England and Australia’s players are struggling not to look ahead to next year’s Ashes and they are not the only ones preoccupied by the most eagerly anticipated series in world cricket. Betfair punters are already getting involved in the Ashes 2009 markets, and with good reason.

Despite the huge amount of cricket both teams have still to play before the curtain-raiser at Cardiff on July 8th – both teams are scheduled to play three major series, as well as the World Twenty20 – we have a good idea of what the starting line-ups will be.

Neither side will want to have any new faces lining up at Sophia Gardens, so punters can look at the current squads and make selections based on how the protagonists will fare in the run-up to the main event.

Can Andrew Flintoff continue his improvement and rediscover his 2005 form? Will Kevin Pietersen’s captaincy be up to the challenge? Will England have their wicketkeeper position settled? Is Cameron White the man to fill Australia’s spinning berth? Is Matthew Hayden carrying on too long?

Each team have a player out of the team who they would want in it in ideal circumstances, but it is doubtful whether Michael Vaughan and Andrew Symonds will be able to break into the eleven. Their replacements need ample time to prepare themselves for the furnace of Ashes battle.

Despite their recent spate of retirements, Australia have the stronger unit and are unsurprising favourites in the series winner market, currently trading at 1.75, with England on offer at 3.25 and 7 the draw.

The Aussies’ only weak spots are in their middle order, where Shane Watson is yet to prove himself as allrounder and Brad Haddin provides a boost for the opposition just through not being Adam Gilchrist.

White will be selected more for his batting if he retains the spinner’s spot, but the Monty Panesar factor is overplayed – if England are to triumph, it will again be through the success of their seam attack.

Three of James Anderson, Ryan Sidebottom, Steve Harmison and Stuart Broad will line up alongside Flintoff and each have shown glimpses of the form necessary to unsettle the consistent Aussie top order.

However, England’s batting unit is far from consistent and too much appears to depend on the form of Pietersen. The new skipper and Flintoff are the home side’s only true match-winners, but it is as a solid team that Australia have the edge.

A lot can change between now and the start of the Ashes, but I suspect it won’t. Australia will have their customary crushing wins over South Africa under their belt and will arrive as a settled and confident team; England will still be waiting for certain team members to perform when the chips are down and relying for fireworks from their big guns.

Written by Philip Oliver, a professional sports writer who blogs about cricket betting at the online sports betting blog from Betfair.