England’s cricketing nightmare continues
Trailing 1-0 in the series against South Africa, and now completely outplayed on the first day of the third Test, England’s cricketers appear to be in disarray.
Since amassing an enormous score in the first innings of the first Test and failing to close out the game, they have lost their way, lost the second Test and now seem to have lost the plot.
Paul Collingwood and Michael Vaughan urgently need some runs, but disappointed yet again, so it’s to the bowlers we turn.
Monty Panesar will get a hatful of wickets when England get down to the middle order on Thursday - you can back him on Betfair to be England’s top bowler.
I wouldn’t back England to win though if I were you!
It’s all a little bit quiet…
The football and rugby players are enjoying their summer holidays, the cricket team are taking a break between tests, golfers have a Birkdale hangover and most punters are heading for the beach.
There’s not a lot going on in the sports betting world at the moment, hence the lack of updates on here for a week or so.
But fear not, one of the greatest sporting events (the greatest? discuss.) in the world is just around the corner. How many golds will Britain win at the Olympics? Is Phillips Idowu our greatest hope?
There will be plenty of betting opportunity coming up, from spreads on medals won with Sporting Index, to accumulators on the handball first round!
The Open Championship preview at Royal Birkdale
Tiger Woods’ absence this week for The Open Championship means that the rest of the field has their eyes on the prize
Despite the fact that no European has ever won The Open at Royal Birkdale, Sergio Garcia is this year’s front-runner – available at 10/1 with Boylesports, Betfred and Paddy Power - and he’ll be desperate to exorcise the demons that have haunted him since last year’s final-round capitulation.
Having lead by three shots going into the last day at Carnoustie, Garcia fell apart to win nothing but the unenviable title of ‘the most gifted golfer never to win a major’. His performance this year will hang on the quality of putting, which often seems to let him down on the big stage – if he is dropping putts during the early rounds, he should be in contention come Sunday.
Justin Rose (28/1 with Extrabet) and Lee Westwood (16/1 with Paddy Power) will be flying the flag for Britain. Rose returns to the venue of his impressive entrance onto the world stage, where he announced himself with a fourth place finish as a 17-year-old amateur. Westwood arrives on the back of two good performances in majors this year, and his short game is beginning to look as natural as his driving ability. Both have a good chance and are certainly worthy of an each-way bet.
Phil Mickelson, Adam Scott, Jim Furyk and Ernie Els should all be in contention, but I’m going for an outside bet on Andres Romero at 40/1 with Extrabet. He has played in two Opens so far, and hasn’t finished lower than 8th; his distance off the tee is immense, particularly for a relatively slight man and is ranked 16th on the ‘putts per round’ leaderboard on the PGA Tour statistics website (Garcia is 178th, just to put it in context).
Paddy Power are paying out on the first 6 places at ¼ odds for each way bets just for The Open, so get involved while you can.
England v South Africa preview
England’s cricketers will be back in action this week as the challenging Test series against South Africa gets underway at Lord’s. After a few dull duels with New Zealand, the South Africans will pose a real threat to England’s impressive Home record.
Captain Michael Vaughan, and indeed most of the nation, will be hoping that Kevin Pietersen continues his form wielding the willow, seeing as England’s other top order batsmen can hardly score a run between them.
Both Vaughan and Paul Collingwood, the Test and One-Day captains respectively, will aim to put their indifferent form behind them as they face the strictest examination of their credentials since the Ashes, but the hosts will definitely be underdogs.
In Dale Steyn and Morne Morkel, the visitors have a devastating bowling attack that could tear England to shreds. Steyn is being hailed in his homeland as the new Allan Donald, whilst Morkel might be the new Shoaib Akhtar (minus the off-field misdemeanours, of course) with his 95mph deliveries.
England’s armoury is comparatively limited with a significant lack of pace, and only Monty Panesar to strike fear into their adversaries. But Pietersen and Panesar must not be expected to take on the tourists on their own – the rest of the team will need to stand up and be counted after being largely anonymous during recent series.
Andrew Flintoff may feature later in the summer, and although he is likely to miss the first and second Tests, he could still provide the boost that England need. Competition for places will intensify greatly on his return, and given that only Pietersen is assured of his place in the top order, Freddie looming large might be just the sort of motivation required.
It’s likely to be a fascinating contest, and let’s hope England can be competitive. Pietersen will need to be at his best, but Flintoff might just be the unsung hero from the pavilion.
England are available at 9/4 with Boylesports whilst South Africa are 11/10 with totesport
Tour de France betting special
This one made me laugh, so I thought I’d publish the details…
The Drugs Don’t Work!
Tour de France, July 5th - 27th
Back any rider to win the Tour De France with Paddy Power and get your Money-Back if he is banned during the tour for a failed drug test.
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