Australia Vs New Zealand 1st Test Preview

Brisbane  5th-9th November 2015

Australia return to the test arena following their humbling in England over the summer and the cancellation of their tour to Bangladesh in October with the visit of New Zealand, the first test between the tow nations since 2011.

Prior to the first test, the war of words between the two camps has been raging, with David Warner accusing New Zealand captain Brendan McCullum of being immature, and underlining Australia's ultra-agressive attitude, both on and off the field. 

This series with be Steve Smith's first as test captain, and Australia's first since the batch of post-ashes retirements. This means that there are a lot of new faces in the Australian XI, with Joe Burns and Usman Khawaja coming into the top order, who have played two and nine tests respectively so far. With Smith confirmed to be batting at four, Adam Voges the only other recognised batsman in the squad, and Mitch Marsh as an all-rounder, this line-up looks very thin to me. The bowling unit, as expected, is much more experienced, with Johnson and Starc leading the line and Nathan Lyon as the spin option. 

New Zealand, on the other hand, boast a lot of experience across the team, having essentially the same squad that toured England earlier this summer. The new ball partnership of Tim Southee and Trent Boult are one of the best in the world right now, and the with Williamson, Taylor and McCullam in the middle-order, the batting also looks very strong. 

Looking at just the teams, you would certainly think that Australia look vulnerable here, particularly in the batting department. With well-matched bowling attacks, this match may well be decided on who is able to get runs on the board, and an untested Australian side is difficult to trust in this regard, especially with such a thin-looking batting line-up. 

Historically, however, Australia's record at the Gabba is formidable, having not lost a test since the West Indies visited in 1988. This is reflected in the current odds, with the market pricing Australia as 1.74 favourites, with New Zealand at 4.3 and the draw at 5s. With both sides known for their positive cricket, a lay of the draw looks a banker here from the off. I'm also very tempted to take the 4.3 about New Zealand here, as I really think Australia are as weak as they have been for years, and can see this price coming in a lot shorter. Given the historical record of Australia at the Gabba, I won't be looking to hold onto this for too long.

I also like the look of Kane Williamson at 4s for top New Zealand bat, as he's proved himself to be one of the worlds best in all conditions. Steve Smith is a little short for top Australian Batsman at 3.25, but is difficult to see where else runs will come from in this side, so might be worth a poke. 

Overall, though, this test should prove an excellent insight into what's to come from these two sides during this series, and one I'm very much looking forward to. 

Pakistan Vs England - 2nd Test Preview

Dubai 22-26th October 2015 

 After what developed into an excellent Test match between these two sides at Abu Dhabi, despite the lifeless pitch, we now move on to Dubai, where pitches have in the past proved to be much more lively. If not huge entertaining for the most part, the first Test has given an indication as to how the two sides will approach the series.

Pakistan, as brilliant as they can be, are also capable of some terrific batting collapses. Given that they had been in the field for two and a half days before their second innings, the subsequent capitulation could be forgiven, but is certainly worth noting from a trading point of view, particularly with Younis and Misbah both being the wrong side of 35. England were a big surprise for me, and I was impressed with their attitude in the first innings, particularly from Cook, applying themselves diligently to build a first innings lead. This is in stark contrast to the touring sides in the UAE last winter, both of whom struggled when batting second.

 With Pakistan set to welcome Yasir Shah back into their squad, I would expect him to provide the cutting edge that their bowling attack lacked in the previous Test, and a more helpful surface should provide their seamers with more to work with. This England batting line up have never faced a quality leg spinner, and so Shah should ask some serious questions of them. England, on the other hand, are set to be unchanged, with Ben Stokes back in training after an injury scare. Adil Rasheed's five-for in the second innings will boost his confidence after what was a bit of a flogging in the first, but he could struggle against a fresher Pakistan attack who will be less willing to throw their wickets away than they were on the fifth day in Abu Dhabi.

Overall then, we have two fairly evenly matched sides playing on a ground that has produced just two draws since 2010. In terms of taking a position before a ball is bowled, similarly to the first Test, a lay of the draw at 3.5 looks the pick of the Match Odds, with little value about Pakistan at 2.42 and England at 3.25. As with the last Test, we will hopefully see the draw trading a lot lower in play, and I will be looking to oppose at short prices as the Test progresses. The toss will be important here, as ever in the subcontinent, as the side batting first will have the best of the conditions both with the bat early on and with the ball in the fourth innings. With this in mind, backing Shoaib Malik at 5.5 for top Pakistan batsman should they win the toss looks nice. I liked the look of Imran Kahn with the ball as well, and if it starts to reverse I think he could cause some serious problems for the England batsman, so the 6s on him to be top Pakistan bowler looks good. A quick look at the England top batsman market, and Moeen Ali at 7.5 looks very generous from Paddy Power, as does the 6.5 on Ian Bell. Both are struggling for form slightly, but will not get a better chance to rectify that in batting friendly conditions, and both are excellent player of spin, which they will likely face plenty of.

 All in all, this Test should be excellent to trade, with both side capable of the sublime and the ridiculous, and conditions looking to provide more of a contest between bat and ball that previously, with this in mind I'll be looking to be active in the Match Odds market, and will try to tweet anything I see as value during the match.

Pakistan Vs England - 1st Test Preview

Abu Dhabi 14-19th October 2015

With Australia's tour of Bangladesh due to start last week cancelled due to security fears, the post-Ashes Test cricket drought comes to an end on Tuesday with the first day of England's visit to the UAE.

England come into this tour after an impressive Ashes victory, but in facing Pakistan in unfamiliar conditions face a very different challenge to that posed by Australia in England.

The hosts comprehensively beat a much better Australian side to the one England recently dispatched, and drew the three test series with New Zealand, losing just one test over the whole of their home series. This loss was the final test of the summer, and a very jaded Pakistan lost by an innings, having played five tests between the 22nd October and 26th November, and so fatigue was a big contribution to this performance. Incidentally, Brendan McCullum and Kane Williamson put on 297 for the second wicket in New Zealand's 690 in this test. The Pakistan squad named for the England series is much the same as for these tours, and so I expect Pakistan to be very strong. Their batting is exceptionally good in these conditions, as is their bowling; in Rahat Ali they have a wicket-taking new ball bowler, and Yasir Shah is one of the best legspinners in the world, and very much at home in the UAE, picking up 12 wickets for 17.25 against Australia.

As has generally been the case with England sides over the last two years or so, there is a big question mark over who will open the batting with Alastair Cook, with Moeen Ali looking to have made the cut, despite Trevor Bayliss' comment that it's "not ideal". This is hardly a vote of confidence in Moeen, and speaks volumes about the England coach's opinion of Alex Hales, particularly since neither of them got into double figures opening in the latest warm-up match. There are also selection issues around Jos Buttler's place in the side, as his Test batting form is poor, and Jonny Bairstow, his most likely replacement as wicket keeper, has been scoring runs for fun this season. Whatever the final XI, England's batting looks shaky to me, and I can see the unfamiliar conditions and Pakistan's quality spin bowling causing serious problems. England's spin bowling is a concern as well, with Adil Rasheed set to play his first test and Moeen likely to provide the second spin option. Rasheed is untested at this level, and if Pakistan are able to blunt him, Moeen is far from a specialist and unlikely, in my opinion, to trouble the Pakistan top order, one of the world's best batting units against spin.

In terms of betting, I can't look past Pakistan here. There is a huge trend for the home side winning tests at the moment, and an even bigger one for a result, and so this seems like the best play. Current prices on the machine are 2.32 to back Pakistan, 3.35 England and 3.6 the draw, and at these prices I'd be a bit wary of getting involved, as I think there will be much better opportunities during the match, especially if Pakistan win the toss and bat first. The two series last year showed just how quickly matches in the UAE can change direction, and a general trend was the draw traded very low in each of them before the visiting side lost wickets quickly, and ultimately capitulated. The ideal situation for me here would be for Pakistan to bat first and bat long, well into the second or even third day, for the draw to trade well below evens before England bat. If this occurs, I'll look to back Pakistan at the end of their innings, and also to be a big draw layer, scaling out liability as England lose wickets. Should England bat first, I can still see the draw getting short during the first innings, but think that it's much more likely in this situation, particularly if England bat past tea on day two. All in all, I really like Pakistan here, and will be looking to develop a position on them as the match develops. Keep an eye on twitter, as I will try to tweet when I think there's some value to be had.

Sri Lanka Vs India – Second Test Preview

Colombo 20 - 25th August 2015

After a quite incredible Test in Galle, India's tour of Sri Lanka moves north to the P Sara Oval in Colombo. The first test consisted of India skittling the hosts for 183, having got them 60/5, and then putting on 375 in their first innings. This lead of almost 200 runs looked safe enough, and with Sri Lanka 5/3 in their second innings, an innings victory for the hosts looked likely, and the market priced them at sub-1.10. A counter-attacking 162* from Dinesh Chandimal with lower-order support from Thirimanne and Mubarak got SL to 367, a lead of 175 runs. Sri Lanka's spinners Herath and Kaushal them promptly cleaned up the Indian batting line up for 112, picking up 7-48 and 3-47 respectively.

This result clarified two things for me, firstly that this Sri Lankan side has plenty of guts, something that I had doubted in my preview of the first Test due to the lack of experience in the squad, and secondly that that 'Indian batsmen are good player of spin' cliche can finally be put to bed as a myth.

There has, however, been little talk of changes to be made by either camp, although Stuart Binny was flown in for the Indians between the Tests and opening bat Shikhar Dhawan has left the Indian touring party with a broken hand. This will be Kumar Sangakkara's final Test match, and backing him to be top Sri Lankan bat at 4s with Corals purely for sentimental reasons is something I'm looking at. Other standouts in this market look to be Chandimal at 8s and skipper Angelo Matthews at 6s.

In the match odds market, the hosts are currently 2.86/2.88, India 3.35/3.4 and the draw 2.80/2.82. As ever with Tests at the moment, opposing the draw looks an excellent play here, the batting of both sides has proved itself to be fragile, and both camps have been emphasising the fact that they'll be chasing the win.

Looking at previous Tests on this ground, the last draw here was in 2003, and this is the only one in the last 13 Tests here since September 1993, so history is on our side. There are some thunderstorms forecast, but this was the case for the last Test in Galle, and we didn't get any interruptions there, and these sides only need three days and one session to wrap up the four innings in that game.

I'm not convinced to back either of these sides here, Sri Lanka are still an inexperienced side, despite a strong performance last time out, and India are equally likely to come roaring back at their hosts as they are to collapse in a heap. The lay of the draw at 2.82, therefore, is the best play in my opinion.

The Ashes - Fifth Test Preview

The Oval 20 - 25th August 2015

The fifth and final Test of what has been an incredible series so far kicks off at the Oval this Thursday as a dead rubber, since England wrapped up the series last time out at Trent Bridge.

I very much doubt, however, that either side will be approaching this match as an irrelevance, with the England camp talking up the importance of winning 4-1, which would be the first time ever England have won four Tests in a home Ashes series, and Australia looking to prove a point following a hugely disappointing tour so far.

Both sides are in transitory stages, with England in the final stages of rebuilding after the previous away Ashes series, and Australia preparing to lose captain, and final remaining member of the great Aussie side of the 2000s, Michael Clarke. Along with Clarke, opening batsman Chris Rodgers has confirmed that this will be his last Test, veteran seamer Ryan Harris withdrew from the squad, and there are question marks over the future of several other players, Watson, Voges, Fawad and Haddin in particular. Steve Smith has, rightly, been named as successor to Clarke's captaincy, but will not be in charge for this Test, leaving a side that looks to me to be very much betwixt-and-between, waiting for this tour to be over to move on.

This aspect of the Australian squad is making me lean towards backing England again here, with the price currently at 2.5 on the Betfair Exchange. Given the two biggest trends in test cricket at the moment, the lack of draws and the struggles that away sides are having, this seems to be the best play for this match, closely followed by a lay of the draw. I'm planning to effectively take both, but to skew my green from the draw lay onto England, with some green on the visitors, and all liability on the draw. This doesn't give as good value on England, but it does cover me should the Aussies put up a fight. I think we can fairly safely discount the draw here, the weather seems set fair, with perhaps some showers on day one, and the way these two sides are playing, we could lose two full days and still get a result. The oval pitch should provide a bit less seam movement, but it seems England have realised that they're actually quite good in these conditions, and have started ordering pitches to suit, so we may well see another here.

In terms of other markets, there's not a great deal I can see. Rodgers as top Australian bat at 5s might be worth a small play given how he's really the only Aussie bat to show any fight this series. It looks like Anderson will miss out again, and with this being a meaningless test, backing Finn or Wood for top English bowler might be a good play. As discussed in my Fourth Test Preview, Broad has a tendency to turn up when it matters, and as this is a dead rubber, may just go through the motions here. Dutching, betting on both, Finn and Wood gives odds of 2.5 should either finish as top bowler, which looks ok value to me.

Good luck in the markets, and if you have any questions please get in touch on twitter or leave a comment below.

Sri Lanka Vs India - First Test Preview

Galle - 12th - 16th August 2015

The first of this three test series sees these two subcontinental sides contest a five-day match for the first time since 2010, a game in which VVS Laxman and Virender Sehwag scored centuries for India, who ran out 5-wicket winners. In the meantime, these sides have played 25 ODIs, and changed dramatically in terms of personnel.

The two sides have both struggled to rebuild recently, following the retirement of numerous legendary players, and the respective squads for this tour reflect that. India's certainly looks more settled, with a core that's been together for a couple of years or so now. Sri Lanka's side, on the other hand, looks very inexperienced, and with the legend that is Kumar Sangakkara playing his last test series, the hosts could struggle should India find themselves in a strong position and they need to dig deep to fight back. Sangakkara himself has an excellent record at Galle, scoring 1876 runs at 53.60 in 22 matches, and, although the 3.75 on him to be top Sri Lankan batsman seems a little skinny in terms of value, this is his penultimate test, and with the inexperience around him, he should be close to top of the pile. Backing Kumar Sangakkara for top SL batsman at 3.75 is, therefore, something I'll have a little interest in, but small stakes here are advised.

On the balance of sides, then, India seem to have the upper hand, but one huge factor putting me off backing them is their dismal away record since over the last 25 tests, winning just two and losing 15. Given the struggles India have had away from home, a widespread problem among test sides at the moment, a straight back of them is, to me, not a comfortable bet to take, and with Sri Lanka's new look squad, a back of them is, if anything, less comfortable.

Turning to the ground itself, of the 25 tests played here, Sri Lanka have won 13, lost 6 and drawn 6, and since 2008 we have only seen two draws. Being in Sri Lanka, there may be an issue with rain affecting play, but we have had a similar forecast for the last few tests at Galle, and we have had results in these. The draw is currently trading at 1.85 on the Betfair Exchange, and there is certainly no value in backing it at that price. With the relatively few draws at this venue, and the make up of the two squads here, I definitely think that a result in this match is the most likely outcome, and therefore I'm taking a lay of the draw at 1.85.

Trading on Betting Exchanges

Since the launch of Betfair's betting exchange in 2000, online gamblers have been able to trade the outcome of sporting events, that is, to place more than one bet on the same market at different odds, either to ensure that some profit is made, or to cut losses early when things aren't going to plan. Cricket, especially test cricket, is an excellent sport to trade, as there are often dramatic swings in matches which can provide excellent opportunities for traders to capitalise on.

To provide a step-by-step guide on how to use a betting exchange, and to hopefully give you another string to your betting bow, I'll talk through the example of the Ashes 2015 Series Winner market below. Going into the first test in Cardiff, before a ball had been bowled in the series, the market looked something like this:

England: 5.25 (19%)

Australia: 1.46 (68.5%)

Draw: 9.2 (10.9%)

I've included the implied probability for each result here, as understanding what the odds represent is crucial to successful trading. Essentially the market was pricing the chance of Australia winning the series at just under 70%, and I felt that this was an inaccurate representation of the true probability of Australia winning three of the five tests, and, therefore, that laying Australia at these odds offered value.

Why did I think that Australia's chances of winning the series were less than 68.5%? Well this was more of a gut feeling type bet rather than anything based on quantifying statistics. Although England's form had been very poor over the last year or so, the sacking of coach Peter Moores and the appointment of Trevor Bayliss seemed to me to bring a freedom to England's cricket. The drawn series against New Zealand earlier in the year, the first since Moores' sacking, saw England play some excellent cricket, and I felt that any replication of this against the Australians would make life very difficult for the visitors. The fact that it's a home series for England also indicated to me that the Australian's wouldn't have the easy ride the market was pricing in, and I made their chances of winning the series closer to 50-55%, and so layed the 1.46 on offer.

My intuitions on the standard of cricket England would play were proved right during the first test at Cardiff, and, although my bet was nicely positioned at the end of this game, I was keen to remove my risk from the market, as I was happy that my initial assessment was correct, and I felt that Australia under-performed in this test, and were likely to up their game in the remainder of the series. I therefore backed them at 2.54, a price I felt represented fair value at the time, leaving me with a level profit across all three outcomes.

Of course, given that there were four tests left in the series, if I had different risk preferences there were other options I could have taken. I could have backed Australia with all of the profit for my lay bet, meaning that I would have had no liability in the market, and essentially a free bet on Australia, or I could have done the opposite, covering my liability on Australia leaving profit on England and the draw, making this a free lay of the visitors. Should the result have gone the way of Australia, and England had reverted to the type of cricket we saw during the previous Ashes series, I would have been able to back Australia, at shorter odds that I layed them, which would have meaning I would have taken a loss, but a smaller one than if I had just let my bet run until Australia had won three tests and the series. Having this control over your bets is why so many gamblers prefer to trade on exchanges, rather than with traditional bookmakers.

The charts below show the price movement of this market up to the start of the fourth test, and, as you can see, there have been some dramatic swings in the pricing over the three previous test matches.



There are two very important concepts mentioned above, namely understanding the odds and identifying value, which it is essential to understand as a gambler, and I have gone into a lot more detail on these here. I hope the example of my trading on the 2015 Ashes Winner market gives a good illustration of how to use these concepts to generate profit from sports betting. If you've got any questions, leave a comment below or get in touch on twitter.

Understanding Odds and Identifying Value

There are two very important concepts that combine to form the key to long-term success in sports trading, namely understanding the odds and identifying value, and it is well worth taking the time to understand what these mean for anyone who gambles on sports.

Understanding the odds essentially means identifying what the market is pricing as the probability of that particular outcome, this is called the implied probability. There is a useful tool for calculating this here, but to work it out yourself, it is just 100 divided by the decimal odds. To take the example of Australia's price to win the 2015 Ashes Series on the Betfair Exchange prior to the series starting, 100/1.46 = 68.49%.

Once you have identified the markets expectation of the probability of a given outcome, you can then go about identifying if and where there is value in the market. Value is where the implied probability of an outcome in the market is different to the actual probability of that event. To take the classic example of a coin toss, there is a 50% probability of either heads or tails occurring on any given toss. If we were betting on this, what odds would represent value here? The total probability of all outcomes is 100%, and dividing this by the probability of each outcome (50%), gives fair value odds of 2.00 for both heads and tails. Let's say that there is a market for this on a betting exchange, and the odds (to both back and lay) are 1.90 heads, and 2.10 tails, is there value in this market (assuming a non-rigged coin)? Calculating the implied probabilities for each outcome (100/1.9 for heads and 100/2.1 for tails) gives a 51.6% chance of a heads, and a 47.6% chance of a tails. The market is, therefore, overpricing the chance of a heads, and underpricing the chance of a tails, and so there is value here, either in laying the 1.90 for heads, or backing the 2.1 for tails.

Of course, either outcome could occur, and just because we have found value does not mean that we have found a guaranteed winner. What it does mean, however, is that we have a positive expectancy, an edge. That is, over a large number of outcomes we expect to profit from the discrepancy between implied and actual probabilities. To use the coin toss example, if we backed tails at 2.1 for £10 over 1000 coin tosses, we expect to lose 50% of these (-£5000), but to win the other 50% (+£5500), resulting in a net profit of £500.

Where sports trading gets complicated is in deriving accurate probabilities for the different outcomes of an event. There are plenty of different methods of doing this, from supremacy ratings based on detailed statistics to just having a hunch that one side will perform on a given day, but what all of these methods have in common is that they identify where there is a mismatch between the implied probability in the odds and the actual probability of an outcome.

Learning to identify value in sports markets can be difficult if you're new to it, and so it's advisable to limit stakes and manage your bankroll properly while you're developing your eye for value. I'd also recommend spending time on twitter looking at what more experienced gamblers are doing and trying to get a feel for why they are taking their bets on.

This can be quite a complicated topic, so if there's something you'd like clarified, please leave a comment or get in touch with me on twitter, and I'll do my best to help. For a really good introduction for sports betting, including a discussion of the above, I'd recommend Bettingexpert.com's academy.

The Ashes - Fourth Test Preview

Trent Bridge 6th - 10th August 2015

After a fast and furious test at Edgbaston, with England recording an impressive victory over a limp Australian side within three days, the fourth Ashes test rolls into Nottingham with the series very nicely poised at 2-1 to the hosts with two to play. A victory for England here would wrap up the series, whilst a defeat would make the final test at The Oval a winner-takes-all match, and so both sides will be approaching this game looking to win.

England will be missing James Anderson through injury, with Liam Plunkett and Mark Footitt being brought into the otherwise unchanged squad as potential replacements. Obviously, Anderson will be a huge miss for England, especially given his impressive record at Trent Bridge, having picked up 53 wickets in eight tests at an average of 19.24. His absence will mean that Stuart Broad, who has picked up 25 wickets at 23.24 in his previous six tests at Trent Bridge, will be England's senior bowler. Broad has bowled excellently so far this series, although this is not reflected in his 12 wickets at 27.41. Given England's otherwise inexperienced bowing attack, and Broad's tendency to produce game-changing bowling spells when it counts, backing Broad for Top England Bowler at 3.75 looks like good value.

Australia seems to have selection headaches in all departments, with their batting line up, which looked imperious two weeks ago at Lords, flopping to 136 all out in the first innings at Edgbaston, and the seam attacking looking toothless, with the exception of one excellent over from Mitchell Johnson. Journalistic consensus seems to be that Adam Voges will be dropped for Shaun Marsh, who will bat at 4 with Michael Clarke moving to 5. Clarke has had an extremely poor series so far, scoring just 94 in 6 innings, averaging 18.8, and his previous two tests at Trent Bridge have been disappointing, having scored 115 at 28.75. There is also talk of Peter Siddle being brought into the side at the expense of Josh Hazlewood to give the Australian bowling attack more of a wicket-taking threat. Siddle has played one test previously at Trent Bridge, picking up 8 wickets at 16.87, and also had a fairly impressive summer with Notts in 2014, and so will be familiar with the conditions. Siddle can be backed for Top Australian Bowler at 5.5, and given the lack of a threat from the remaining Australian seamers last week, this looks to offer some good value.

Turning to the outright market, Australia are currently favourites, at 2.14 on the Betfair Exchange, with England 3.6 and the draw at 3.8. My play here is to lay the draw at 3.85, as neither side will be content with a draw, the weather looks set for the five days and the pitch looks to be very similar to Edgbaston's, with a healthy covering of grass. I am also tempted to take England, as I think the 3.6 is very generous, giving them an implied probability of 27.8% of claiming victory, and there are rumours of a growing discontent within the Australia squad around the selection of Peter Nevill ahead of Brad Haddin at Birmingham. However, given England's inconsistent record, WLWLWLW over their last seven tests, the swings so far in the series, and Australia's toughness, I prefer opposing the draw.