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England suffered a crushing defeat in the first of three tests and now Pakistan v England cricket betting odds have taken a huge momentum shift. Can Andrew Strauss lead a fight back and prove their status as the best Test side in the world? England went down limply in a 10 wicked defeat, in which their batsmen failed to deliver. Getting bowled out for under two hundred in both innings, Andrew Strauss could only watch in dismay as his side fell apart in the second innings, apparently not learning anything from the first. England’s batsmen simply never adapted to the conditions and again showed huge weakness in facing quality spin bowling. Off spinner Saeed Ajmal with his 7-55 in the first innings really led the charge for Pakistan in Dubai left England reeling, and now they muster a response. Andrew Strauss insists that England won’t panic after that defeat in the batting ranks. It certainly won’t be a great change of personnel for the second test, but the batsmen who have proved themselves so well over the past couple of years just need to pay more attention and focus on what they are doing. Surprisingly the England bowlers did a pretty good job of putting the squeeze on Pakistan when they were under pressure, so the entire focus is on the batting, especially after putting in a sixth batsmen as they played two spinners. Can England pull out back to back wins over Pakistan? Well, naturally there is a pretty great price on them, 7/1 with SportingBet in fact to pull out a series win. Pakistan are in the driving seat at 8/15 with SportingBet to take the series, while a draw secures odds of 3/1 at Bet Victor.

Online bookmaker Bet Victor have a good Top Batsman Special running for Pakistan v England cricket betting. If you place a pre match Top Batsman Bet for the second test, if your selection fails to top score, but his captain does knock off the highest total, then Bet Victor will refund your lost stake a free bet, with coverage on the Money Back Special up to £50. Online bookmaker Bet Victor, which has just under gone it’s re-branding launch, offers a free £25 bet for new customers registering an account. The bookie will match the value of your first stake on a new account, up to the maximum value of £25 with a free bet.

England take on Pakistan in a Test Match series and you can enhance your cricket betting options with a couple of good promotions which are around at the moment. England have received a boost with the news that some of their injury concerns have been lifted, with Stuart Broad and Ian Bell both getting the green light for action. England may well go with a couple of spinners to try and take the bold approach to making things happen on the slow and lifeless tracks which are forecast, and that puts Monty Panesar, who has been impressive in the warm up to the Test Series, fully in contention to get back in the Test side for the first time since 2009. Pakistan’s conduct in the Test Series is as much on the line as their cricketing reputations. Pakistan have been at the centre of the cricket spot-fixing scandal of course, against England back in 2010. It resulted in Salman Butt, Mohammad Amir and Mohammad Asif all being thrown in prison, and now the Pakistan cricket authorities are talking of zero tolerance policy and a positive change coming from them. This Test series, which is being played out in the United Arab Emirates is a change for them to be positive about their image for the future. Hopefully the past actions of the few won’t throw too much of a negative on this Test Series, and after coming in on the back of trips to Bangladesh and Zimbabwe, Pakistan were praised for their conduct. But naturally there is going to be more spice against England, one of the best Test sides in the world. England sound pretty focus, with captain Andrew Strauss saying that there is not going to be any distractions, and that they are going to be competitively aggressive. Good to hear and here is hoping that a good contest is to follow. If you are looking for some Pakistan v England cricket betting options, then here are some good promotions offering some insurance on your betting.

Online bookmaker BetFred are running a Batsmen Bonus for cricket betting. If Imran Far hut (from Pakistan) or Ian Bell (England) finish as top scorer for their respective sides, then popular online bookmaker BetFred will generously refund any losing bets placed on their side’s top batsmen markets. So a nice bit of coverage from BetFred on the market, and what are we looking at in there as way of prices? Top England batsmen has Andrew Strauss and Kevin Pietersen at 9/2 for example, while on the Pakistan side Younis Khan can be taken at 3/1. Online bookmaker BetFred offer a free £50 bet for new customers registering an account with them. The bookie will match the first bet on a new account (of £5 or greater) with a free bet up to the maximum value of £50. So a great way to get started with some free betting cash on your new BetFred Account.

Ladbrokes are also running a batsman promotion for their Pakistan v England cricket betting coverage. The popular bookie are going with Andrew Strauss as their target man in this promotion, and if the England captain is the top scorer for his country during their first innings, then Ladbrokes will refund any losing First Test match bets. So pretty good coverage riding on this Ladbrokes cricket betting promotion where England are 7/4 to take the First Test, while Pakistan are at 3/1 and the favourite market option is the draw at 6/5. Ladbrokes offer new customers registering an account the chance to get up to £50 in free bets on their new account. The bookie will match the value of your first bet on a new account with a free bet up to the maximum value of £50. So with their cricket betting promotion for England taking on Pakistan, Ladbrokes are offering great coverage.

Online bookmaker Victor Chandler are going with a batsman betting special for the Test Series of Pakistan v England as well. The route VC Bet are going down, is if the Captain of either side if their top scorer for their respective side, then the bookie will generously refund any pre match Top Batsmen bets placed on the game. So there is good coverage here also for your cricket betting with the highly rated Victor Chandler who are recommended for their money back specials throughout their sports book. In England Top Batsmen odds, there is Alastair Cook at 3/1, and Jonathan Trott at 4/1. For Pakistan Top Batsmen, Misbah-ul-Hay and Imran Farhat are both trading at 9/2. Victor Chandler offer a free £25 bet for new customers who register a new account for their services. A free bet up to the maximum value of £25 will be paid out in a matched first bet welcome bonus, where the bookie will match the value of your first stake on a new VC Bet account.

This year’s Masters Snooker gets off to an explosive start this coming weekend at its new home, the Alexandra Palace, when defending champion, China’s Ding Junhui, takes on former title-holder Ronnie O’ Sullivan in the opening round. ‘The Rocket’ beat Ding in the 2007 final but is increasingly looking a light of former days. O’Sullivan had a poor 2011 and hasn’t won a ranking tournament since the start of the 2009/10 season. The demons he faces on a daily basis away from the table will always make him a risky proposition in ante-post lists, but those willing to take a chance on the hugely talented Essex native at ‘Ally Pally’ can get 6/1 at Boylesports and Ladbrokes. Ding Junhui is 133/10 on betfair for a second win in this prestigious invitational tournament and can’t be ruled out. Asia’s most successful-ever player knocked out Mark Williams and Graeme Dott among others en route to his defeat of Marco Fu in the final at Wembley12 months ago but has frozen on the big stages since and is worth taking on in The Masters with Mark Selby.

It was a case of so near but yet so far last season for the 28-year-old from Leicester after he was beaten in the final of both the German Masters and the China Open. But he’s already gone some way towards making amends by winning this year’s Shanghai Masters and The Masters is his favourite tournament and one in which he’s already been successful twice. The bottom half of the draw appears the weaker and gives Selby a great chance of making it to the final again, with veteran John Higgins (a general 7/1) apparently the biggest obstacle lying in his path. But Selby has a decent record against the former world champion and ended 2012 in decent form whereas the Scot had some indifferent results towards the end of last year. Betfred and totesport offer 7/1 against current world number one Mark Selby winning at Alexandra Palace and that will do for me.

As I’ve said, the top half of the draw looks much tougher than the bottom half but the redoubtable Mark Williams will probably make a bold bid to emerge unscathed and can be backed at 12/1 with Ladbrokes and sportingbet. The Welshman still maintains he was robbed in the final of the Shangai Masters and will be out for revenge on Selby but a tricky quarter-final against world champion Neil Robertson (a general 10/1) awaits if the seedings pan out and he could than face Ding Junhui in the semis.

It’s silly season in betting offices up and down the country again but a quick look around some of the off-the-wall markets reveals that some of the wagers offered to punters may not be as far-fetched as they first appear.

For example, scientists at the Siberian Mammoth Museum in Russia and the Kinki University in Japan are already undertaking Jurassic Park-style experiments in an effort to bring the fabled woolly mammoth out of extinction. The scientists claim that a bone found in August contains remarkably well-preserved marrow cells which could form the starting point of a shaggy resurrection. The teams working on the project claim that cloning could be complete within the next five years so Paddy Power may attract a bit of interest in their market to predict which year will see the birth of the first woolly mammoth since prehistoric times. It’s 2/1 for a baby mammoth in 2015 or 2016 and 5/2 against 2017 or 2018, though there are plenty of sceptics.

The plan is to transplant mammoth DNA into the egg of a female African elephant but does that not make the offspring a hybrid? There’s also the problem of keeping the poor thing alive. Dolly The Sheep didn’t exactly enjoy a long and happy life and attempts to resurrect the recently extinct Pyrenean ibex in 2009 ended in failure. Building a mammoth from scratch would, I believe, be on a whole new scale and the result would probably never last as long as big-screen Tarzan‘s chimpanzee Cheetah who, sad to report, passed away in Florida on Christmas Eve at the remarkable age of 80. Why has this film icon not been granted a state funeral on a par with that of Kim Jung Il?

Still on a scientific theme, Ladbrokes offer Evens that those clever chaps and their Large Hadron Collider will prove neutrinos travel faster than the speed of light by the end of 2012. No, I don’t understand any of it either but that nice Professor Brian Cox seems to know what he’s talking about! On a more bizarre note, Paddy Power have Sweden to be the first verified contact with an alien civilisation. Hollywood has always presumed that the USA would be the first port of call for UFOs – do extra-terrestrials actually prefer Abba to the Cardassians?

A big weight isn’t necessarily a barrier to success in the Coral Welsh National. Many will remember the brilliant-but-flawed Carvill’s Hill blundering and bunny-hopping his way around Chepstow under a welter burden in 1991. Indeed Synchronised, under an inspired A P McCoy, defied 11st6lb 12 months ago and the six-year-old Halcon Genelardais carried 11st3lb to victory in 2006. But, generally speaking, it’s those with less than 11st to shoulder who have held the upper hand in this traditional stamina test in recent times and ante-post punters this year have latched on to Victor Dartnall‘s Giles Cross.

Available at a general 6/1, the nine-year-old undoubtedly has impeccable credentials. A dual course winner, he was just beaten by Synchronised in the race 12 months ago and comes here at the top of his game having ended a frustrating sequence of placed efforts with victory in the Southern National at Fontwell on his reappearance. Viking Blond is only 8/1 with most layers but doesn’t appear that well handicapped on his form over fences so far and more interesting is Le Beau Bai (10/1 with Betfred). Third in the Welsh National two years ago, he came back to form at the track earlier this month. Though he seems to have been around forever, Richard Lee‘s gelding is still only an eight-year-old though was pulled up behind Giles Cross at Fontwell.

Another interesting contender is Galaxy Rock, who represents last year’s successful trainer. Ahead of Ballyfitz (25/1 with Betfred and Coral), subsequent Newbury Hennessy victor Carruthers (10/1 with Boylesports, Victor Chandler and Coral) and recent Newcastle winner Hey Big Spender (18/1 with Victor Chandler) at Cheltenham on his latest start, Jonjo O’Neill‘s stayer still appears to be improving and should give supporters a run for their money at the general 10/1.

The penalised Cannington Brook (16/1 with Boylesports) isn’t certain to confirm Haydock running with runner-up Our Island, however, and Tim Vaughan‘s lightly-weighted novice could be a decent each-way bet here at Boylesports and Paddy Power‘s 25/1 but I’ll put up David Pipe‘s Master Overseer as the value bet. Very lightly-raced, he didn’t do himself justice behind Le Beau Bai at the track earlier this month but this slog through the mud will be right up his street and he normally jumps better than he did last time. At William Hill‘s 20/1, Master Overseer is probably a few points too big and makes more appeal than As De Fer (12/1 with bet365, Ladbrokes and Boylesports) in this grade.

• Master Overseer (Each-Way) in the Welsh National at 20/1 with William Hill
• Our Island (Each-Way) in the Welsh National at 25/1 with Boylesports and Paddy Power

There are eight runners due to face the starter in the William Hill King George VI Chase at Kempton on Boxing Day but, despite the prospect of a decent each-way bet, most racegoers and punters will only be concentrating on the first two in the betting.

Kauto Star has won already won the Grade 1 mid-season championship race four times, so why is he available at 7/2 with Betfred and totesport? He did, after all, beat favourite Long Run (a general 5/4) by eight lengths in the Betfair Chase at Haydock last month when Diamond Harry was back in fourth. Not a bad performance considering the gelding is now rising 12 and has been jumping fences since he was a four-year-old. Kauto Star has won almost £2million in prize money in his career and it’s a credit to how shrewdly he’s been managed over the years that he is still towards the top of the chasing tree. However, as he’s got older he’s also become more difficult to predict. There were a lot of calls for him to be retired after he showed little interest and was pulled up at Punchestown in May, just weeks after he was firmly put in his place by Long Run in the Cheltenham Gold Cup. Even his trainer has admitted that he is probably just one poor run from being allowed to spend the rest of his days in a field but a possible fifth win in this prestigious chase is just too much of a temptation to resist, especially after his Haydock heroics.

Nicky Henderson admitted that Long Run wasn’t quite ready at Haydock but he’ll be tuned to the minute in his attempt to win the King George for a second time and, only a six-year-old, has plenty of scope for further improvement. I’d expect him to confirm last season’s dominance over Kauto Star and repeat last year’s triumph but it will be fascinating to see how Master Minded (13/2 in several places) and Captain Chris (8/1 with Ladbrokes) fare tackling 3m for the first time. Both are brilliant two-milers and the former won a Grade 1 contest over 2m4f at Aintree in the spring. His accurate jumping may be good enough to keep him in contention  for a long way in this but there’s just a worry that with normal pace-setters Nacarat (66/1 with Paddy Power) and Golan Way (85/1 on betfair) likely to take each other on for the lead, the gallop may be suicidal and play to the strength of the proven stayers. That would suit Diamond Harry (a general 16/1) but not Somersby (a general 12/1) who finished behind Master Minded over 2m3f at Ascot last month and is another trying 3m for the first time.

• Long Run to win William Hill King George VI Chase at a general 5/4
• Diamond Harry to be placed at the general 16/1

There looks a to be a cracking four-match Test series in prospect when Australia take on India, the action getting under way at the MCG on Boxing Day.

It’s a fascinating clash with Australia a team in transition but showing commendable resilience to win in Sri Lanka and draw a two-match series in South Africa after losing the Ashes earlier this year. They were, however, unable to beat New Zealand at home recently, showing their inconsistency. The Aussies do have some new talent coming through like Ed Cowan, who gets his chance at the top of the batting order alongside David Warner with the Australian selectors finally losing patience with Phil Hughes. Daniel Christian and Mitchell Starc are also in the home squad but Shane Watson and Ryan Harris still aren’t fit and Mitchell Johnson‘s contribution with bat and ball will be badly missed. Question marks, too, about how much longer Ricky Ponting and Michael Hussey will be around. Both look increasingly vulnerable against pace and, while their influence in the dressing room remains invaluable, there will come a time when one or the other will be blocking the progress of a promising youngster.

Given the possible susceptibility of the Australian middle-order to fast bowlers, therefore, India will be expecting much of Ishant Sharma and Zaheer Khan – but therein lies the problem of predicting how this series will develop. Both have been troubled by ankle problems in recent times, indeed Sharma has already been struggling in the Indians’ warm-up games. Without their quickies, it’s very difficult to see how India will take 20 wickets in a match despite the Aussies predilection to self-destruct on occasion. Let’s face it, there is unlikely to be much help for the spinners (though Graeme Swann enjoyed himself Down Under last winter). Likewise, however, how is Australia’s inexperienced attack to bowl out India‘s formidable batting line-up twice? MS Dhoni and his team have bounced back well from their humiliation in England, beating Bangladesh and the West Indies in subsequent series. Their ageing squad isn’t quite ready for the scrapheap just yet on that evidence and I fancy they may just know too much for their hosts, though don’t expect too many close finishes.

India can be backed at 107/50 to win the Test series in Australia with betfair and the 33/1 available at Ladbrokes and sportingbet for a 0-1 correct score could be interesting. I wouldn’t look beyond the 9/2 available at bet365, Skybet and Stan James about David Warner being Australia’s top batsman.

• India to win Test series in Australia at 107/50 (betfair)
• India to win series 1-0 at 33/1 (Ladbrokes and sportingbet)
• David Warner to be top Australian batsman at 9/2 (bet365, Skybet, Stan James)

Looking for some alternative betting coupons this weekend for your football betting? Well, then Ladbrokes and their Goal Rush Coupon serves up a treat. This is a simple coupon as all you have to predict is whether or not you think that both teams in a selected game will score during the match. That’s it. Take a look at the match and just select yes or no, whichever way you think the game will go. In the Premier League matches covered by the Ladbrokes Goal Rush Coupon this weekend, we have Blackburn v West Brom, Everton v Norwich, Fulham v Bolton and Newcastle v Swansea City.

The coupon is way bigger than that though, with matches on there from across a wide range of European leagues, so you really aren’t short of options. As you would expect, as you have a 50/50 chance of getting this right, and the bookie has a 50/50 chance of losing, then the odds are not going to be expansive, but there is some sensible small bits of profit to be made. For both teams Not to score in the Blackburn v West Brom match for example, there is a price of 11/10 to be taken. Small profit if it comes off, but profit all the same. As long as one of them keeps a clean sheet, you would win with that bet.

This is a great coupon to look at, and pretty fun as well. The Ladbrokes Goal Rush Coupon offers you something a little different to your regular outright match betting on your football wagers. Head there and take a scan down the list, and see what you can pick out of it. The highly rated online bookmaker Ladbrokes offer a free £50 bet for new customers registering an account with them. They will match the value of your first bet with a free bet to the same value as your first stake. New customers receiving the free bet can then have a crack at some risk free profit with it, a fantastic way to get started with your new Ladbrokes account!

Get on defending champion Adrian Lewis at Boylesports and bwin‘s 9/1 for the PDC Darts World Championship, which gets underway at Alexandra Palace on Thursday.

Since the PDC and the BDO spilt in the 1990s, only the legendary Eric Bristow and Phil Taylor have successfully managed to defend their crown and some would argue that ‘Jackpot’ hasn’t been the same player since beating Gary Anderson in last year’s final. However, that’s a bit of a broad generalisation as Lewis, still only 26, has reached a couple of finals in 2011 and the fact that he’ll be playing on the first night of the championship, against Nigel Heydon, should help settle any nerves, not that the Stoke-born player has displayed many signs of apprehension in the past. He did, after all, become the first finalist to produce a nine-dart finish 12 months ago. I’d much rather have a flutter on Lewis rather than last year’s losing finalist Gary Anderson at shorter odds.

‘The Flying Scotsman’ regularly posts plenty of maximums but it’s consistency that you need in a tournament of this nature, which will extend well beyond the Christmas break before the winner is known. That’s where Anderson has always fallen short in the past. He was long odds-on to beat Lewis in last year’s final after breezing through the earlier rounds but that one below-par night cost him dear and one just gets the feeling that he’ll have at least one of those before this year’s event runs its course. Whether it will prove decisive is another matter, but is it worth the risk at the general 17/2?

Of course, the obvious bet is Phil Taylor, who has already had another terrific year and has laid to rest any thoughts of retirement. ‘The Power’ has already won six major titles in 2011 and only Blue Square, 888sport and Ladbrokes are prepared to offer Evens that a 14th World Championship won’t come his way over the next few weeks. The one worry is that he’s in the same half of the draw as Raymond van Barneveld and the ebullient Paul Nicholson. Van Barneveld (33/1 with Boylesports and Paddy Power) appears on a downward curve but Nicholson, who beat Taylor and Anderson in the UK Open earlier this year, isn’t short of confidence when it comes to facing ‘The Power’, though I know whose side the crowd would be on if both players justify their seedings. ‘The Asset’ can be backed at a general 50/1. James Wade, 11/1 with Boylesports and Paddy Power, has been the other attracting support but it’s difficult to see the winner coming from outside that group and we’re sticking with Lewis to produce fireworks again en route to a second title.

In the good old days, you always got a couple of those cheesy singles that could only have been written with one thing in mind – to secure that lucrative Christmas Number One spot. And there have been some right turkeys to which, it appears, not even the mosts revered are immune! Madonna and Bruce Springsteen, even Bob Dylan has traded his principles to launch a Festive flop that is right up there in the cringe-worthiness stakes. Some have been that bad that the music stations just can’t resist the temptation to play them every year and as I write, three weeks before Santa’s arrival, the utterly crass Boney M are being invited to reprise ‘Mary’s Boy Child’  yet again on the radio.

Nowadays, of course, Simon Cowell is under the impression that his X Factor winner is guaranteed to have the Christmas Number One. Now I’ve made no secret that I loathe this show and all it stands for so this year I’m hugely relieved to say there is a bona-fide challenger that, although equally manufactured, is at least more in keeping with the true spirit of Christmas. We had Bob Geldof and Midge Ure pricking a nation’s conscience in 1984 and, in 2011, it’s the Military Wives.

Conductor and all-round decent chap Gareth Malone has taken upon himself to prove that anyone, given coaching and encouragement, can make a decent fist of a rousing tune and his latest project has been to encourage, comfort and cajole the wives and girlfriends of British servicemen serving in Afghanistan to produce a song befitting their heroes’ sacrifices. It’s lyrics have been cobbled together from letters sent to and from the front, which is a tear-jerker in itself, but even more impressive is the fact that Malone managed to persuade these natural reticent ladies into appearing before The Queen at the Albert Hall and on national TV. ‘Wherever You Are’ won’t have you on the dance floor as quickly as Slade‘s ‘Merry Christmas Everybody’ but it’s as thought-provoking as Chris Rea‘s excellent ‘ Driving Home For Christmas’ and just as poignant as Geldof and Ure‘s ‘Do They Know It’s Christmas’.

So I urge all decent folk, go and out and buy this single and deprive Mr Cowell of a new Rolls-Royce. Send your pounds instead to the British Legion and other like-minded charities who do such a wonderful job of looking after families who really need support at this time of year and have considerably less money to play with than Messrs Cowell, Walsh and Barlow. And, at the same time, have a bet on the  Military Wives Choir being Christmas Number One at 5/4 with Ladbrokes and sportingbet and earn yourselves a bit extra for the Festive season.