England v India - First Test at Edgbaston

if there are 5 days of baking sun forecast, and india win the toss and bat, the prices are, as you say, a joke.

on the other hand if it's muggy and overcast next thursday, and england put them in, there's no f*cking way I'd be going near india at this price.

I am looking to lay England big stylee as near to evens or odds on as possible. The caveat being India put in on a grassy wicket or England win the toss on a good pitch which will break up. I think It is worth an anti post hump on India and then a causal small loss if the pitch and toss go against.

The current weather for the test is dry & warm with 50/60 % humidity.
Obviously I will not be betting blind, if things change I will red out and reassess.
They might try and keep grass on the wicket to bind it and stop it breaking up too quickly. However, the moisture under the wicket & the water table is something out of control of the groundsman.
Without doubt the layers under the wicket will be bone dry & no amount of watering can change that.
If it's dry and grassy then it could be very difficult for batting as the game goes on due to uneven bounce.
The toss will be of upmost importance !

It'll start green because that will be the only way to hold it together in this heatwave. We've seen a number of green pitches lately that are dry as a bone and great for batting, so the colour can be misleading.

After we lost a test in May to Pakistan I think anything is possible at Edgbaston. Not sure our form there has any relevance given how poor we've been over 20+ tests in all conditions.

I don't fancy England at all over 5 matches against an India that appear settled and desperate to do well away from home for a change.

I wholeheartedly agree with jucel69 's opening comments regarding the prices and teams

Draw could be facilitated by a batting Paradise where both sides post 500+ first innings, rain won't be a factor

Mafe,

I think you are making a mistake by reading too much into the SA/Ind series without looking closely at what went on. India were under cooked going into the first Test. The batsmen had little acclimatisation or preparation at altitude. They basically gave away the first Test although they could have won it.

The pitches all favoured the SA attack. Grassy, bouncy and fast. I also think SA had luck with climate conditions and tosses, alternate facts here but I think India batted when they should have but the ball swung like a banana and stopped when SA batted at times. This is from memory but I may be wrong.

Don't get me wrong SA had a devastating attack and may I suggest would have beaten anyone. Philander and Rabada but also a Morkel bowling very well 14 odd wickets. They also had Ngidi come in for Steyn and he bowled well at times.

SA also had a very good batting line up imho on home wickets! Ashwin did not play in the last Test, I think he was dropped for a 4 fast bowler attack.

Make no mistake. This is a very good Indian Test team. They have been here a while, are acclimatised, have had batting practice and this is a dry summer. Everything is going for them except Bhuvi is injured and is expected to play no part and that is a big miss.

India have bowlers to exploit grassy pitches. They have pace, height and reverse bowlers. Bhuvi would be the cherry on top. Their batting will destroy England on any flat pitches make no mistake and possibly quickly!

I think the big question will be about the pitches produced and the amount of grass on the wicket. How this may affect the first days play will be crucial. I think it will be very difficult to call some games until after lunch on the first day.

The availability of reverse will also be crucial. If pitches flatten out and there is no reverse then I can ashley see the draw coming into play particularly at Lords and the Oval depending of course if there is any spin. England also have some decent batsmen when the ball does not do much.

I shall be looking to lay England when the opportunity avails itself but quickly take a small loss if the toss goes bandy. Get out quick and reassess after the first session. The side batting first will be favoured by me unless there is a lot happening with the ball but I don't think there will, let's see.

I am looking forward to a hard close quarter assault by both sides. This could be Test cricket at it's finest although without too many great batsmen and bowlers if that makes any sense!

I have understated my position:  I REALLY fancy India!

arguably england were in even bigger mess than now. had just lost a home series to sri lanka, the fallout from the KP saga was ongoing and matt prior was playing half fit. pretty sure it was his last test

Some of the T20 games show Edgbaston as being an utter road this year like Durham scoring 220

I'm with you FS.

WD  - 'deckchairs on the Titanic' springs to my mind. Why not pick the team from a hat and be done with it.

Injera,

I am more intrigued as to how the pitches play than the England team. I think England still have a top 3 problem, a good middle order that may be difficult to contain at times and good bowlers in favourable conditions. The question for me is how good will the pitches be, how long is the grass and will the pitches crack and offer spin.

I am not sure either bowling attack is World Class or is as Good as SA or Aus. I am really hoping for some competitive cricket between two evenly matched sides. I think India are the better side but England are at home.

Radish in the squad, they must be expecting it to turn at right angles

Dom Bess and Jack Leach will join the squad throughout England's buildup to the Edgbaston Test.
That's four spinners, two in the squad and two to aid preps. Sounds significant with regards to the wicket. They must have had a word with the curator as it's a long way out to be making such bold decisions.
He must have advised them that he is unable to produce a wicket that doesn't aid spin

Thanks injera!

Appreciated. Got my England lays in. Toss may be crucial. Getting quite excited. Will look at the England team. Haven't seen it yet!

Yorkshire are hard done by though. Rashid signed a white ball contract and now is unavailable for possibly a lot of T20 games!

Smith has put Rashid in a tricky position but he was unlikely to refuse to play.

Vaughan and others are very naive if they think the ECB should back 4 day cricket. They stopped doing that the moment central contracts came in. Vaughan was a great beneficiary of that!

Buttler was in the IPL and went to straight into a test match. 4 day cricket is shoe horned into early and late summer..the 50 over comp was done and dusted in early July. Basically county cricket is  a sideshow and that's just life I'm afraid.

It's a good read juce.