England on course for 4-0 clean sweep?

Those in favour of a tight, competitive series, look away now. There's not a lot of love flying around for South Africa at the moment, in the wake of their 211-run drubbing in the first Test against England at Lord's this week. Such was the magnitude of England's dominance, in every relevant aspect of the game, that the odd-setters at Bet365 are already eyeing up a 4-0 clean sweep.

It's early days in the series, maybe, but South Africa's hopes of a fightback are considered slender in the extreme. England are already 9/2 to win the series 4-0, with only the 3-0 scoreline (9/4) being considered more likely, presumably on account of the fickle British weather.

South Africa are famously resilient, especially on tours of England where they haven't lost a series since 1998. But they are a dim and distant 40/1 to mount a total series turnaround (as England themselves managed against India in 2014) and come from 0-1 down to win 3-1.

A 2-1 South Africa win is a slightly less outlandish 18/1 - which is perhaps still worth a flutter if you think Faf du Plessis's return can galvanise his demoralised outfit. But they aren't exactly great value even for a consolation win - 2-1 or 3-1 to England are 6/1 and 5/1 respectively.

As for the top performer's market, you won't be getting much value out of the new England skipper following his flying start in the Lord's Test. With 195 runs in the bank already, he is a prohibitive 1/6 to be his team's top run-scorer. But keep an eye on Alastair Cook at 6/1 behind him. He was finding his range in tough conditions in the second Test at Lord's, and will be hungry to cash in as the series progresses.