Betting Guide - England V West Indies

1st Test at Lords, May 6th - May 10th

1st Test Odds

England are 11/10 with Bet365, Betfred, Boylesports, Coral, Paddy Power, Sportingbet, Stan James, Totesport, VC Bet and William Hill.
West Indies are 11/2 with 888sport, Blue Square and Boylesports.
The draw is 6/4 with Ladbrokes and Sky Bet.


The first home Test of the English summer gets under way at Lords later today. England now with a permanent head coach in Andy Flower will be looking to start to build some solid foundations after a turbulent 12 months or so.

England have shown positive intent going into the series with only five batsmen selected for the 1st Test, with Ravi Bopara making his debut at number 3 the selectors have shown that they are prepared to invest in youth rather than keeping on going back to the tried and tested older players - although that might change should the Ashes series get off to a bad start. With the overcast and damp cold conditions and early season seam movement though the prospect of seeing two spinners play seems an unlikely one meaning debuts for Tim Bresnan and Graham Onions. Graeme Swann looks set to maintain his hold on the spinners position.

The West Indies preparations seem to be disjointed to say the least, so far they have no form whatsoever and the captain and coach seem to be having a public slanging match.

They still have not sorted out the problem position of opening partner for Gayle with neither Devon Smith or Dale Richards making a meaningful claim for the spot - Lendl Simmons is an opener by trade but seems to have been brought over to bat in the other problem batting spot in the middle order. Add to this the fact that no one managed any runs in the warm up matches and it dosen't look good for the West Indies.

Then you have the issue between Chris Gayle and John Dyson. Dyson made it clear of his frustration at Chris Gayle being allowed to stay at the IPL for a few days extra meaning he only arrived in England early on Monday when he stated that the decision wasn't his own and pointed the finger at the West Indies board - a board well known for making good decisions as we all know. Gayle with his comments made it fairly clear that he dosen't agree with Dyson's view suggesting their is a slight disagreement in the camp.

England are the bookies favourites for this series and with the seamers usually in business in these early season conditions it's hard to disagree. They can be backed to win the series outright at a best price 8/11 with Boylesports, Stan James and Sky Bet.

The West Indies are 11/2 with Totesport, Blue Square and 888sport. While the draw is a best price 9/4 with Sportingbet.

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