Betting.Betfair

[b]Frank Gregan tells us why England need to replicate their Test form at ODI level before they can hold claim to being the best cricket playing nation in the world.[/b] Remember the good old days? "Ladies and Gentlemen, please show your appreciation for the undisputed Heavyweight Champion of the World..." These days boxing has more titles than the House of Lords and more belts than the luggage reclaim at Heathrow airport which dilutes the prestige. The best cricket team in the world is easier to identify. In the past, they've tended to dominate the game in both formats, [b]Test and ODIs[/b]. It seems that might be about to change as England look set to claim their place as the best Test team in the world but still have to win an ICC 50 over title. The praise for England has...

[b]It's less than a fortnight since Santa came down his chimney, but Frank Gregan has already penned another wishlist. This time, it's addressed to the England cricket team...[/b] The mind plays strange tricks on you during the middle of the night as you sit cradling a glass of red wine whilst waiting for the weather [b]Down Under[/b] to change. A glance at the Medoc bottle raises the question, "Where do genies really come from?" We have our share of lamps in our house but like most homes at this time of year, there are considerably more bottles - the majority empty! EuroMillions and [b]Cheryl Cole[/b] feature high on my wishlist before I get around to putting the sporting world to rights but cricket is at the forefront of the mind with England enjoying one of their best tours ...

Now I know we've been here before. Just before the Perth Test I was smugly writing that Australia couldn't possibly take 20 wickets, and my 'available to bet' balance is still suffering the very serious consequences. So it's rather scary to start making the same sort of sweeping judgement about what might happen in Sydney. But as things stand this morning the Aussies couldn't be in a bigger state of disarray yet England, having just won an Ashes Test match by the [b]biggest margin[/b] since 1956, are still healthy odds against at 2.5 this morning. Yes, I know you shouldn't chase losses, but this one looks far too much value to miss out on. Everything that can go wrong for Australia is still doing so. [b]Ricky Ponting[/b] confirmed overnight that he'll definitely not be fit to play,...

Unless you're an England backer or fan, you'll agree that Australia's fight-back in the Third Test was a much-needed one in order to keep this series alive and exciting. It did of course have another very important consequence: [b]Ricky Ponting[/b] will remain as captain until the end of the series. He may miss the next Test through injury but that's a sub-story to the main plot. Whether he takes to the field or not, he's the skipper. I don't really understand why this issue was up for debate. Even if England had won in Perth, the very least "Punter" deserved would be a chance of redemption in the last two matches. And if England had wrapped up the series before Sydney, Ponting would have resigned or been relieved of his duties at the end of the series and the ACB would then have...

Everyone loves that classic Kaiser Chiefs song 'Ruby' so don't be surprised to hear the [b]Barmy Army[/b] giving it their own rendition in Perth should England triumph. Little Ruby Anderson might have a tale or two to tell her friends when she grows old enough to take those first steps into the big world that is also known as the Kindergarten.Should her father James fail to inspire England to victory here in Perth then question marks over the decision to allow him to return home from Australia will surface almost instantly. If not, then she'll be able to negotiate over the Doll's House with the famous line, 'But my Dad won the Ashes'. Not bad I guess, although I always used to claim that my Dad was a pirate...incorrectly of course. Anderson flew home from Adelaide last Tuesday ...

The Australians are not used to defeat and consequently they are leaving no straw unclutched, no barrel unscraped and no loony selection discarded as they try to get themselves back into the series. However, drastic times call for drastic measures so here are five 'alternative' actions that the Aussies might consider to get themselves back on track. [b]Number Five: No more fair play cobber![/b] A plea to the ICC to return to the good old days of having a home umpire out in the middle. Let's get back to basics and get the big decisions going the right way, none of this 'the batsman gets the benefit of the doubt' malarkey, 'the Aussie gets the benefit of the doubt!' It would make the commentator's job so much easier during reviews. "Let's have a look at this then, it's pitched outside...

Let's make one thing very clear - England's minds were not on the game against [b]Victoria[/b] at the MCG. If being forced to play in such a meaningless fixture was irksome enough for the players, then for the watching members of the press it was simply tortuous. Such was the farcical nature of the game that Andrew Strauss managed to take a wicket with a rather unique brand of bowling, while part-time trundler Eoin Morgan was smashed for 22 off a single over. Perhaps the fact that there was more of a buzz surrounding tomorrow's big match in Perth between the Australian journalists and their English counterparts shows that the game in Melbourne was unimportant in the extreme. All eyes are on Perth and on the WACA in particular, with Australia needing to avoid defeat to keep the ...

I thought the difficult thing about discussing the Ashes would be finding a good bet. I'm already sat happily anticipating a huge profit on backing England to win the series, and after the Adelaide Test it seems the rest of Betfair's punters have got on too, if a tad late, as the price is down to 1.55 with little value left. It was way back in June that I put my money on. I'd sat down with [b]Sky's David Lloyd[/b] to do the Betfair Big Interview, and got carried away with his insistence that supporting Andrew Strauss and co at odds of 4.0 was "a licence to print money". It looks as if he knew what he was talking about, which is also good news for Victim Support Manchester who should pick up a few bob when Bumble's charity bet pays out. Where he got it most right was to question the...

There was a kid at one of my old schools called [b]Harry Hastings[/b]. It might have been something to do with his heritage given his name, 1066 and all that, but the kid was a crack shot when it came to using the plastic ruler like a sling shot. He was brilliant, he could hit the back of a teacher's head from 15 metres which quickly gained him hero status. It was a sad, sad day for us all when he was banned from using a plastic ruler and was instead given a rigid wooden one and told "if you can't use a plastic ruler sensibly then you are not using it at all!" The ECB might have to follow the lead of stressed out inner-city teachers and come down hard on habitual offenders that can't use things sensibly. [b]Kevin Pietersen[/b] has had an awesome second Test, notching a double hundred...