England drift after Flintoff injury

Just when things were looking up for England, they suffer another hammer blow with the news that Andrew Flintoff is out of the entire Pakistan series through injury and the home side have drifted slightly to 13/10 (2.30) for overall victory.

Pakistan, who were outplayed by England for much of the first Test at Lord's, are 7/4 (2.75) to come out on top while the draw is a 12/5 (3.40) chance.

Flintoff's loss is bad news for England for several reasons as not only was his bowling and batting missed at Lord's, but he has become a good captain and leads the side well.

However, England's batsmen excelled at Lord's, throughout the match, particularly Paul Collingwood - who obliged at 7/1 (8.00) by top-scoring for his side and stand-in captain Andrew Strauss, while the bowlers worked hard.

The fact that Flintoff is out means that Alastair Cook, Ian Bell and Collingwood will probably all retain their places in the side.

England have won 21 and lost just 14 of 69 Tests at Old Trafford, even though of the four Tests at Old Trafford against Pakistan, three have been drawn and the visitors won the other.

Other markets
In the correct score markets, the favourite outcome is a 1-1 draw, which is a 100/30 (4.33) chance. An England 1-0 win is just 5/1 (6.00), a 2-0 win is 11/2 (6.50) and the favourite Pakistan win outcome is a 1-0 win, which is available at 7/1 (8.00).

Andrew Strauss, who will continue as captain in Flintoff's absence, is 9/4 (3.25) favourite to be top series runscorer, while Collingwood is 100/30 (4.33). Pietersen is 4/1 (5.00), Cook is 5/1 (6.00) and Marcus Trescothick is 6/1 (7.00).

For Pakistan, Mohammad Yousuf, who was outstanding at Lord's, is 2/5 (1.40) to come out on top, while Inzamam-ul-Haq is 5/4 (3.25).