online sports betting news

England started their winter tour of South Africa, home of the football World Cup 2010, with a warm up match against the Diamond Eagles. All in all it was a bit of one sided match, as England ran up a score of 294-7 in the One Day fixture. The competition for places in the One Day should hot up next week, when superstar batsman Kevin Pietersen flies to South Africa to join up with the England squad, and so that should keep some of the batsmen on their toes. Ashes Game Five hero batsman Jonathan Trott made a great statement as to his form, as he cracked a very good 85 off a 104 balls, including seven boundaries. Skipper Andrew Strauss also contributed heavily with the bat, putting 72 runs on the board. Joe Denly and Paul Collingwood were the only batsmen not to make it into double figures.

In reply to the tourist’s good score, the Eagles only lasted for just over half of their allotted 50 overs in the game at Bloemfontein. The home side only rallied to a paltry 109, with England’s bowlers all sharing the spoils. Jimmy Anderson, Paul Collingwood, Sajid Mahmood and Graeme Swann all took two wickets each, as did Stuart Broad at a price. The seamer picked up an injury to his shoulder in the match, in which he only bowled four overs, but the injury was apparently picked up while fielding and not bowling. With Freddie Flintoff retiring from Test Matches, and still in rehabilitation which keeps him out of the One Day Internaional format, the importance of having Broad in the team is unquestionable.

It is a long winter tour for the England cricket team, which includes four Test Matches against the Proteas, five One Day Internationals and a couple of Twenty20 internationals. The youngster Stuart Broad is an important part of the success of the tour. He is the fire in the belly of the team, and he will not take part in England’s next warm up match, which is against the Warriors on Sunday. With a few more warm up games to get under their belt ahead of the main events, the England management will want to keep Broad in shape for the England v South Africa matches, in which he should be playing all forms of the game.

It is fair to say that England and One Day games generally do not go together well, especially after suffering horrendously in the summer against Australia. They did redeem themselves a little with some performances in the Champions Trophy, but there is clearly still work to be done. While this was simply a warm up game, it should at least build a little confidence. With Strauss, Trott and Eoin Morgan all contributing well, it should at least build a bit of confidence to take into the tour. It is the place of Eoin Morgan which is probably most vulnerable when it comes to the re-selection of Kevin Pietersen. England’s next fixture is on Sunday, and it will likely be the same familiar team which takes the field. England are also waiting on the fitness of Graham Onions.

While you will be hard pushed to find odds on the warm up games, pay close attention to them for individual form, as it will help to gauge some sort of value in price when it comes to the One Day International Series against South Africa. The best prices for which can be found below. As well as the England fixutres, take note that the South Africans are playing warm up fixtures too, most of them on the same day as the England ones.

England v South Africa ODI Series
South Africa to win: 2/5 at Totesport
Draw: 23/2 at Betfair
England to win: 9/4 at Victor Chandler