Stanford 20/20 for 20 ..... A 50/50 Lottery

Saturday 1st November 21.30 GMT

For a vast majority of us, the odds of matching 6 numbers and winning the jackpot in the National Lottery are 14 million to 1.

However if you happen to be playing cricket for England or West Indies, there is a chance of reducing those odds on a jackpot win  to 1 in 2 !

Saturday sees the game everyone is talking about. Stanford Superstars v England in a 20 million Dollar winner takes all extravaganza. The players from the winning team each pick up a cool 1 million Dollars, the losers go away with nothing.

The last week has seen warm up games featuring the two main contenders along with the domestic 20/20 champions Middlesex and Trinidad& Tobago.

It has to be said that the build up has not gone the way the organisers or Sir Allen Stanford would have liked.

The matches so far have been close affairs, apart from the most recent one where the Stanford Superstars hammered Middlesex by 58 runs.

There has been consistent criticism of the pitch and the low level floodlighting, which many have attributed to the dropping of a lot of catches, some of them absolute sitters.

If that was not bad enough, Sir Allen has found himself at the centre of a row with some of the England players over his over zealous and flirty behaviour with some of their wives.

The ECB is reported as having second thoughts about their relationship with Mr Stanford and say they will review matters after this match.

Ok enough about behind the scenes, what about the big match?

Who’s going to win? Whose pockets are going to be bulging with Dollars?

The 20/20 format is itself a lottery. A golden period of 2 or 3 overs with bat or ball can change the complexion of any match and betting with confidence is difficult.

The most difficult games to predict are the ones on slow, turgid pitches where scoring is difficult. These tend to be low scoring affairs and it’s not obvious what a winning score would be.

I am a firm believer that from a betting point of view all 20/20 games should be viewed as even steven games and there is long term value in backing teams that are quoted at odds against.


The market for this game is currently:
England 1.84
Stanford Superstars 2.2

I believe the market has got this wrong.

England have struggled through their two warm up games, beating Middlesex by 12 Runs and T&T by just one run.
They, like all the teams have struggled to come to terms with the pitch and the floodlights and I cannot believe that they will all of a sudden overcome those problems.

The Stanford Superstars also struggled to beat T&T, but the manner in which they beat Middlesex showed that they were coping with conditions better.

Experience on this tricky pitch is crucial and the West Indian players that make up the Stanford   Superstars have played here on many occasions for their clubs and country.

I believe strongly that they and not England should be favourites to win this match. The market disagrees. I say, lets not moan and groan about the market, lets instead take advantage and so the play is:

BACK Stanford Superstars for 4 points @ 2.2 on Boylesports

Join me and whilst we won’t be a million dollars better off, we will have more in our pockets then the losers!

Big Joe