brilliantly from their heavy defeat at Lords to win by eight wickets in emphatic fashion. To bowl Australia out for 136 after the losing the toss was a brilliant effort and James Anderson led the way with six wickets. He strained his side in the second innings though and will miss this match. There is no getting away from the fact that this is a significant blow to England.
Steven Finn came back into the England side at Edgbaston and bowled excellently. He removed Aussie captain Michael Clarke in both innings and took eight wickets in the match. Mark Wood, who was replaced at Edgbaston by Finn due to a sore ankle, looks the most likely to come in for Anderson. This means a lot of pressure will be on Stuart Broad to lead the attack for England being the senior statesman. He has bowled superbly well so far in this series and perhaps doesn't have the figures he deserves to back this up. This is his home test match and I fully expect him to be among the wickets here and at 7/2 to be top bowler in conditions he knows so well I think he is good value.
Australia only need to draw the series to retain the Ashes, however unless there is prolonged rainfall in one of the last two test matches it is hard to see either ending in a draw, which means they will need to win both.
They may well make a couple of changes in this match. Mitchell Starc has been wayward and not offered the control that his captain requires so there is a chance he could make way for the experienced and dependable Peter Siddle. Adam Voges has scored very few runs so far in this series and is also suffering from a niggling injurt. This means that Shaun Marsh could make a comeback in the middle order.
The form of captain Michael Clarke is a huge worry for Australia and they really need him to come into form in this match as their middle order looks rather shaky at the moment and if either the openers or Steve Smith don't score runs then they fold quickly.
The weather forecast is good for the five days although it will be overcast tomorrow morning meaning whichever team wins the toss, assuming they do the obvious and bat first, could have a tricky first hour to get through.
This series has been so hard to predict and this match isn't any different. The momentum is with England and if they can begin the game well I think they are slight favourites to win the match. Conversely the bookies have Australia as strong favourites, therefore at best priced 12/5 England are the play here.
Today's Selections
Top bowler in the match - Stuart Broad - 1 point @ 7/2
England to win the test match - 2 points @ 12/5