England v India First Cricket Test - Online Betting Preview - 07-19-07

July 19 - Following their relatively easy series win over the West Indies earlier this summer, England are up against a much stiffer opposition in the test series against India starting today. The Indians will be desperate to put a miserable World Cup behind then and the big guns like Tendulkar will be chomping at the bit to restores some pride.

Michael Vaughan is reported to have said that he is excited about the "fresh" new bowling attack he is likely to have at his disposal. England are already without Flintoff and Harmison, the core of their more recent attack. News from England is that Matthew Hoggard is also a likely casualty to injury with a back strain. This will leave Vaughan with an attack built around the impressive rookie Ryan Sidebottom and spin wiz Monty Panesar and the likely inclusion of journeyman Jimmy Anderson. The other two bowling sports are likely to go to two debutants, Stuart Broad and Chris Tremlett. If England field this attack, it will be their most inexperienced attack since 2001.

On the batting side, Kevin Pietersen would want to put a terrible Windies series behind him and make some serious runs (3/1 top run scorer in first test). The rest of the England batting lineup is starting to have a settled look about it.

India themselves have bowling concerns with veteran Anil Kumble and Zaheer Kahn the only two experienced bowlers. There is however no lack in talent with Kahn and Sreesanth likely to get under a couple of the Pom batsmen's skins. The Indian batting lineup has all the experience in the world, but has not lived up to reputation for a couple of seasons now. Dravid, Tendulkar, Ganguly, Laxman and the talented young Jaffer form a formidable lineup that if they fire could have the young English bowlers running for cover.

Scratching around the bookmakers this morning reveals nothing unexpected. Bet365.com has England at 10/3 to win the match. Ladbrokes.com lists the English at 11/4 and India at 9/2 for the first test, which looks like good money at the time of writing considering Hoggard's back problems..

England is even money to win the Series and India pays 5/2.

Anil Kumble is favored as the best Indian bowler at 2/1 and there is no surprise with Tendulkar favored as their best batsmen by Bet365.com at 3/1.

We recommend bet365.com as bookmaker for this series. Their in-running live betting facility is excellent for cricket betting and adds a lot of spice to the game.