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 may smell of desperation, panic and 'fuzzy thinking' but the very late decision to use Kevin Pietersen as an opener alongside Andrew Strauss may yet prove to be a shrewd one by Andy Flower, says Ralph Ellis.[/b] I know that since 1969 you've been able to vote at 18. But 42 years later you've only got to look in most card shops to know that 21 is still considered the magic number at which you grow up. I wonder then if there will be some significance about Kevin Pietersen and Andrew Strauss becoming England's 21st opening partnership in just four years of One Day Internationals since the last World Cup. Coach Andy Flower is clearly hoping his latest experiment will signal a coming of age for his team. It's an odd time to be testing the theory. Flower has built his very considerable...

On the face of it, the World Cup looks confusing: three host countries, 14 teams, 13 venues, 49 matches and six weeks to find a winner. But a much-maligned marathon of a tournament is actually the punters' friend. Thanks to a projected draw and India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh somehow managing to convince the ICC they are deserving of a home draws in the knockout stages, no matter where they finish, it is pretty simple. Simple in the regard that the tournament is heavily skewed in favour of India and Sri Lanka. On surfaces which the rest of the competing nations, Bangladesh and Pakistan excepted of course, find alien you won't be going far wrong by backing either MS Dhoni's team or Kumar Sangakkara's. India and Sri Lanka are on the opposite sides of the draw so there is a very real...

England have won the Ashes. I'd love to sit here using all manner of superlatives to describe England's performances and the magnitude of the achievement but that would be inappropriate. This England team is a well-drilled side with a handful of world-class performers, an intelligent and meticulous coach and very able captain. That proved more than enough to beat one of the worst Australian sides we've seen for many years. England will face far tougher tests than this and we'll have a more accurate picture of where they stand in the longer format of the game when they host India next summer. The 3-1 scoreline is probably a good reflection of the difference in class between the two teams and if you think that's harsh on the Australians, consider this: how many of their players would...

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...

It's been a case of so far - so good, as far as England's tour Down Under is concerned. Valuable time has been spent out in the middle and there have been some confidence enhancing performances from key players. It was a relief to see [b]Alastair Cook[/b] come good against South Australia, the irony of course is that everyone is thinking "what a waste of a ton" but let's hope that the confidence that he has gained from that knock enables him to repeat the performance in Brisbane next week. The bowling has looked impressive and James Anderson has laid his raspberry blowing foundations with some very good spells. [b]Graeme Swann[/b] is getting a lot of turn, Stuart Broad and Steve Finn have been ticking over very nicely thank you, whilst with the bat, Kevin Pietersen has been steady if...