England's batsmen backed to pile on the runs

For many people, summer begins officially on Thursday when England take on Bangladesh in the first Test at Lord's. While only the very rich will make money out of backing England at 1/50 (1.02), and while very few will take 66/1 on Bangladesh, the individual player markets will be popular.

England's batsmen are expected to make hay against a Bangladesh attack which is expected to be poor and which is certainly inexperienced. Bet365 can't split the openers Andrew Strauss and Marcus Trescothick for England's top first innings batsman. The two are joint favourites at 11/4 (3.75), although the table below shows that Lord's has not been the happiest of hunting grounds for Trescothick over the years. He averages just 31.66 there in Tests, well below his overall 43, while Strauss averages 56.63 in all, but a massive 91.75 in his few forays at Lord's so far. The captain Michael Vaughan is 7/2 (4.50) to come out on top while Ian Bell, in just his second Test, is 5/1 (6.00). Graham Thorpe and Andrew Flintoff are both 6/1 (7.00).

For Bangladesh, the bookies are clearly hedging their bets, with nine men available at 8/1 (9.00) or less to top the scoring in the first innings: that's terrible value for punters. For the record, Habibul Bashar is a narrow favourite at 4/1 (5.00), while Mohammad Rafique, who averages 32.25 in his past 10 Tests, is 11/1. (12.00).

Bet365 are clearly expecting England to dominate overall with the bat: Strauss and Trescothick also top the Man-of-the-Match market at 11/2 (6.50). The fast bowler Steve Harmison - in good form for Durham early in the season - is third favourite at 6/1 (7.00), while Vaughan, Flintoff and Matthew Hoggard are all 13/2 (7.50). In contrast, Ashley Giles, who may not get to bowl that much if England's pace attack is successful, is 16/1 (17.00).