England odds-on but worth it

England hold all the aces going into the second Test at Edgbaston, starting on Friday, and even though bet365 know that and make them odds-on to win the match, at 4/7 they are still worth it for unless something dramatic happens, they should surely win.

The first Test at Trent Bridge proved what we already knew; that Pakistan have a talented, hugely promising bowling attack but that their batting is paper-thin in terms of depth. The call-up of Mohammad Yousuf smacks of desperation and though he is world class, he is surely too rusty to have an impact, if he even plays, that is.

England came through a couple of rough patches with the bat in the first Test and once again showed that they have people who can dig in when the top order doesn't fire. Eoin Morgan and Matt Prior did themselves the world of good with centuries and if Nos 6 and 7 can do that, then the future is bright for England.

Graeme Swann, England's best bowler over the past 12 months, barely even turned his arm over because the fast men were swinging it everywhere and we can expect more of the same at Edgbaston, unless someone like Pakistan captain Salim Butt, finds enough focus to occupy the crease for a substantial period of time.

Pakistan remain capable of ripping through a side from time to time and occasionally putting runs on the board but they are unlikely to make 400 at any stage at the moment. Bet365 make them 5/1 to win the match while the draw is on offer at 11/4.

Captain Andrew Strauss is favourite to top-score for England in the first innings at 10/3, with Kevin Pietersen a 7/2 bet. Pietersen looks short on hours in the middle but you simply can never write him off and all the talk about whether he could even be dropped may just be the spur he needs to knuckle down and play like we know he can. He averages 57 at Edgbaston in three Tests there and at 7/2 is not a bad price.

Jonathan Trott is 4/1, Alastair Cook, who could do with a few runs himself, is 9/2, Paul Collingwood is 11/2 and Morgan 6/1, with Prior 12/1 to smack the biggest score, as he did in the second innings at Trent Bridge.

Ridiculously, Yousuf is the favourite to be top runscorer in Pakistan's first innings, which is absolutely insane. He may be a marvellous player but he has not played Test cricket since March and has not been performing at anywhere near this standard of cricket of late, so to expect him to hit the ground running is far too much, at least in my opinion.

Captain Butt is more reliable and a better price at 10/3 while Imran Farhat and Umar Akmal are each 4/1, Yasir Hameed and Azhar Ali both 11/2, with Shoaib Malik and the occasionally dangerous Kamran Akmal each on offer at 7/1.

To my mind, Pakistan's only real chance is to get the best of the conditions in each innings and get a bit lucky here and there, for all things being equal, England should win this match and probably win it handily.