Bangladesh first in line for England

After a rare few months' rest from international cricket, England begin their summer in earnest this week when Bangladesh are the visitors for a two-Test series and a triangular one-day series involving Australia.

The first Test begins at Lord's on Thursday and it's no surprise to see England as massive odds-on favourites for the series. In fact, Bet365 go 1/200 (1.005) that England will come out on top. Considering that the fickle English weather could easily ruin both Tests at this time of year, there will be many people keen to take the 16/1 (17.00) on a drawn series, but there are unlikely to be too many takers for Bangladesh at 150/1 (151.00).

However, a quick look at Bangladesh's record in Tests shows just why the bookies are so bullish.

The tourists have lost 31 of the 36 Tests they've played since entering the Test arena in 2000, and despite significant improvement in recent months and with some impressive performers in Habibul Bashar and Mohammad Ashraful, it would still take a huge stretch of the imagination to see them winning a Test.

Despite weather concerns, a 2-0 England series victory is likely to be in the region of 1-10.

Though Bangladesh earned their first-ever Test series win against Zimbabwe in January, they have lost 17 of their 19 Tests away from home. In contrast, England have won 161 of their 419 home Tests, drawing 158 and losing 100. Of their past 20, perhaps a more relevant statistic given England's improvement over the last 18 months, they have won 14 and lost just three. England will not underestimate their opponents, however. In the two Tests between the two sides, England's top score was only 326.

At Lord's, the venue for the first Test, England have recovered from a sorry run of form in the 1980s, when they lost to Pakistan, West Indies, Australia, India and New Zealand between 1982 and 1987. They've won seven of the past 10 at the headquarters of cricket, and are beginning to turn it into something of a fortress once more.

Player markets
Because of the one-sidedness of the contest, on paper at least, there could be more interest in some of the players' series markets. Against the inexperienced Bangladesh bowling attack, the England batsmen enjoyed themselves last time out, with both Trescothick and Vaughan averaging in the high 60s, while Thorpe (45.33) is the only other member of the top six to have played against Bangladesh before. Andrew Strauss and Marcus Trescothick top the England batting lists at 5/2 (3.50), while the captain, Michael Vaughan, is 7/2 (4.50). Ian Bell is 5/1 (6.00), Graham Thorpe 6/1 (7.00) and Andrew Flintoff, back from injury, is 7/1 (8.00).

There is a good chance that the Bangladesh players may be a little overawed at the prospect of playing at Lord's, but in Bashar and Ashraful they have two capable performers. The 20-year-old Ashraful may only average 25 in Tests so far, but he has two Test hundreds to his name, including a fabulous 158 against India. Bashar, the captain and veteran of the side, averages in the mid-30s and has made three Test hundreds, as well as a fine 58 in one of the two Tests against England in 2003.

Bashar is 4/1 (5.00) to be the top Bangladesh batsman, while Ashraful is 5/1 (6.00), the same price as Nafees Iqbal (averaging 31.83) and Javed Omar (21.79). The talented 16-year-old, Mushfiqur Rahim, who scored a century against Northants, is a 10/1 (11.00) chance.

In the bowling markets, Steve Harmison, at 23/20 (2.15) and Matthew Hoggard, at 6/5 (2.20) are joint-favourites to take the most wickets for England. Jon Lewis, called up to the side, is 7/1 (8.00), Simon Jones is 8/1 (9.00) and Ashley Giles 9/1 (10.00).

For Bangladesh, the slow left-armer Mohammad Rafique, who has taken a healthy 67 wickets in 18 Tests, is the favourite at 9/5 (2.80), while Enamul Haque jr, who averages just under five wickets a Test so far, is 11/4 (3.75). You can get 4/1 (5.00) on both Marshrafe Mortaza and Tapash Baisya.

England at Lord's
England have won four of the past five Tests at the home of cricket. In fact, England have recovered from a sorry run of form at Lord's in the 1980s, when they lost to Pakistan, West Indies, Australia, India and New Zealand between 1982 and 1987, winning seven of the past 10 and four of the past five. Only South Africa, in 2003, spoiled the party with a victory of their own.

Almost as famous as the ground itself is the Lord's slope, which has been the undoing of many a batsman, and put many a bowler off their stride, and it's well worth looking at a few of the statistics from the past 10 Tests.

The average first innings score is 345.2, while the average for a side batting first is slightly higher at 356.9. Of those 10 Tests, England have won the toss on just three occasions. In seven of those Tests, the side winning the toss has chosen to put the opposition into bat, and in those seven matches, the average first innings score is 305.85, as opposed to a whopping 476 for a side winning the toss and batting. In the past 10 Tests, the touring side averages 336.1 in their first innings, while the home side just shades it at 354.3.