Ashes Stockmarket: Whose value is on the rise and who is heading for a fall while chasing a little urn

Ashes series are a time when reputations are made, for better or worse. 

For the 22-30 players who will line up for the upcoming series, it is a chance to build on their legacy or perhaps tarnish it.

With just a couple more sleeps heading into Friday’s first Test at Perth’s Optus Stadium, the time for talk is finally nearly over after a lengthy build-up of Shield matches for the Aussies and a limited prep for the England touring party.

Just like in Trading Places, the cricketing stockmarket is a fickle beast and you’ve got to know when shares are rising or you could be left on the floor in ruins like the Duke brothers, wondering what went wrong.

Here are your Ashes stockmarket predictions heading into a season of furious trading between leather and willow, but no frozen concentrated orange juice.

Buy 

Jofra Archer: He could end this series with a trail of destruction in his wake. Four years in the making, England have been building him up to be primed for this mission. With pitches that suit his express ace and an unsettled Aussie top-order, conditions are perfect for the 30-year-old from Barbados to be a difference maker.

Cameron Green: Reverting to No.6, as expected, in the batting line-up should be a godsend for the talented all-rounder. Five years after making his Test debut, he’s been through growing pains of the figurative and literal kind and if the top-order batters provide a decent platform, he could have an Ashes campaign of epic proportions along the lines of Steve Waugh’s 1989 breakthrough.

And when it comes to his bowling, Green said he is ready to bend his back for as long as needed in more bad news for England: “No restrictions”.

Brendan Doggett: He won’t just play one Test. Doggett is set to be elevated into the first XI for Friday’s series opener in Perth and with red-hot form behind him at Shield level, he could be in for a Scott Boland-style meteoric rise.

Sunscreen and aloe vera: Thousands of Barmy Army members are Down Under, bringing plenty of pale skin that is not used to the harsh Australian sun. Purchase shares in any companies selling these products now. There’s never been a better time to buy.

England’s Joe Root celebrates a century. (Photo by Mike Egerton/PA Images via Getty Images)

Hold 

Travis Head: He’s undeniably a match-winner but he is yet to truly dominate the Test arena like he’s done so in the short formats. Like Steve Smith, Michael Clarke, Ricky Ponting and a procession of batting stars before them, Australia need him to go on a tear for the next few years in the prime of his career as Smith inches towards retirement.

Joe Root: Has been firing of late but his stats in Australia are not of an all-time great but just another batter. He has averaged 58 in the Bazball era, up from 49.19 in his preceding 117 Tests. His strike rate has also risen from 54.65 to 66.89. Root’s clearly loving the role of focusing on his batting, freed of the captaincy burden, but until he succeeds on Australian soil after three tours of underwhelming results, it will remain an asterisk on his illustrious career. 

Michael Vaughan’s commentary: He’s become a hot takes merchant on social media but when he’s behind the microphone on TV and radio, the former England captain can be insightful. 

Test cricket: The future is strong (enough), at least for now anyway. In Australia, the average cricket fan is immune to the struggles of many of the other Test-playing nations in trying to keep the five-day matches on their schedule in light of financial and calendar constraints. This series will be intense even if the final scoreline may not be close. Test cricket among the Big Three nations and a few others won’t be going away anytime soon but the future is still uncertain long term when weighed up against the T20 goldmine.

Usman Khawaja. (Photo by Bradley Kanaris/Getty Images)

Sell

Ollie Pope: Is being thrown to the fire at first drop despite a mediocre recent record and an even worse one in Australia.

Usman Khawaja: His stocks have never been lower after a lean run with the bat heading into his final Test series. Hopefully he is still around for the ringing of the bell to signal the end of the five-match exchange of hostilities.

Ben Stokes: The England captain is, in the words of Anthony Mundine, “running on old legs”. Frequent injuries over the past few years have hampered the 34-year-old with knee, hamstring and shoulder problems taking their toll. He is often compared to Andrew Flintoff for their game-breaking ability from their all-round impact. Stokes is already three years older than Flintoff was when injuries brought his career to a premature end. 

Tickets to day 5: Most of these matches will be over by day four judging by the venom in the Australian wickets this summer with the Bazballers’ penchant for accelerating proceedings, often at their own peril. 

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