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CricBattle Daily Fantasy Cricket League Tips

Australia vs England on November 23

It’s party time at the land of Kangaroos as arch-rivals England and Australia lock horns for one of the greatest cricketing spectacle, The Ashes. The 70th edition overall and the 35th hosted by Australia will see a lot of drama unfold. There’s never any dearth or drama when it comes to the Ashes and the same can be said about this edition. The English had to deal with a lot of off-field issues before entering the land of Kangaroos. With their talismanic all-rounder, Ben Stokes missing out, there seems to be an irreplaceable void created in their team.

·         Best economical pick – Josh Hazlewood represents a different threat to England’s batsmen with his metronomic line and length. The sixth-ranked bowler in Tests represents a handy foil to the explosiveness of new-ball partner Starc. In 31 Tests, the right fast-medium pacer has captured 118 wickets at 25.75, including 16 in four Ashes Tests at 25.75.

·         Top captains & vice captains – Steve Smith the world’s number one ranked Test batsman took over the Test captaincy from Michael Clarke at the end of the last Ashes series in 2015, and will be leading Australia for the first time in Tests against England. Has scored 20 100s in 56 Tests at 59.66, with a highest score of 215 in the last Ashes series at Lord’s. He has scored five centuries in 18 Ashes Tests at 54.74. Joe Root is the most talented batsman in the England squad as well as having the responsibility of being skipper, with this his first overseas series as captain. Since taking over as captain earlier this year, he has averaged more than 60 in Tests.

·       Smart pick – Mitchell Starc, who is Australia’s pace spearhead with an incredible strike-rate. In 36 Tests Starc has captured 148 wickets at 28.35, with 29 of those coming in eight Ashes Tests. This will be his first home Ashes series and he has taken half his Test wickets in Australia. Starc heads into the series with back-to-back hat-tricks for New South Wales in one Sheffield Shield match this season.

·         Cautious Pick – The entire fraternity was surprised with Tim Paine entering the Aussie squad, which was not well received by some senior cricketers. In the selectors and the captain’s defense, he’s the only choice right now and part-time keepers like Handscomb or Bancroft cannot be trusted with such huge games with due respect. He last scored a first class century in 2006.

My XI – Steve Smith (Captain), Joe Root (Vice-Captain),Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood, Jonny Bairstow, Cameron Bancroft, Stuart Broad, Jake Ball, Patrick Cummins, Peter Handscomb, Dawid Malan