mvaughan

Jonathan Trott thoroughly deserves all the success and plaudits that have come his way since he first broke into the Test team. He's now the rightful owner of that crucial number three slot, an important member of the ODI team and this week he was rewarded for his efforts by being named England's Cricketer Of The Year. Seven hundred odd-runs in an Ashes Series would normally be enough to get you the award so Alastair Cook may feel a little hard-done by but Trott has also been very consistent in the 50-over format so few would argue he wasn't a deserved winner.

The Warwickshire man is a good example of how hard work and consistently good performances on the County circuit can reap big rewards.

You could make a good case for Andrew Strauss top scoring for England in the first innings but I can actually imagine a scenario where the skipper scores a ton and then gets out whilst Trott just keeps on going and eventually overtakes him. He's a greedy player, that Trott! So my money is on him outscoring his team-mates once again at around 4.2.

The Sri Lanka topscorer market is a little trickier. It's difficult to tell who's actually in good nick after that horrible second-innings collapse and with Mahela Jayawardene, Kumar Sangakkara and Tillekaratne Dishan all pretty similar prices, it's difficult to confidently select one over the others. Instead I'm going to back Kumar Sangakkara to score a first innings half-century at around 2.3. He's too good a player to not make an impact sooner or later and the wicket at Lord's will suit him a lot more than the one he struggled on at Cardiff.

Recommended Bets:
Back Andrew Strauss to score a first-innings 100 @ 5.0
Back Jonathan Trott to top score for England in the first innings @ 4.2
Back Kumar Sangakkara to score a first-innings 50 @ 2.3

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