England expected to shine again

Sporting Index have been quick to update their player markets after England's hammering of Bangladesh at Lord's last week and it's no surprise to see the quotes for home players shoot through the roof.

Marcus Trescothick, quoted at 170-180 before the start of the series, is now 290-297 after his brutal 194 at Lord's, while the captain, Michael Vaughan, has been lifted from his original quote of 140-150 to 193-200 after his fine 120 at cricket's HQ. Andrew Strauss, who hit 69, is understandably lower at 160-167, while the fact that only five of England's batsmen made it to the crease is reflected in the quotes for the lower order.

Graham Thorpe, initially on offer at 100-110, is 100-107 after 42 at Lord's, while Andrew Flintoff, who didn't bat, has been cut from 100-110 to just 57-64. As always in these matters, it's important to try to judge how many times each player is likely to bat, with the weather forecast in the north of England an added consideration. Ian Bell, who made 65 not out at Lord's, is up to 130-137 from 100-110.

Before the first Test, Sporting offered Habibul Bashar at 94-102. On the face of it, that looked fairly generous given that he averages almost 35, but 19 runs in his two efforts have resulted in his spread being cut to 60-65. Mohammad Ashraful, offered at 70-78, is now 37-42, while the opener, Javed Omar, who made 47 in his two Lord's innings, tops the list on 90-95.

As you'd expect, England's bowlers have also moved up after their success at Lord's. Offering 10 points per wicket and a 25-point bonus for a five-wicket haul, Matthew Hoggard, who took six wickets, is now 115-120, from 100-110. Steve Harmison, who'll be playing on his home ground, is actually lower than he was before the first Test, despite taking four wickets. His quote has fallen from 115-125 to 98-103. Andy Flintoff, who took five wickets, is now 85-90, from 60-70. For Bangladesh, Mashrafe Mortaza, who took two of the three England wickets to fall in the first Test, is 40-43, having been 42-47 before Lord's.

Special markets
Having highlighted Sporting's "Trade Deficit" market before the first Test, it's worth noting that it has risen by 150 points after England made a stackful of runs. The market, which estimates by how many runs England will outscore Bangladesh in the first innings of the two Tests, was 570-600 before Lord's. Anyone who sold it at 570, thinking that Sporting may have overestimated how bad Bangladesh were, will be praying for rain at the Riverside, as it's now 760-780.

Both team's markets in the "Tails of the Unexpected" category, which concerns the aggregate number of runs scored by Nos. 8, 9, 10 and 11, are likely to fall. England's market was just 46-54 before Lord's, but since only five men batted, the running total is zero. With a similar scenario more than likely at the Riverside, expect Sporting to cut it to around 25-28.

Thinking that Bangladesh would bat twice in each Test, Sporting set Bangladesh at 150-160 in the same market, but after their poor efforts at Lord's, when the combined total was just 25, expect that to fall to around the 100 mark. However, be careful before selling it, as in their past four Test series, Bangladesh's total "Tails of the Unexpected" reads as follows: 270, 205, 171 and 425. Each of those were two-Test series.