England cut despite injuries

England could barely have had any worse luck in terms of injuries in the build-up to the Test series against Sri Lanka, which begins on Thursday, but such was the abject nature of the tourists' defeat by England A last week that the home side have been shortened to 2/9 (1.22) to come out on top.

It hardly seems possible to believe but England are huge favourites, despite the loss of Simon Jones, James Anderson and Ashley Giles from the entire series.

Michael Vaughan and fast bowler Steve Harmison will not play in the first Test, which begins at Lord's on Thursday, but Sri Lanka, whose batsmen always struggle against swing and seam, are now 8/1 (9.00) while a drawn series is a 9/2 (5.50) shot.

Few England fans will forget what happened in 1998 when Muttiah Muralitharan spun England into a web with his magic and inspired Sri Lanka to victory in the one-off Test.

But the only time the two sides have met in a three-Test series on English soil ended in a comfortable 2-0 win for England, back in 2002.

The 1998 win was Sri Lanka's only victory on English soil, and while they have won three at home against them, they have still managed just four wins, compared to seven losses and four draws in total.

Muralitharan is still a massive threat to England's chances but Sri Lanka will be weakened by the loss of their captain Marvan Atapattu, who has stayed at home, while there is also no Sanath Jayasuriya to rely on.

The Sri Lankans did beat England at home last time, in 2003-2004 but that was at home and this is away, which is why they will rely so strongly on Muralitharan and Chaminda Vaas, who returns from injury.

England's problems
England, of course, have problems of their own.

Though skipper Michael Vaughan did not play in India, his absence will still hurt the make-up and balance of the team. while the bowling is severely weakened with Jones joining Harmison, Anderson and Ashley Giles on the sidelines.

However, after their comeback to draw in India, England will be confident that on home soil they can get the job done, as they did against Australia next summer.

Andrew Flintoff is set to captain the side while the likes of Paul Collingwood and Alastair Cook, who both played in India, are both in line to play at Lord's.

The correct score markets have an England 2-0 win as the favourite at just 2/1 (3.00), which seems incredibly tight. A 3-0 whitewash is just 12/5 (3.40), while surprisingly a 1-1 draw is the next in the betting at 6/1 (7.00).

Anyone who thinks Sri Lanka can take full advantage of England's injury problems can get 100/1 (101.00) on them completing a 3-0 whitewash of their own.