England begin to walk the World Cup walk

Memorably, England began the 2017 Champions Trophy as favourites to lift their maiden 50-over global title, and, well, that didn't turn out so well. A crushing malfunction in the semi-final at Cardiff, against the eventual winners Pakistan, condemned them to another year as also-rans, despite the huge strides they have been making in ODI cricket in the past three years.

So, what are we to make of the long-range World Cup odds at Bet365, especially hot on the heels of England's formidable 4-1 series win in Australia? Well, they aren't favourites yet - though at 7/2 they aren't exactly long odds either. But, seeing as it is the Aussies, the five-times World Cup champions, who top the charts at 10/3 despite the World Cup being contested in England's back yard? That's food for thought.

Any more barnstorming performances, such as Jason Roy's England-record 180 in the series opener at Melbourne, or Tom Curran's stunning display of reverse swing to swipe a cliffhanger in Perth on Sunday, and it will be hard to keep England from assuming the mantle of favourites. But for now, it seems, the bookies just can't quite bring themselves to believe what they are seeing. Or perhaps England's collapse of 8 for 5 at Adelaide on Friday is all the evidence they need to defer outright judgement...

Further down the order, there's a bit more value to be found among the other World Cup heavyweights. Virat Kohli's India are third favourites at 9/2, and will get a good sighter of English conditions on their Test and ODI tour this summer, but the interesting teams are the likes of Pakistan at 10/1 - they know how to get the job done in England - and West Indies, two-times winners and reigning T20 champions, at 14/1 - despite the fact they haven't even made it through the qualifiers yet.