The Cricket World team make their Ashes 2015 predictions

The 2015 Ashes contest gets underway on 8th July with England facing Australia in Cardiff, so it's time for the Cricket World team to make their predictions and give you their thoughts ahead of the contest.

We will all be hoping to do better than we did during the Indian Premier League, where none of us guessed Mumbai Indians would prevail.

However, six of our team did get the World Cup right and you can let us know who you think will win by leaving us a comment below.

Alastair Symondson - England to win 2-1

England to regain the Ashes 2-1. With the withdrawal of Ryan Harris from the Australia squad it has tipped the odds in favour of England to regain the Ashes.

Draw at Cardiff, England win at Lord's, England win at Edgbaston, Draw at Trent Bridge, Australia win at the Oval

England - Leading run-scorer Joe Root, wicket-taker Adil Rashid

Australia - Leading run-scorer Michael Clarke, wicket-taker Mitchell Starc

John Pennington - Australia to win 2-1

It is hard to look beyond an Australia win although we can forget any talk of a whitewash over here in home conditions where England will be much stronger.

Australia have a settled line-up, plenty of strength in depth and for me have a better all-round bowling attack and that ought to be the difference.

However, England have players - such as Joe Root, Stuart Broad and Jos Buttler - who can turn a match on its head which is why I think they will win a Test somewhere and make things very interesting.

Bonus prediction: The ICC Code of Conduct will be broken by one or both parties at some point during the series.

Tom Bentley - Drawn series 2-2

If I was asked two months ago to predict the upcoming Ashes series it would have not made good reading for England fans, but after refreshing performances against recent tourists New Zealand, there is new found hope for Alastair Cook’s team.

That said, Australia are still favourites; with an in-form batting line-up and arguably the most dangerous fast bowling attack in world cricket, Michael Clarke will have his men fired up from the very first ball in what is sure to be a fiercely contested series.

For me the two men to look out for are undoubtedly England’s Joe Root and Australia’s Steve Smith. As for the prediction…it’ll be a lot closer than some are thinking, so I’m going for a 2-2 draw.

Andrew Wood - Drawn series 2-2

If recent performances and the pre-Ashes training squad are anything to go by we are looking at a new England, which makes this difficult to predict. I don't think Australia will be as dominant as some think and am actually going to go for a draw, with it finishing 2-2.

Mark Footitt will be one to watch for me, if played, as he adds something different and could be what England need to pull off a win I think. If we don't see him, it could be in Australia's favour and they could end up taking it.

Krish Sripada - Australia all the way

Australia are clear favorites for me to win the Ashes. It makes our job really easy when the two teams have played against the same opponent and in the same conditions. England eked out a draw whereas Australia were miles ahead of West Indies.

Home advantage doesn't work against Australia who have a potent pace attack. England may be able to stretch them at times but I don't see Australia losing the urn!

Manuj Sharma - Australia to win 3-1

Australia, who are looking to win their first Ashes series in England since 2001, are in the best shape to retain the famed urn. With bowlers like Mitchell Starc, Mitchell Johnson and Josh Hazlewood, they have a terrific mixture of pace and deadly accuracy which will surely rattle the England batting line up.

With the talented Steve Smith, captain Michael Clarke and the attacking David Warner in their ranks, Australia have a really formidable batting lineup with players in good form. England have recently shown excellent promise in the ODI series against New Zealand and only if they play with such a mindset can they cause some trouble to the visitors.

Sandeep Shivam - Australia to win convincingly

Even though England can provide brilliance, they lack consistency as seen against West Indies and New Zealand where they lost an opportunity to win the series despite taking initial lead.

Against a team like Australia, you cannot show any weakness. Unless England surprise like they did in the shorter format, Australia will win convincingly.

Rob Johnston - Australia to win 2-1

England, playing in home conditions, are always a more dangerous side than when they play away so I predict this series will be close; I think the Australians feel that too.

Although England will be in buoyant mood after a good start to the summer against New Zealand, Australia will start as favourites, but I don't see them running away with it.  

The series will be decided by how England's batsmen fare against the excellent Australian seam attack. Alastair Cook and Joe Root are key men here - if they have a good series, I think England will do well.

A close series then, but I think Australia have the edge - just - and will win 2-1.

Laura Williamson - England to win 2-1

My heart says that England will win 2-1, though if my recent form in prediction is anything to go by it probably means that Australia will win the series 5-0!

However I'm going to remain optimistic and hope that England can pull out some exceptional cricket, build on the positivity that has been generated during the ODI series and reclaim the Ashes.

For me if that's going to happen then the form of Cook is crucial, the team needing strong leadership to ultimately boost the all round performance. Hopefully England will heed Jason Gillespie's advice and run the Australians ragged in the field.

The biggest battle of the Ashes is most certainly going to be between Joe Root and Steve Smith, both of whom are going into the series in incredible form.

For me the ones to watch this summer are the young guys, particularly when it comes to bowling. Mitchell Starc, Ben Stokes and Mark Wood are all going to be interesting additions to a fiery series and it will be interesting to see how they perform. If there is to be a good battle between bat and ball then hopefully these three will all be firing.

Rohit Ranjan - Australia to win 3-0

Australia can outplay England in all departments of the game and there seem only a few players like Joe Root and James Anderson in the English line-up who can help them avoid a whitewash.

Australia look too far ahead of England for me if we compare strength to strength. Johnson and Starc can make things tough for Cook & co. The batting form of Ballance and Bell is also alarming for the English team.

Anderson is looking the only bowler in their squad to rely on and England lack a quality spinner. It will be interesting to see how they manage to take 20 wickets.

For me England will have to play out of their skins to beat an in-form and confident Australia.

Prithvijit Roy - England to win 3-2

As a rule, I like to support the underdogs which in this case clearly is England. My prediction is for an English victory is a 3-2 margin, purely based on the fact that with people like Ben Stokes, Joe Root, Jos Buttler and Jonn Bairstow, going for a draw is clearly not an option.

With Cook leading the batting, his ability to blunt out the two Mitchells - Starc and Johnson - will make the difference between an English victory and defeat.

The venom in the English bowling headed by Broad and Anderson will be directly proportional to the scores put up by the English batsmen. Given their home conditions I would put my money on the English batsmen, even if the prediction looks foolhardy!

Mayukh Bhattacharya - Drawn series - 2-2

With Trevor Bayliss coming into the England set up and the KP saga almost as good as buried, England will be looking to make a good fist out of the series when they take Australia on for the Ashes.

Even though conditions will favour the home team, they will still have to deal with the two Mitchells in Johnson and Starc and the amazingly accurate Josh Hazelwood.

In my opinion, the series will be a much closer encounter than what it was last year but Australia still hold the psychological edge. With Mitchell Marsh scoring a century in one of the practice matches, Shane Watson’s Test career appears to be on the line.

Expect Mark Wood to rattle a few Aussies and he could be the bowler to watch out for in this series.

Jamie Foyster - Australia to win 2-1 or 3-1

As a groundcare professional, not surprisingly I’m looking at The Ashes from a weather conditions and pitch point of view.

Current conditions are more like Aussie ones and if the ball doesn’t swing for Anderson and Broad then I fear Warner and co .will bat us out of games as their batting line up is seriously strong especially with the likes of Mitchell Marsh already scoring two tons on tour.

I'll go Australia to win 2-1 with a draw and a rained off draw being the other two games. If Cooky fails to find form against the short ball against Johnson and Starc then I go 3-1 to the Aussies.

Márcio Leiria - Australia to win 3-2

Here's what I think: England wins the first Test and looses to Australia in the final one for a 3-2 thriller. That's my careful and detailed analysis...!

Now let us know your view...

© Cricket World 2015