They couldn't, could they?

Well that will teach me. I just knew that writing the words, England look rock solid, would come back to haunt me. The only thing that consoles me is that England must be more embarrassed by me after their defeat by Bangladesh in the second one-day international.

Level at 1-1 in the three-match series it will now just take one slip-up to undo a lot of the hard work they have done over the past 18 months in building up a winning formula in the one-day game.

Bet365 make Bangladesh just 6/1 - I say just, but it would have been double that price had England won the second game - with England 1/10 to restore sanity by winning it and clinching the series.

Bangladesh will obviously be buoyed by their triumph and will be going all-out to create a bit of history but surely England will have had a bit of a kick up the backside and will go on to win it.

Original preview
England fans wondering exactly when their side is going to start playing Test cricket again will be dismayed to learn that though it is only a few weeks away, there are yet more one-dayers to come first, with Bangladesh the opposition

England will begin the series on Thursday with plenty of confidence, of course, after a series win over the Australians, a 3-2 scoreline that does not really show how dominant they were, going 3-0 up before easing off in the final two matches.

Kevin Pietersen has been given the time off to get ready for the Tests - he is also carrying a slight injury - while Graeme Swann is also rested after playing more cricket than anyone over the past 12 months.

Now a series against Bangladesh is not the most competitive that they could play but the tourists are far better equipped in this format of the game than they are in Tests and if England don't concentrate they could find themselves embarrassed.

Bet365 make England 1/25 favourites, which is about right as if they don't, there is something seriously wrong. They are 1/4 to win it 3-0, which they also should do, barring a washout, which is always possible. A 2-1 win for the home side is 15/4, a 2-1 Bangladesh win is 14/1 and a 3-0 whitewash for the Bangladeshis is 66/1.

Having tipped Craig Kieswetter to top-score in the series against Australia and seen him struggle for top form, I am reluctant to do so again, but he is something of a flat-track bully and against the bit-par Bangladesh attack, he may be worth it at 3/1.

That said, Bangladesh actually have plenty of options with the ball and it may end up being a player rather than a slogger who comes out on top. Bet365 go 9/4 on captain Andrew Strauss being the top man in the series, with Kieswetter 3/1 and Eoin Morgan and the recalled Jonathan Trott both 9/2.

Though the top runscorer in a series usually comes from the top three in the betting order, I fancy Paul Collingwood to go close at 5/1. If there are early wickets he will look to stay there until the end each time and he is good enough to make big, quick scores when needed.

James Anderson and Stuart Broad share favouritism to be England's top bowler in the series at 9/4 and of those two, in English conditions - if the sun stops beaming down as it has of late - I would go for Anderson thanks to his greater ability to swing the ball.

Tim Bresnan is 4/1, James Tredwell 9/2, Ajmal Shahzad, given his big chance, is 5/1 and Michael Yardy the same price.

England will be guarding against complacency from the start and a couple of players are playing for their places, so a 3-0 win should happen.