Yet another one day international tournament starting later this week, this time a three-way competition – known as the Celkon Mobile Cup – between West Indies, India and Sri Lanka, to be held in the Caribbean.
The Celkon Mobile Cup is a 7 match tri-series competition that will be played at two grounds, Sabina Park in Jamaica, and the Queen’s Park Oval in Trinidad. It is a seven match tournament taking place from 28th June to 11th July, with each team playing the other two teams twice in a round-robin format, with the top two contesting the final in Trinidad on 11th July.
Not without controversy, the tri-series is basically the result of the scrapping, or rescheduling (whatever way you wish to look at it), of a Test series between West Indies and Sri Lanka, due to be played last May. The two boards conveniently decided that this was a better option, and with a lot of their players due to be at the IPL at the time, they may well have had a point.
The fact that India have now been drafted in to the itinerary leads the cynic in me to believe that the original decision was taken more with this competition in mind, as opposed to the decision being taken with the best interests of Test cricket at heart.
Anyway enough of me moaning.
After their ICC Champions Trophy victory last Sunday, and confirmation of their status as the best ODI team in the world, it is no surprise to see India as favourites in the cricket betting to also win this competition.
In the outright winner betting, the online bookmakers currently have India as 11/8 favourites, host side West Indies at 7/4, and Sri Lanka at 9/4.
From a betting perspective, the tournament appears to have credibility. All three competing nations have named their strongest squads, so at least the prices we are seeing in the betting odds can be taken as fair.
According to the weather forecasts, there appears to be a bit of rain in the air over the next couple of days, in the form of thunder storms. In this part of the world, this can be hit or miss, but never the less, this is a factor that needs to be taken into account when betting… what with the possibility of Duckworth/Lewis, etc.
It also brings the Betfair ‘Completed Match Market’ into play, which can be more fun than actually betting on cricket at times.
The first match is today at Sabina Park, and sees West Indies taking on Sri Lanka. West Indies are favourites at 8/11, and Sri Lanka are 11/10.
