Wicket Wisdom

Only two Tests have been played in Dubai. Not much form to make England vs Pakistan a betting proposition. Betting outright, the draw is clear favourite but draws are few and far between in Test matches these days. On form England should win, Pakistan is still in turmoil and disgrace after recent events. The selection of an extra spinner is not going to make much difference on this surface. England should stick with the formula, which has served them very well, i.e. huge, tall fast bowlers with a penchant for sticking it up the early order with a new ball. When wasn’t that a successful tactic; the Pakistan front five will have to be good to cope even on this pitch. However England still can instigate a mid-order crisis with Pietersen always seemingly able to throw away a good start in a moment of rashness. So even in a three-horse race no bet seems sound advice. Keep the outright betting for the later Tests once we have seen the shape of this Pakistan side, which has little form against ...

Cricket is on trial. Not the bet fixing scandal at Southwark Crown Court but it is the massive confidence trick on the cricket watching public being perpetrated by fraudsters masquerading as international cricketers that shames the game. India and its cricketers are in the dock and the jury is out. Starting with the Ashes, 2011 should have been a cricketing year for the ages. Instead the World No 1 team confronted England, the pretenders to their throne mentally unready, unfit, under-strength and, unforgivably, unrepentant. The worst thing of all about watching the Indians last Summer was they didn’t appear to care that they were robbing the public of a contest, let alone a match-up of the best the game had to offer. Now the Indians are at home, they must perform for their adoring public. At home they probably are still the No 1 team in the World, at least in the ODI format of the game but I hope they consider this rehabilitation for the crimes they have committed. I have no doubt ...

Cricket’s innovative lead in sport technology has just levelled the playing field, so the BCCI wants to wind back the clock preferring an honest howler to statistical probability theory. Whither football, whither Indian cricket? Shame on you! Cricket has had to dig itself out of a variety of black holes recently partly through external corrupt influences and partly because of weak ineffectual leadership and decision-making. One area that the governing body, ICC, did seem to be getting right was overcoming the worst on-field bias and errors by introducing elite umpires and then embracing emerging technology from the producers of Hawkeye to Snicko through Hotspot. Despite the threat posed by corruption, which has so tarnished the game, the authorities have up to now actually improved the on-field integrity of the game despite cricket's shaky funding. Since last month’s ICC meeting finances are being allowed to dictate the integrity of cricket but it is not the impoverished ...

Don’t believe the hype, the media has got it all wrong, the ICC Cricket World Cup starts on Wednesday 23 March 2011. Whatever you do, don’t even think of having a bet before the quarter finals. What starts this weekend is a cheat’s charter, a protracted series of ludicrous mismatches and an occasional ‘warm-up’ game between the chief protagonists, who are certain to qualify. The format this time is marginally less silly than the last marathon farce in the Caribbean four years ago. There will once again be weeks of scant entertainment while the ICC lines its pockets with cash from the TV rights and, unless they have priced the locals out of the market again, from the hard-earned rupees of the local population. But fear not ICC are desperate for the crowds to flock and provide some atmosphere so sadly and eerily lacking in the West Indies. Lest we forget, the 2007 event was marred by the worst case of bribery and corruption seen in sport since, well since Hansie ...

The least ardent cricket fan cannot have escaped the intense hype of the Ashes which starts Thursday at 00:00 or midnight Wednesday if you prefer. If you have heard pundits talking up England’s new found confidence, their laudable preparations or their technical prowess, don’t believe a word of it. These Ashes are about; how poor are the Australians! England can win their first series in Australian since they retained the Ashes in 1986-87. Perennial underdogs in every Ashes Down Under, this time the prices on offer are more to do with history than logic. History counts for nothing when the first ball is bowled in Brisbane but losing is a habit and in every away series since fat Gatt brought home Little Urn, England have been comprehensively thrashed. The reasons are simple, the following series in 90-91 England’s ‘House of Cards’ were a complete shambles and heralded a generation of Pommie subservience. That England side led by Graham Gooch had quality and ...

Cricket had a pretty good week. After nothing but bad press all summer, Ijaz Butt’s big mouth and fans being force fed an unpalatable fast-food diet of faddish Twenty20 and repetitive ODIs, Test cricket made headlines for all the right reasons. In Mohali India and Australia fought out one of the great matches of all-time and most importantly a full house turned up to watch. Cricket’s premature obituaries being drafted by the ‘News of the Screws’ and the gutter-press can wait a tad longer. What sport and sports betting needs are landmark events offering genuine, honest and hard-fought competition between contestants near or at the top of their ability. The next sporting ‘major’ without question is the Ashes. The cricketing authorities continue to try and dream up more and more contrived ways of providing instant action, excitement to pull in the crowds and satisfying the TV audience’s demand for instant gratification. Meanwhile the solution is staring ...