Skipper leads the way in batting market

Though Michael Clarke top-scored for Australia in the first Test, captain Ricky Ponting remains the favourite with bet365 to come out as the top Australia runscorer in the five-match Ashes series. The skipper looked in good nick in the second innings at Lord's and although his price has drifted slightly from 3/1 (4.00) to 100/30 (4.33), favourite, he's still on top.

Justin Langer is next at 7/2 (4.50) while his opening partner Matthew Hayden is 4/1 (5.00) and Damien Martyn is 9/2 (5.50). All three at least got starts at Lord's and Martyn's half-century in the second innings again showed that he's a sublime timer of the ball.

Clarke has been cut to 5/1 (6.00) from 6/1 (7.00) after a fine aggressive 91, an important innings for him after a recent poor spell with the bat. And Simon Katich, whose 67 on the third morning frustrated England, is now 6/1 (7.00) from 17/2 (9.50). Adam Gilchrist remains a 7/1 (8.00) chance after a relatively poor Test by his immensely high standards.

Ponting's best Ashes return is 417 in Australia last time out, a mark which was only good enough for third as Hayden and Langer plundered runs like there was no tomorrow. He was, however, the top Australia scorer in their last series against Pakistan and current form is, as always, important.

Bowling
As the first Test showed, the battle for top Australia wicket-taker is again set to be between arguably the two best bowlers of their generation, Glenn McGrath and Shane Warne, who took 15 of the 20 England wickets to fall at Lord's.

Warne began the series as a narrow 5/4 (2.25) favourite, with Glenn McGrath 11/8 (2.37), Jason Gillespie 11/2 (6.50), Michael Kasprowicz 6/1 (7.00) and Brett Lee 13/2 (7.50). Those odds have now changed quite a lot as McGrath's outstanding display at Lord's, particularly in England's first innings, alerted bookies to the fact that he clearly remains at or very close to his best. McGrath, who took nine wickets at Lord's is now 19/20 (1.95), while Warne, who bamboozled England again in the second innings to take six wickets in all, is 6/4 (2.50).

Brett Lee, who looked back to his best at Lord's after 18 months or so away from the Test arena, has been cut to 7/2 (4.50), while Gillespie, the only one not near his best form lately, is now 25/1 - a price perhaps influenced by rumours that Kasprowicz may be preferred for the second Test.

For the record, Warne has now taken 138 wickets in just 27 matches against England, but the only time he actually topped the wickets was on his Ashes debut in 1993, the series famous for "that" ball against Mike Gatting. In contrast, McGrath has topped the wicket takers in both of the past two Ashes tours and clearly relishes English conditions.

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