Betting Blog
Hampshire backed to end 50 years of Championship hurt
Opening-round victory over Notts sets standard, with defending champions Surrey next at Kia Oval
ESPNcricinfo staff
12-Apr-2023
One round down, 13 to go. The County Championship is up and running for the 2023 season, and to judge by Hampshire's opening-week crushing of newly-promoted Nottinghamshire, they are primed to put 50 years of history behind them, and gun for their first title since 1973.
According to the odds-setters at Bet365, Hampshire are the favourites to claim only the third Championship in their history, after a three-day win at the Ageas Bowl that was powered by Mohammad Abbas's nine-wicket match haul, and sealed by Fletcha Middleton's twin half-centuries.
After finishing third in a strong campaign in 2022, Hampshire are now 3/1 to take this year's title, just ahead of reigning champions Surrey, on 7/2, whom they face in the competition's second round at the Kia Oval, starting on Thursday.
Full postAustralia overwhelming favourites for Women's T20 World Cup
As has been the case for a number of years now, the market is dominated by the big three teams
ESPNcricinfo staff
13-Feb-2020
There's been a shift in the zeitgeist in the last few months. After the thrills of the 2019 World Cup, all the attention in men's white-ball cricket is on the 20-over format, and that's even more true of the women, as we continue the final countdown to this month's T20 World Cup in Australia, the same country in which the men's event will take place in October.
And as has been the case for a number of years now, the market is dominated by the big three teams (or four if you include New Zealand), and the hosts, Australia, are the overwhelming favourites, barely worth a second glance at the unalluring price of 8/13.
England and India were put in their place in the recent tri-series - England missed their chance to qualify for the final on NRR, before Australia saw off India in an intermittently tense contest at Melbourne, where Beth Mooney's 71 not out from 54 balls proved the difference between the sides.
Full postEngland favourites to wrap up emphatic 3-1 series win
South Africa are not quite the daunting prospect that they seemed at the start of the tour
ESPNcricinfo staff
22-Jan-2020
South Africa are not quite the daunting prospect that they seemed at the start of the tour - or at least that's the impression you'll get from glancing at the odds ahead of the fourth Test at the Wanderers, which gets underway on Friday.
After an impressive victory over an (admittedly) illness-plagued England in the first Test, South Africa have lost their way in the last two games, succumbing to a thrilling last-day loss at Cape Town earlier in the month before an innings drubbing in the third match at Port Elizabeth.
And now, the two teams head to the Highveld, to one of the fastest decks in the world game. But where England have the opportunity to unleash arguably their fastest pairing in Test history in Mark Wood and Jofra Archer, South Africa will be lacking their own world-class quick, following the suspension that Kagiso Rabada picked up in the third Test.
Full postEngland slender favourites as SA Tests approach
Rare overseas series win is within reach as England prepare for Boxing Day opener
ESPNcricinfo staff
16-Dec-2019
Whisper it gently, but an England Test team that has won just two overseas series in the past seven years is suddenly favourite to claim the spoils in their fast-approaching four-match series against South Africa.
Perhaps that's got something to do with the surge of confidence the sport has received in sweeping the board at the BBC Sports Personality of the Year Awards. Or perhaps it has more to do with the extraordinary levels of turmoil that South Africa have been subjected to of late.
Either way, England go into the first Test in Centurion on Boxing Day as 5/4 series favourites, with South Africa a whisker behind them on 6/4 and the draw offering a smidgeon of value at 3/1.
Full postStill nothing to separate the sides as NZ-England Tests loom
England have drawn five and lost one of their last six Tests in New Zealand since 2008
ESPNcricinfo staff
18-Nov-2019
Ah yes, it's England versus New Zealand. It's bound to end in a tie, isn't it? Well, 4/1 says it might be a draw at the very least, when the first Test gets underway in Mount Maunganui on Thursday. And, seeing as England have drawn five and lost one of their last six Tests in New Zealand since 2008, that's not a terrible shout, particularly given that Jofra Archer reckoned the surface for this week's drawn warm-up was the "flattest" of his career.
Realistically, there's not a lot to choose between the teams. They are both priced at 15/8 to win the two-Test series, with New Zealand slender favourites at 5/4 over 11/8. The series draw - aka one Test apiece - is an almost double-your-money option at 7/4.
There's a curious frontrunner in the Man of the Series stakes, however. Lockie Ferguson has yet to make his Test debut, and isn't even a shoo-in for selection in New Zealand's pace attack. However, he is 4/1 to be the stand-out player in the first Test, almost half the price of the more obvious gun in their ranks, the brilliant Kane Williamson at 7/1.
Full postNew Zealand seek payback after double sporting setback
First the cricket, then the rugby, and now the cricket again. England versus New Zealand is an unlikely grudge match
ESPNcricinfo staff
30-Oct-2019
First the cricket, then the rugby, and now the cricket again. England versus New Zealand is an unlikely grudge match (Kiwis tend not to hold too many grudges…) but after two bruising defeats on the biggest sporting stages of the year, the rematch is on in Christchurch on Friday as the five-match T20I series gets underway.
England travel as 50-over World Cup champions, and were finalists in the World T20 in India two years ago (less said about how that one ended the better). But for this contest they are slender outsiders, as they prepare to blood a new generation of white-ball whizzkids against a well-established opponent.
New Zealand start the series as 8/15 favourites, with England at 6/4, and are 4/5 to win the opening match, compared to England's 1/1.
Full postSteve Smith to seal the outright Ashes win?
The difference between 2-2 in a five-Test series and 3-1 is not to be sniffed at, as England aim for a face-saver at The Oval
ESPNcricinfo staff
10-Sep-2019
It's all over bar the shouting. Australia have retained the Ashes, England's second objective of their glorious World-Cup-winning summer has eluded them, and all that remains is a fifth Test at The Oval where a significant measure of pride can be upheld, if not any tangible rewards.
But nevertheless, the difference between 2-2 in a five-Test series and 3-1 is not to be sniffed at, and having named an unchanged 13-man squad, England have challenged the side that fell short at Old Trafford last week to redouble its efforts and get back to winning ways.
The bookmakers, however, aren't entirely convinced they can do it. Australia remain the slender favourites to close out the match and hence the series - they are 21/20 to do just that, against England's more generous (though hardly compelling) price of 6/4.
Full postAustralia in sight of Ashes retention already?
Has the Ashes urn been prised from England's fingers already? If the doom-mongers at Bet365 are anything to go by, it's all over
ESPNcricinfo staff
16-Aug-2019
Has the Ashes urn been prised from England's fingers already? If the doom-mongers at Bet365 are anything to go by, it's all over Red Rover and Goodnight Vienna.
Another poor day at the office for England at Lord's has left them in peril in the second Test, although the prospect of bad weather does at least give them a get-out - the draw is currently a 4/6 favourite, ahead of Australia at 11/4 and England a distant 4/1.
However, the longer-term prospects look as bleak as the weekend weather forecast. Australia are already 1/2 to end their 18-year wait for an Ashes win on English soil - the combination of England's fragile batting, Australia's snorting armoury of "cherry-ripe" fast bowlers, and the stand-out talents of Nathan Lyon in the spin stakes and Steve Smith with the bat is hard to overlook.
Full postNew Zealand dark horses as England close in on title?
After six weeks and 47 matches, the World Cup final is upon us, and we are guaranteed a brand-new name on the trophy
ESPNcricinfo staff
12-Jul-2019
After six weeks and 47 matches, the World Cup final is upon us, and we are guaranteed a brand-new name on the trophy. England, the long-term favourites, will take on New Zealand, the eternal dark horses, in a contest that few could have predicted a fortnight ago, but there's no doubt who the bookmakers are now backing to seal the spoils.
England go into Sunday's showdown at Lord's as 1/3 favourites, overwhelming odds in a two-horse race. New Zealand are a distant 5/2, a reflection both of the spanking that they were handed up at Chester-le-Street in England's final group-stage fixture, and of England's formidable showing in their semi-final crushing of Australia.
That eight-wicket win was a complete team performance - led by England's seamers with the new ball, backed up by Adil Rashid's priceless spell of legspin in the middle overs, then sealed by a rampant 85 from Jason Roy, a batsman on a mission after his tournament was interrupted by a hamstring injury.
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