England v Sri Lanka Series

By Bigjoe

Commences Tuesday 28th June

The good old English weather played a major part in the Test Series with rain severely affecting each of the three tests. England won that series 1-0, a scoreline that flattered Sri Lanka with England dominating most of the sessions between the rains. Sri Lanka are in transition in that format of the game and with the retirement of Murali, they struggled to take even 10 wickets, let alone 20 to win a test.

The action now moves onto the one dayers and this shorter format will prove to be more to the liking for Sri Lanka. Taking 20 wickets will not be the key, scoring one more run then the opposition will be. It’s the format that Sri Lanka have excelled in, reaching the World Cup final on both last two occasions.

The return of their new captain Dilshan will be a boost for this series, but a bigger encouragement will be the addition to the bowling ranks of Malinga and Kulasekera, two bowlers who have proved to be exceptional in this format and the Sri Lankan bowling arsenal is improved at a stroke.

Big changes in the England set up too, most notably a new captain at the helm in Alistair Cook. A remarkable appointment considering that Cook was not really considered an ODI player and has rarely featured in the shorter format for a while. With Strauss retiring, Cook also has a new opening partner with the recall, at the expense of Matt Prior, of Craig Kieswetter. Samit Patel also returns in a new look England side.

Whilst England have conquered all in the Test arena lately and are focusing on becoming the best side in the world at that format, their escapades in this shorter format have left a lot to be desired. They followed up the impressive Ashes triumph 6-1 by the Aussies in the ODI series. Worse was to follow in the World Cup where they were routed in the knockout stages by 10 wickets by Sri Lanka, having earlier suffered embarrassing defeats at the hands of Bangladesh and Ireland.

Amazingly the bookies price up England as short price favourites for this series. I believe the bookies have got this completely wrong. Whilst I agree the home conditions should suit England more and they may well improve on their recent performances, there remains a big gap in class in this format between these sides. Sri Lanka whitewashed England 5-0 on their last tour and I believe they will again dominate this series.

In my opinion its Sri Lanka that should be short priced favourites here, but don’t get me wrong, I am not complaining. On the contrary, I am going to take advantage of the bookies over reaction to the Test series and therefore my bets for this series are:

In The Series Outright Market:

BACK Sri Lanka for 5 points @ 2.62 at Sportingbet, Victor Chandler

In The Series Correct Score Market:

BACK Sri Lanka to win 5-0 for 1 point @ 41.0 at Victor Chandler

BACK Sri Lanka to win 4-1 for 2 points @ 6.5 at Sportingbet, Skybet

Bigjoe