Cricket Betting – England Looking At Big Picture

The decision to leave Andrew Strauss out of England‘s touring party to Bangladesh was surely one of cricket’s worst-kept secrets. Strauss is being rested following his team’s creditable draw in South Africa with selectors no doubt having one eye on next winter’s Ashes as well as the summer series against Pakistan. Alastair Cook, Strauss‘ regular partner at the top of the order and his current vice-captain, will take charge of the team for the Test series against Bangladesh as well as three one-day games, though Paul Collingwood will continue his role as T20 skipper for warm-up games against Pakistan in the United Arab Emirates. Jimmy Anderson will also be rested in an attempt to sort out a nagging knee problem but otherwise the England Test line-up will have a largely familiar look about it, despite the addition of uncapped pace bowler Ajmal Shahzad of Yorkshire, Kent off-spinner James Tredwell and Hampshire batsman Michael Carberry. There’s also a recall for Durham‘s Liam Plunkett but most of all the selectors will be viewing the Bangladesh tour as an opportunity for some of their under-performing batsmen to get some runs under their belt .Given that, Jonathan Trott (5-1 with Stan James and William Hill) and Kevin Pietersen (11-4 with Coral) will be popular choices to finish as England’s top runs scorer. Given the international rankings, this really is a Test series that England should win at a canter so William Hill‘s 2-7 will almost certainly attract the big hitters, especially as they are as short as 1-7 to win the series in places. Coral‘s 12-1 is the best price you’ll get on the home side causing an upset. Looking ahead, England have been pushed out to 3-1 (Betfred) to win in Australia next winter following their capitulation in Johannesburg at the weekend, with the Aussies into a general 4-7 to regain the Ashes.