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There are about 750 churches in Adelaide. Normally when the two Ashes protagonists arrive in the capital of south Australia it is the English who are need of divine intervention. This time, though, it would appear it is the Aussies who are on their knees, ready to serve a penance.

When I was there four years ago, I took a tour of some of these places of worship. The imposing and beautiful St Peter's cathedral, which so neatly frames the picture-postcard Adelaide Oval, is worth seeing. The church of scientology was also of note, although mainly because it offered a free personality test, something which one felt at the time that England coach Duncan Fletcher should take up.

Michael Vaughan, my betting.betfair colleague, reckons that it is the best city in Australia. He is right when it comes to charm, that's for sure. It is how an English city would have been 40 or 50 years ago with pinking trams, the home from home that is Victoria Square and a rather reserved atmosphere.

Certainly the travelling Barmy Army enjoy it the most. With Adelaide's population of 1.8m it is the smallest of the five Test venues and the hordes, faces painted white and red, like to think they have invaded. It will certainly seem that way when play begins tonight.

The grassy knoll beneath the Victorian scoreboard is where they will congregate, singing, slurping and sweating. Four years ago there was more sighing though, as England imploded horribly.

On my stroll around the ground in an atmosphere thick with panic - it really was that tangible even 20 or 30 minutes in - I made the mistake of standing next to one Barmy Army member, who had a Blackburn Rovers tattoo on his chest and a plastic cup of beer in hand. He began to sing, only to vomit instead. On my foot. I was wearing flip flops. Unperturbed he wiped his mouth, took a swing and carried on singing.

As far as wagering is concerned, a back to lay on the draw could improve the constitution. With both sides looking likely to struggle to take 20 wickets, it will not take much to force it below even money on the first morning.

Currently at 2.06, a wicketless 30 runs could indeed knock a whole point off, especially as there was a slight rise in the price after poor weather in the build up and more and more punters are becoming aware of the good batting track.

Other potential wagers are backing England for 425 runs or more in first innings at 2.10. Australia are slightly shorter at 2.00. Another price of note is the 2.04 that Andrew Strauss' side manage a first-innings lead.

I shall be producing my live in-running blog for day one of this Test so do make sure you get online to join in the fun. We had some successful trades at the Gabba, correctly spotting the trend for runs in both teams' second innings. I'll also be conducting a test as to which biscuits provide most assistance to staying awake. How can you miss that?


By Ed Hawkins

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