In addition to the excitement and drama, the Ashes provides a great opportunity to bet on one of sport’s great events and a chance to win some money. Choosing a great Ashes betting site to wager at is therefore of great importance, so we’ll help you with that, plus everything else you need to know about betting on the Ashes.
What Is the Ashes? A Historic Cricket Rivalry Explained
There are two different World Cups up for grabs in cricket, but if you’re a fan of either England or Australia, then the competition that matters most to you will surely be The Ashes.
It was first staged in 1882-3 when England set out to Australia to ‘regain those Ashes’.
That was after an English newspaper had proclaimed that English cricket was dead and that the ashes symbolised the passing away of cricket in England.
It’s a biennial Test Series, always contested between those two countries. There have been 73 Ashes Series so far. Australia has won 34 of them, England has won 32, and there have been seven drawn Series.
Though The Ashes has been played over more than five Test matches in the past, for a while now, it’s been just that: five games to decide who wins each Series.
2025 Ashes Series Overview
If you’re planning on betting on the Ashes, knowing when and where those five matches take place is a good starting point.
For this 2025-26 edition, we’re over in Australia, and as always, the five matches will take place at five different venues. Here they are:
1st Test
- 21 Nov, Fri - Nov 25, Tue
- Perth Stadium, Perth
- Match starts on 21 November, 12:00 GMT
2nd Test
- 04 Dec, Thu - 08 Dec, Mon
- The Gabba, Brisbane
- Match starts on 04 Dec, 04:00 GMT
3rd Test
- 17 Dec, Wed - 21 Dec, Sun
- Adelaide Oval, Adelaide
- Match starts on 17 Dec, 00:00 GMT
4th Test
- 26 Dec, Fri - 30 Dec, Tue
- Melbourne Cricket Ground, Melbourne
- Match starts on 26 Dec, 00:00 GMT
5th Test
- 04 Jan, Sun - 08 Jan, Thu
- Sydney Cricket Ground, Sydney
- Match starts on 04 Jan, 00:00 GMT
How to Bet on the Ashes
Keen to get betting on The Ashes when it comes around? Of course you are. But if you’re new to Ashes 2025 betting, here’s what you need to do.
- Choose an Ashes betting site, or more than one, from our list of recommended cricket betting sites. Below, you’ll see what’s most important when choosing a sportsbook for Ashes online betting.
- Open an account, pass your KYC Test and make a deposit. If you want to claim their welcome offer, make sure you read the terms and conditions carefully, including any terms relating to the payment methods used to deposit, which will allow you to claim the sign-up offer.
- Navigate to the list of sports, select ‘cricket’, then choose ‘The Ashes’ from the list of cricket events.
- If you want to bet on who will win the Ashes, the top batsman for the Series, or the Series correct score, all these will be under ‘Outrights’. If you want to bet on a particular match, choose the game and then the market in question
- Once you’re happy with your selection and its odds, select your stake and process the bet.
Available Markets for the Ashes Series Betting
These days, the best sports betting sites will offer dozens of different markets for you to bet on Ashes. But here’s a quick guide to the most popular ones of all.
Series Winner
An Ashes Series consists of five games. Because the games can be drawn, the Series can also be drawn 0-0, 1-1, or 2-2. That's somewhat rare, but the draw is one of the three runners in this market, the others, of course, being Australia or England.
Top Run Scorer
These are markets that are available both for the Series as a whole and on a match-by-match basis.
The top run scorer for the Series means which player will score the most runs across those five matches for their team.
The top run scorer in an individual match means which player will score the most runs in a particular innings (there are two innings for each team) in the match in question.
You can also bet on who will be the top run scorer in the Series across both teams.
Wicket-Taker
This works exactly the same way as the top runscorer market in terms of being applicable to both the Series as a whole and to an individual innings.
But of course, this is about how many wickets the bowlers take, rather than how many runs the batsmen score.
In cases where there are two or more players taking the same number of wickets in an innings, different Ashes betting sites will settle the market differently.
Some will dead-heat the joint winners, others will look at how many runs the bowlers (who took the same number of wickets) each conceded, and the winner is the one who conceded the fewest.
Player Performance Bets
This is one of the newer additions to cricket Ashes betting in terms of being a market that wasn’t so widely available in the past.
Players are awarded points for each run scored, wicket taken, catch taken, and run out completed. Wicket-keepers can also get points for stumpings.
So let’s say Bookie A decides that England’s Ben Stokes is likely to get roughly 70.5 points across the whole game. They’ll create a market that looks like this:
- Ben Stokes Under 71.5 points - 1.88
- Ben Stokes Over 71.5 points - 1.88
Then it’s up to you to decide if you think Stokes will go over or under 71.5 points.
Player performance markets are also extremely popular in the world of spread betting, but are far riskier to play because of the potential losses than at regular Ashes betting sites with fixed odds, where you always know beforehand the maximum amount you can lose.
How to Choose the Best Ashes Betting Site: Key Features to Look For
Now, to the section where we explain how to choose which sportsbooks are best for cricket Ashes betting. This is your checklist.
- Licensing, security, certificates: Only ever bet at sites holding a valid licence from a regulator, such as that of the UK, Malta, or Gibraltar. Additionally, check that they have the necessary certificates that ensure their software protects your money and data from cyberattacks and other threats.
- Good selection of Ashes markets, generous odds: The first part means they offer lots of different markets around the Ashes, so you have plenty of choice. We’ve mentioned some of them already, but others are: the Ashes correct score market, Player of the Series, Player of the Match, innings runs, and number of run-outs. As for the odds, they need to be at least in line with the industry average, but hopefully better.
- Bonuses and promotions: Some examples of betting bonuses are free bets, Odds Boosts, money-back offers, and reload bonuses. The more varied and the more value they provide you with, the better, with extra brownie points for running promos specific to betting on the Ashes.
- Payment methods, fees and fast withdrawals: The Ashes betting site should accept at least debit cards (Visa and Mastercard), bank transfers, e-wallets, such as PayPal, Skrill, and Neteller, and other digital payment solutions. Transaction fees should be kept to a minimum, and withdrawals processed fast, which is often not the case.
Final Tips Before You Wager
Before the Ashes get underway, here’s a checklist of our final tips to point you in the right direction before you wager:
- Think carefully about which sportsbook(s) you want to be doing your Ashes 2025 betting at. Our sportsbook reviews will give you a good indication of the strengths and weaknesses of each one. So choose carefully, because it's not practical to have accounts at 5-6 different Ashes betting sites.
- Bide your time. It’s a long old Series lasting just over six weeks, so there’s no need to put all your money down on the First Test. In fact, it’s preferable to have a good look at what’s gone on already before risking your hard-earned money.
- Take advantage of betting offers. If there’s a free bet going, take advantage of it. If an Odds Boost is available on something you were already going to bet on, think of claiming the offer because you’re getting extra value. If betting on X means you get your money back as a free bet if it loses, then go for it. Anything that results in any of the above and involves risking less of your own money is a big positive.
