Mark Waugh knows who will win the Ashes; Bryan Fletcher unloads on Sam Burgess decision

Mark Waugh says you can “put the house” on Australia winning the Ashes while discussing potential changes for the Second Test.

Former Aussie batsman Mark Waugh says you could “put the house” on Australia to take home the urn after the tourists’ stunning comeback at Edgbaston.

A heroic pair of centuries from Steve Smith in the middle order continued the returning batsman’s freakish run of Ashes scores and all but sealed the deal for the Aussies as England crumbled under the weight of a daunting chase on the final day.

A devastating injury blow for England leaves veteran seamer James Anderson on the sidelines for the upcoming Test. That, paired with the momentum behind Australia going into the second Test, could be all they need to pull off their first victory on English soil since 2001.

Waugh — who played through Australia’s golden era before retiring in 2002 — says the hosts are “in a bit of trouble” heading to Lord’s despite being strong favourites for the series barely a week ago. “I can’t see how Australia can lose this series from here on in,” he said.

That’s a wrap, according to Mark Waugh.

Waugh said it’d be hard for Australia to switch out a single player after their thundering comeback, despite having Mitchell Starc waiting in the wings.

“They’ll be looking to bring Starc in but it’s hard to change a winning formula,” the 124-Test veteran said. “(They’ll swap him) for Pattinson maybe, they might have pencilled him in to rotate the bowlers.

“But we can improve, because our top order batting was ordinary in that game. The two openers never got a double figure score between them. Bancroft, he needs runs in this game, he looks a little bit out of form to me.

“But when you win, you tend to keep the same players and if you’re going to give them one Test, you probably should give them two.”

NRL HYPOCRISY BLASTED: ‘IT’S RIDICULOUS’

A storm of criticism continues to swirl around the NRL and its Sam Burgess kerfuffel, which saw the towering Rabbitohs forward get away with murder after putting Sharks star Matt Moylan in a world of pain last week.

Burgess was pulled up for a grade two charge for a high shot on the Cronulla star and looked to be facing a few weeks on the bench. However, the English import controversially won his appeal and was hit with a miserly $1900 fine for the illegal hit.

The questionable judiciary decision was met with immediate backlash, with a number of former stars screaming injustice. Former NSW star Bryan Fletcher was particularly annoyed at the outcome, comparing it to Penrith star James Maloney’s one-week ban for tripping Bulldogs star Jeremy Marshall-King in the Panthers’ 16-8 loss to Canterbury on Saturday.

“You think about James Maloney who stuck his foot out, hit him in the shin and he didn’t even fall over — and he gets a week. It’s ridiculous,” Fletcher said. “How do you explain that to someone who doesn’t understand rugby league?”

Sam Burgess had his charge downgraded.

“Moylan is going to be out for two weeks — surely common sense prevails,” he continued. “He was unconscious before he hit the ground.”

“It’s not Sam’s fault that he went in and downgraded it,” Fletcher added. “It’s the system.”

Former Dragons hooker Mark Riddell echoed Fletcher’s sentiments on Wednesday, labelling the downgrade a “bloody disgrace”.

“I’m not having a shot at Sammy — his legal team argued the point and got it across and convinced the panel that he could get off and pay a fine,” Riddell said on Macquarie Sports Radio.

“But if that is a grade one careless charge, I’ll give it away.

“Matt Moylan is not playing this week because of concussion from this exact event and Sam Burgess is going to play, I just find it ridiculous.

“I just look at that and think no way in the world that’s a grade one careless tackle, it’s grade two minimum for me.”