Sri Lanka's tail could wag

After a quiet couple of months on the cricketing front, Sporting Index have come good with a traditionally strong set of markets on the forthcoming series between Sri Lanka and England and as usual, there could be some tasty markets to get your teeth into.

As strong favourites on the fixed odds, Sri Lanka are predictably high on the straight series win index, with Sporting making them 42-45, with 25 points for a win and 10 for a draw, tie or abandonment and nothing for a loss.

England, who I have a sneaky feeling for, are 25-28, suggesting they will lose the series, so if you are bullish about their prospects, a buy at 28 might be worthwhile.

Kumar Sangakkara, who has hit a massive 1430 runs in his past 10 Tests, tops the betting in terms of total series runs, with Sporting making his spread 265-280.

Now on his recent form, he deserves that, but generally, that's a very big price for a three-Test series. Indeed, he only averages 34 against England and in his last two three-Test series against them, he has totalled 105, 165 and 221. Having scored six hundreds and two doubles in his past 10 matches, he is, of course, capable of great things, but England know how important his wicket is and will have worked on plans to stop him scoring. It looks a small sell to me.

Specials markets
As always, my eyes are drawn to the Tails of the Unexpected markets, with Sporting making both sides 190-210. This market awards 1 point per run scored by numbers 8, 9, 10 and 11 in all three Tests.

This is a great market, partly because it keeps your interest throughout the series, but mostly because it tests your understanding of how the matches will be played. It does not, for example, always follow that if one team is struggling then their 8, 9, 10 and 11 will score more runs because they have more opportunities. Sometimes, when a team is on top, the confidence stems down to the tail and they make a hat-full.

In the past two three-Test series between the two sides in Sri Lanka, the home side managed 144 and 315, compared to 143 and 265 for England. So Sporting would appear to have taken a rough average.

However, with Steve Harmison unfit and rusty, James Anderson carrying an ankle injury and the general lack of assistance for pace bowlers in this part of the world, I find it hard to see how England will bowl Sri Lanka out twice.

On the other hand, England's batting, though more resilient these days than it was, is still susceptible to the odd collapse, and messrs Hoggard, Anderson, Sidebottom and Panesar are unlikely to trouble the scorers too much. The inclusion of Stuart Broad could help things, but the tail looks pretty weak - so much so that Muttiah Muralitharan must be licking his lips at the prospect.

Sri Lanka, by contrast, have some players down the order who can bat. Chaminda Vaas, providing he plays, has a Test century to his name, while even Muralitharan can swing the bat to good effect.

Providing they actually get enough chances to bat - and I don't think there'll be too much to choose between the two sides - I can see Sri Lanka's total being closer to the 300 mark than 200 - so it looks worth a buy. The hot, sultry conditions make life tough for bowling sides, particularly late in an innings, so England may struggle, allowing the Sri Lankan tail to wag.