Edgbaston could be happy hunting ground for Lara

West Indies are 11/2 outsiders to bounce back in the second Test at Edgbaston which begins on Thursday. England, the form team after their win at Lord's, are a miserly 5/6, and the draw 29/20.

Given recent history, a long-odds punt on West Indies may be worth considering. The two most recent fixtures between the teams at Edgbaston, in 1995 and 2000, have followed a depressingly similar pattern for England fans. England batted first, conceded a first-innings lead, and were bowled out cheaply in the second innings. However, the West Indies attacks in 1995 (Ambrose, Walsh, Bishop, Benjamin) and in 2000 (Ambrose, Walsh, King, Rose) are rather a different prospect to the inexperienced 2004 vintage.

The toss is a major factor in matches here. In the last ten matches at Edgbaston, there have been eight victories for the team batting second, and not a single win for the side batting first. If Lara has the courage to win the toss and field - a move which backfired badly at Lord's - he could reap dividends.

England's highest score in their last four matches against West Indies at Edgbaston is a feeble 255 in a losing cause in 1991.

In last year's match - against South Africa - Michael Vaughan led the scoring for England with a well-crafted 156. However, the main highlight of that match was an opening stand of 338 between Graeme Smith, who made 277, and Herschelle Gibbs (179). Punters wishing to back the skippers in the Top Team Batsman markets can get 7/2 on Vaughan to top-score in the first innings for England, and 9/4 on Lara to lead the West Indies runscoring.

Bowlers struggled in last year's match, and Lord's hero Ashley Giles was England's leading wicket-taker with four wickets. The in-form Giles is 20/1 to repeat his Man of the Match award at his home ground.

Other bets worth considering are 4/5 Shivnarine Chanderpaul in the Batsman Matches market against Ramnaresh Sarwan, and 5/4 West Indies in the First Innings Lead market.