Sir Geoffrey does it again.

Couldn't help but laugh at the reports in Monday's newspapers that the BBC have had to apologise for a swearing outburst from the controversial and in my opinion very funny Geoff Boycott.

I was watching Sunday's game on the tele so missed all the radio commentary but the reports say he was overheard shouting 'fucking tosser' from the back of the commentary box at the fall of the wicket of Ryan McLaren.

It reminded me of the time around 12 months ago when Five Live had him on the phone to discuss English players participating in the Indian Premier League, it was in response to suggestions made by Andrew Flintoff that the England players could learn more and become better players if they played in the IPL.

Naturally Geoff didn't agree with Flintoff's observation and suggested financial motives where the real reason behind the idea.

The interview by Mark Saggers ended in abrupt fashion when after a typical Boycott rant he concluded things by saying that the theory from Flintoff was a load of 'Bollocks'.

During Sagger's apology (it was about 8 in the evening) to anyone offended by the language you could hear studio guests John Motson and the other guest (I can't quite remember who it was) sniggering in the background, Saggers, by this stage laughing himself went on to say Boycott - who was in his South African home, two hours ahead of GMT - might have been on the wine as it was late at night where he was.

It was Sir Geoffrey at his best.

I hope the BBC don't decide to get rid of him or not 'renew his contract' in light of this latest misdemeanour as his absence would be a loss for cricket. Although not in everyones opinion.

It would be ironic if he where to be sacked or moved sideways, as with his old adversary Duncan Fletcher turning up in the TMS box the sight of Boycs packing his things and being escourted off the premises in the presence of Fletcher would be a sight to behold for "our esteemed former coach" who certainly wouldn't miss him.

Momentum is the word

After thrashing England by 112 runs in the 3rd ODI on Friday, South Africa were apparently the team carrying all the so-called 'momentum' into today's 4th ODI.

Now I'm not getting carried away as an England fan by a couple of recent wins, they are still far from the finished article and in my opinion playing a very average South African ONE DAY unit.

But this recent buzz word phenomenon that is 'momentum' would appear to need to be treated with a bit more caution.

Was it this 'momentum' that caused Graeme Smith to overlook the fact that there was grass on the pitch when he won the toss today and elected to bat? Does this also mean you can completely disregard the conditions and carry on playing in the manner that you did two days previous on a different ground?

Is this also the same 'momentum' carried forward by Australia from the Headingley Test to the Oval Test last summer? The 'momentum' that gave Ricky Ponting the wisdom not to change a winning side and recall his spinner?

Hopefully should England reach the dizzy heights of having 'momentum' they will also have the calmness of mind (ie,from Flower and Strauss) to treat each game or innings on its individual merits and not get carried away with media hysteria of this myth.

The problem with Paul Collingwood

Paul Collingwood has again been making his presence felt with plenty of talk this time from both his cricket and via his regular media contributions.

It got me thinking about how quickly things can change in the cricket (and sporting in general) world. At the end of September, I was one of probably many who felt Colly should shut up and concentrate on his cricket following his appauling form at the back end of the Ashes series.

I also don't mind admitting I thought it was time to drop him and move on at that stage. He has since come back as strong as ever and made me think why am I so quick to jump on him when things start to go wrong?

I can only come to the conclusion that when Colly is bad, he is awful. He doesn't just look out of form he can look totally out of his depth and embarrassing, as I believe he did in the last two Ashes tests during the summer.

Then add to that Colly's ability to still try and be a voice of authority, speaking out of the dressing room as if he is a stalwart of the side when his batting looks anything but, can be very annoying.

He comes across as a man who thinks he is undroppable and I think that is what gets my back up.

You just get the impression that he should keep his head down and concentrate on getting his game right, not telling the World how good he and England is and how they are going to bounce back.

Maybe I'm wrong though and this is a sign of Colly's mental strength, a positiveness that should be appaulded rather than knocked, the ability not to hide away when things are tough? I don't know.

What I do know is that when he bounces back like this I can see why the selectors have so much faith in him.

Ok, this is limited overs cricket where I believe he is at his strongest and he still has the test matches to come where he will really be tested by the South African bowlers - maybe a defining series in his test career after the poor Ashes performance, but so far so good for Colly, keep it up.

Duncan Fletcher and Geoff Boycott on TMS

As a regular listener to Test Match Special (only option when working during the week) I was intrigued to hear that the opinions of former England coach Duncan Fletcher are to be heard on the programme during both the ODI and Test match from Cape Town this winter.

With Fletcher's past history of verbal run-ins with regular TMS member Geoff Boycott still fresh in the memory it would be interesting to be a fly on the wall when the two men inevitably cross paths at some stage during Friday's ODI from Cape Town.

In Duncan Fletcher's autobiography 'Behind the Shades' he is fiercely critical of Boycott in response to what seemed to Fletcher like constant criticism from Boycott of him during the last 18 months of his reign as England coach.

Fletcher wrote in his book about how he went mad at Boycott during a telephone call when Boycott phoned his house to ask him if he'd like to meet up with him for a game of golf. Fletcher apparently couldn't believe Boycott's nerve and let him have it in response to what Fletcher described as “a litany of scornful stuff" from Boycott's newspaper columns.

Boycott to be fair has had more than enough goes at Fletcher himself, once calling him a sour hypocrite and also on occasions calling for Fletcher's head. Bearing all this in mind it would seem highly unlikely of any type of kiss-and-make-up between the two.

There would appear to be very little chance of the two men being on the air together as Boycott is only a summarizer and I would have to imagine that would all that would be required of Fletcher, as regular listeners know only one summarizer is on air at any time alongside one of the main commentators, Jonathan Agnew, Christopher Martin-Jenkins, Henry Blofeld (another one who felt Flethcher's wrath in the book) and usually a guest commentator from the opposition such as Tony Cozier if playing against West Indies.

The only time two summarizers will usually get on air together is when there is a long delay, for example during a break for rain, where a general chat - usually hosted by Jonathan Agnew - might take place with one or more of the summarizers - what chance should the opportunity arise that a mischievous producer might manage to get Boycott and Fletcher on the microphone together.

We await that rain break with bated breath.

Australia V West Indies - Test Match Betting

2nd Test Match Betting

Australia are 1/3 with Stan James and Boylesports
The Draw is 7/2 with Sportingbet and William Hill
West Indies are 12/1 with Bet365 and Betfred


Test Series Winner Betting - Australia lead series 1-0 (Best of 3)

Australia are 1/20 with Sky Bet
A Drawn Series is 16/1 with Ladbrokes
West Indies are 66/1 with Ladbrokes


Fixtures/Results

1st Test - Nov 26th - Nov 30th at Brisbane
Australia 480/8d; West Indies 228 and 187 (f/o) - Australia won by an innings and 65 runs

2nd Test - Dec 4th - Dec 8th at Adelaide
3rd Test - Dec 16th - Dec 20th at Perth

New Zealand V Pakistan - Series Betting

2nd Test Betting

After a tight first day, New Zealand are just edging ahead in the bookies finishing the day at 11/10, in from 15/8. Pakistan have gone out to 2/1 and the draw is the significant mover, drifting out to 7/2.

Pakistan ended day 1 on 161/6

New Zealand are 11/10 with Stan James
Pakistan are 2/1 with Bet365
The Draw is 7/2 with Sportingbet and Bet365




Test Series Winner Betting New Zealand lead (best of 3) series 1-0.

New Zealand are 8/11 with Stan James
A Drawn Series is 5/2 with Bet365
Pakistan are 6/1 with Bet365 and Boylesports


Fixtures/Results

1st Test Nov 24th - Nov 28th at University Oval, Dunedin

New Zealand 429 and 153; Pakistan 332 and 218
New Zealand won by 32 runs

2nd Test Dec 3rd - Dec 7th at Basin Reserve, Wellington
3rd Test Dec 11th - Dec 15th at McLean Park, Napier

England call up Tredwell

England have called up James Tredwell to the ODI squad to cover for injured Graeme Swann, Tredwell joins Liam Plunkett who had already been drafted in as cover for their injury hit squad.

The selection of Tredwell dosen't bode too well for Monty Panesar who is playing just down the road for the Highveld Lions franchise at the moment. This goes to show how far down the pecking order Monty has fallen recently, that the selectors would rather fly a bloke in than use him.

England's injury crisis might well end up being a blessing in disguise in one way as the way Mahmood and Bresnan are bowling at the moment getting anyone in who can bowl straight must be an improvement on what we have seen so far.

I can understand trying out youth, but the accuracy and control Sidebottom can give you is being badly missed at the moment. Only the other day on TMS, Geoff Boycott was commenting on how wide of the crease Bresnan bowls and was insisting that the Yorkshire coaches have told him to get closer to the stumps but that he seems incapable of doing this.

Begs the question why England brought him, surely they must liase with county coaches and could have already found this out.

India V Sri Lanka - Day 2 Betting

Sri Lanka are the big drifters in the betting, going out from 4/1 to 10/1, after India amassed 385 for 6 from the 90 overs bowled on day 1.

Sri Lanka got off to a good start, having India 33 for 4 at one stage before a blitz from Yuvraj, Dravid and MS Dhoni put India totally in control by stumps.

The bookies only see two outcomes now with India at evens and the draw at 5/4, only when Sri Lanka bat will we get a better idea if the pitch is as good as India made it look after their dodgy start.

Match Betting

India are evens with 888Sport and Bet365.
The Draw is 5/4 with Totesport
Sri Lanka are 10/1 with Paddy Power and Boylesports

India V Sri Lanka - 1st test betting preview

1st Test Match Betting

The Draw is favourite at 11/8 with Totesport
India are 6/4 with Stan James
Sri Lanka are 4/1 with Betfred

A massive series is in the making here as both sides have a chance to take top spot in the ICC Test Rankings depending on the outcome of the contest.

For Sri Lanka - who currently stand at No.2 in the rankings - any series win will see them take over top spot, while for India a 2-0 win will see them replace current occupants South Africa.

Hard to pick any form here as India haven't played test cricket since April, having only played three tests all year such is the amount of limited overs cricket they play these days. While for Sri Lanka they have never won a test in India from 14 attempts and are looking to put an end to the suggestions that they are not the best travellers.

India may well be caught up in the hysteria surrounding Sachin Tendulkar who is currently celebrating 20 years of top class cricket, a remarkable achievement. But when you look down their test team it does have a far more solid look to it than any limited overs side they put out, the batting from 1-6 must be the best in the World.

India will welcome back Zaheer Khan and how they have missed him over the past few months, the bowling seems to lack a leader and a bit of know how when Khans not in the side, expect Ishant Sharma to benefit most with the pressure of being the main seamer lifted off his shoulders.

For Sri Lanka this is now the time for them to take the next step up in their development and a series win here would mean the likes of South Africa and Australia would have to take their aim of being the top side in the World seriously, the calmness of Kumar Sangakkara as both batsman and captain will be a major factor if they are to pull it off.


Possible Teams

India - Gautam Gambhir, Virender Sehwag, Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, VVS Laxman, Yuvraj Singh, MS Dhoni (C & WK), Harbhajan Singh, Zaheer Khan, Ishant Sharma, Amit Mishra.

Sri Lanka - Tharanga Paranavitana, Tillakaratne Dilshan, Kumar Sangakkara (C), Mahela Jayawardene, Thilan Samaraweera, Angelo Mathews, Prasanna Jayawardene (WK), Nuwan Kulasekara, Thilan Thushara, Muttiah Muralitharan, Ajantha Mendis

India V Sri Lanka - Betting

3rd Test Match Betting

India are 1/4 with Betfred
The Draw is 18/5 with Totesport
Sri Lanka are 80/1 with Sportingbet and Bet365


Test Match Fixtures/Results

1st Test Nov 16th - Nov 20th at Sardar Patel Stadium, Ahmedabad
India 426 and 412/4: Sri Lanka 760/7dec - Match Drawn

2nd Test Nov 24th - Nov 28th at Green Park, Kanpur
India 642; Sri Lanka 229 and 269 (f/o) - India won by an innings and 144 runs

3rd Test Dec 2nd - Dec 6th at Brabourne Stadium, Mumbai

South Africa V England - 1st T20 Betting

Match Betting

South Africa are favourites at 4/9 with Ladbrokes and William Hill
England are 2/1 with Sportingbet
A Tied Match is 35/1 with Betfair

Injuries seem to be dominating England's build up to the opening (international) fixture on this tour, already without Stuart Broad and Kevin Pietersen, England have had doubts over Alastair Cook, James Anderson and Graham Onions in the week long build up to this game.

There was even talk of Andrew Strauss taking part in this game should Alastair Cook not make it.

For South Africa they are resting Jacques Kallis, but apart from that they have a full strength squad to pick from.


With England's disjointed build up I wouldn't be backing them at 2/1. Also South Africa are no bankers but they would be expecting to start the series with a win, 4/9 looks a good price but with their form in one day cricket lately I think I would just watch this one, keeping my cash in my pocket.

Series Betting

South Africa are 6/5 with Blue Square and 888Sport
A Drawn Series is 5/4 with Bet365
England are 5/1 with Ladbrokes and Totesport

The great live cricket on TV debate is reopened

As expected it has been announced that the 2017 home Ashes series should only be available on 'free-to-air' television and it has already reopened the great TV debate with the ECB already vowing to fight it tooth and nail.

It is a difficult arguement for me. On one hand Sky have backed (and bankrolled) English cricket for years now, they were the first broadcaster to show England's away tests and have also screened live womens's cricket and England's under 19's matches, giving them all exposure they could never get anywhere else.

The other side of the coin is that the English public have been starved of watching English tests now since the Ashes in 2005, in a sense the euphoria of that summer hasn't been built on as many new fans from that series were probably lost come the summer of 2006 when all home cricket went to subscription TV.

The ECB will argue strongly against it as you would expect them too, after all the Sky TV money is their main income. They will also argue that the development of grass roots cricket and half of the counties - who apparently need that money to survive - will lose out if Sky lose their monopoly on the exclusive rights.

Personally I think that the counties would survive, they would have years to plan ahead and budget for any changes in income. After all they survived for long enough before Sky came along, I get the feeling they are exaggerating the potential situation somewhat, and who can blame them as no one wants to lose over a million pounds a year.

With the next step being a 12 week consultation period there will be plenty of time for Giles Clarke to get his point of view across and make a strong arguement, there have already been noises coming out from ECB moles suggesting this won't be taken lightly and there is already a suggestion that this is merely a political manoeuvre by the Government to get one back on Rupert Murdoch for publicly backing the Conservative party through his Sun newspaper for the next general election.

For me, I know that 2017 is a long way off but this issue needs to be sorted and can't be left. Personally I think that Sky have done a good job and that taking the Ashes off them is the wrong step.

I also think that Giles Clarke reneged on an agreement that some cricket would be left on free-to-air television, I know his arguement will be that the BBC and Channel 4, etc didn't even bother to bid during the last contract negotiations, but they probably knew they wouldn't stand a chance and couldn't justify bidding extortionate amounts of cash for test cricket.

It's for this reason that I personally think the ECB and Sky are been punished and is why I think they brought some of this on themselves. If they had left an affordable package of some sorts available for free-to-air television, maybe 1 test a year or a couple of ODI's then this situation probably wouldn't have arisen.

Ok, it would have diluted the Sky money a bit, but with a section of that cash being made up by terrestrial TV the short coming surely wouldn't have been that much. With the extra exposure the England team would have been given to the public this would help balance out the cash shortful.

As ever in these situations greed seems to have taken over and ruined things. Giles Clarke went for the big Sky cheque instead of taking less money and a more balanced TV rights package which offered more public exposure which would benefit cricket more in the long run.

Sadly I think this is a problem of the ECB's own making.

India V Australia - 7th ODI Preview

Match Betting

India are 8/13 with Paddy Power
Australia are 6/4 with William Hill
A Tied Match is 50/1 with Betfair.

Nothing but pride left for India to play for now, after the beating they have taken over the last week it's hard to envisage that even a victory here would salvage much of that for them. If thats not bad enough then to lose to the side Australia are likely to put out on Wednesday in Mumbai would have to be the ultimate insult to Indian fans.

With Shane Watson and Mitchell Johnson gone back to Australia a couple of days early for some extra rest it seems likely that the not so well known Burt Cockley will make his debut and also Andrew McDonald, spinner Jon Holland could also figure if Australia decide to rest Nathan Hauritz.

For India to lose to a side made up of replacements for replacements in front of a fanactical Mumbai crowd would be a disaster for MS Dhoni and his team. Dhoni has already this year had to return home without the World Twenty20 crown they failed to defend in England and they also had a disaster at the ICC Champions Trophy in South Africa last month. The Indian public must be running out of patience with him by now.

With the exception of Sachin Tendulkar's 175, a massive 124 from Dhoni at Nagpur, a couple of half centuries from Gambhir and an assured batting display from Dhoni and Yuvraj in the third game, India's batting has looked fairly fragile so far in this series. Any idea of experiments will probably go out of the window tomorrow in an attempt to put a respectable look on the scoreline.

One thing that can't - and shouldn't - be papered over by a potential win tomorrow for a side who had aspirations of becoming the number one ODI side in the World is the fact that India have been comprehensively beaten by a makeshift Aussie side, when the high pressure moments have occured during this series Dhoni's men have come up well short and at times looked to lack the composure or brains to know how to deal with the situation.

At a best price of 8/13 India are expected to win, I wouldn't be too confident in them though as after what has happened their confidence must be low. Also it dosen't seem to matter who Australia have thrown out on the ground during this series, they all seem to have done the business for Ricky Ponting. For these reason I think I'll give betting on this one a miss!

Possible Teams

India - Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Yuvraj Singh, Suresh Raina, MS Dhoni (C & WK), Harbhajan Singh, Praveen Kumar, Amit Mishra, Ishant Sharma, Ashish Nehra.

Australia - Shaun Marsh, Adam Voges, Ricky Ponting (C), Cameron White, Michael Hussey, Andrew McDonald, Graham Manou (WK), Clint McKay, Jon Holland (or Nathan Hauritz), Doug Bollinger, Burt Cockley.

Pakistan V New Zealand - ODI Series Top Run Scorers

Top Run Scorers in Pakistan V New Zealand One Day International Series Updated at end of series, 09/11/09

228 - Brendon McCullum, NZ
128 - Khalid Latif, PAK
85 - Mohammad Aamer, PAK
84 - Salman Butt, PAK
83 - Daniel Vettori, NZ
79 - Aaron Redmond, NZ
75 - Kamran Akmal, PAK
75 - Shahid Afridi, PAK
74 - Martin Guptill, NZ
61 - Abdul Razzaq, PAK
48 - Mohammad Yousuf, PAK
44 - Jacob Oram, PAK
44 - Ross Taylor, PAK
37 - Shoaib Malik, PAK
36 - Saeed Ajmal, PAK
28 - Scott Styris, NZ
25 - Shane Bond, NZ
22 - Younis Khan, PAK
21 - Umar Akmal, PAK
10 - Umar Gul, PAK
8 - Kyle Mills, NZ
5 - Tim Southee, NZ
4 - Ian Butler, NZ

Pakistan V New Zealand - ODI Series Top Wicket Takers

Top Wicket Takers in Pakistan V New Zealand One Day International Series Updated at end of series, 09/11/09

6 - Saeed Ajmal, PAK
5 - Daniel Vettori, NZ
5 - Shahid Afridi, PAK
5 - Umar Gul, PAK
4 - Jacob Oram, NZ
4 - Abdul Razzaq, PAK
4 - Mohammad Aamer, PAK
4 - Tim Southee, NZ
4 - Shane Bond, NZ
3 - Scott Styris, NZ
3 - Kyle Mills, NZ
1 - Shoaib Malik, PAK
1 - Ian Butler, NZ

Books and DVDs

DVDs

Here on cricket betting blog I have put together a selection of books and DVDs about cricket that I find interesting, and to start with, as an England fan I have selected winning Ashes series DVDs as my favourite viewing.



Not many to choose from over the last 20 years or so. The most recent is The 2009 series Ashes victory, The official story on DVD, which tells the story of how England won a scrappy series 2-1. It includes how Monty and Jimmy Anderson held out for a draw in Cardiff and Flintoff's remarkable match winning performance at Lord's.

After the rain affected draw at Edgbaston, England were then thrashed at Headingley. Then the final Test at the Oval, Ian Bell set up England's 1st innings total with a hard fought 72, before Stuart Broad's inspired spell of bowling and Jonathan Trott's maiden century finished the job and won England the Ashes.

Before that was arguably the greatest test series ever, certainly in my time of watching cricket. The next DVD is the The 2005 Ashes, 3 disc box set, from the 2-1 home series victory over Australia.

Including action from the Aussies win at Lord's. The unbelievable 2nd Test from Edgbaston. The Aussies celebrating a draw at Old Trafford, then England taking the momentum to Trent Bridge and taking a 2-1 lead. Finally the remarkable scenes at the Oval after Kevin Pietersen's brilliant hundred saved the match and won the series for England.


BOOKS


2009 Ashes

Atherton's Ashes: How England Won the 2009 Ashes. A collective of Mike Atherton's newspaper columns from over the course of the summer, along with his views of the series as a whole.

Gideon Haigh's take on the story of the 2009 Ashes Series : The Ultimate Test

England's Ashes: The Exclusive and Official Story of the npower Ashes Series 2009 Written by Peter Hayter this book includes input from the England squad, giving you their views on the series and how they felt during and after it.


Bodyline Series

Harold Larwood - The story of one of England's greatest ever bowlers by author, Duncan Hamilton. The man made the scapegoat for the 'bodyline series' which almost brought Anglo-Australian relations to the brink of collapse.

Bodyline Autopsy The Full Story of the Most Sensational Test Cricket Series - England Vs. Australia 1932-3 David Frith's account of the story of the most contraversial Test series ever.

In Quest of the "Ashes" by Douglas and Fianach Jardine. Douglas Jardine's take on 'leg theory' as he called it, and his plan to neutralize Don Bradman.


Autobiographys

Matthew Hoggard - Hoggy: Welcome to My World: The Peculiar World of Matthew Hoggard, this book was described as confirming Hoggard's retirement from international cricket, given his opinions on the ECB and the selectors.

Shane Warne - My Autobiography - Warne's version of events of his colourful career.

Michael Vaughan Time to Declare - Vaughan's take on his career.

Andrew Flintoff: Ashes to Ashes Flintoff charts his turbulent time between the 2005 and 2009 Ashes series.

Coming Back to Me: The Autobiography of Marcus Trescothick Tres tells all about his struggles with anxiety and depression.


Alternative Cricket Reading

Wisden Cricketers' Almanack 2010

Wisden Cricketers' Almanack 2009

Shane Warne's Century: My Top 100 Test Cricketers

Aussies wrap up series win

Australia sealed a remarkable series win over India with a comprehensive six wicket victory at Guwahati on Sunday giving them an unassailable 4-2 lead in the best of seven series.

There are a number of factors which make this win all the more remarkable, limited overs cricket to the Indian fans seems to be more the Holy Grail unlike in England or Australia where test cricket seems to still be the pinacle with most fans and players. To beat India in their own backyard in one of their preferred formats is a decent achievement in itself.

Before we get to the injuries, the side was already going through a period of transformation with new faces such as Cameron White, Callum Ferguson and James Hopes being given a chance to establish themselves, on the whole the new faces seemed to fit in quite well which was promising for Ricky Ponting after the disapointment of the Ashes series defeat.

Then we can take into account the amount of cricket Australia are currently in the middle of playing. They have already played in the World Twenty20, The Ashes series, seven ODI's against England, the ICC Champions Trophy and then a large proportion of the team were involved in the Champions League tournament for a couple of weeks before the current seven match series against India.

Six players were part of the Victoria and New South Wales squads who both made the semi-finals. Of the six, three of them, Brett Lee, Nathan Hauritz and Doug Bollinger of New South Wales played for their state side in the final, two days before the start of this series.

Then there is the injuries, already without the services of front line players Nathan Bracken, Brad Haddin and Michael Clarke, added to that up and coming Callum Ferguson before the start of the tournament.

They then had to cope with the loss of Brett Lee after one match, followed by James Hopes, Tim Paine, Peter Siddle and Moises Henriques, not to mention the fact that Mitchell Johnson had to play through the series carrying an ankle injury that would surely have been rested given different circumstances.

This series victory must be one of the most satisfying of Ricky Ponting's career. After all the negative talk about his captaincy after the Ashes defeat, Australia have beat England 6-1 in an ODI seres, won the Champoins Trophy and now won this series.

If it had been done with a settled side it would have been a good victory, but to do it with a makeshift team of replacements, and further down the line replacements of replacements and at times a team made up only of who is fit to play is a remarkable achievement.