December 24th – Cricket (Boxing Day Tests)
We have 2 tests we are looking at for Boxing day. Australia plays Pakistan at the Melbourne Cricket Ground whilst South African hosts England at Durban.
Australia vs Pakistan
At the MCG there is some decent value around on the Aussies and a short price on the draw due to the expecting foul weather. I still think the Aussies are good value at $1.80 but i’m not keen to touch it after rain has ruined a few good bets we’ve had recently. It’s funny how people jump all over the draw when the weather is predicted to be bad when bad weather also makes it much harder for batting as the ball swings more and the pitch becomes unpredictable.
In the series markets there is some good value in the Pakistan Series leading run scorers. I watched a lot of the Pakistan vs New Zealand test series and was really impressed with the debut of Umar Akmal who batted without fear and scored very well averaging over 60 in his first series. His brother Kamran Akmal has been a regular fixture in the Pakistan team since 2002 and has also found some good form in recent times with the bat. The Betfair markets hasn’t really setlled yet although you can get $13.50 about Kamran where as for Umar the best value is SportsBet who has him listed at $5.50.
I struggle to find a standout in the Australian team. Simon Katich ($4.60) has been very solid of late and wouldn’t be a bad option if you felt you had to have a bet. You couldn’t posssibly back Ricky Ponting with his injury that may see him miss the 1st test. A good player of spin will be fairly important as Danish Kaneria is a quality bowler and will probably be the leading wicket taker for the Pakistani’s so that brings Michael Clarke ($6.20) heavily into contention.
South Africa vs Pakistan
In Durban i am really keen to get all over South Africa to topple England in the 2nd test. We only just missed the money in the first test when England held on with 1 wicket to spare for a draw. South Africa would come out of the test match feeling very confident that they had the better of the test and would be keen to turn the tables on the Poms. South Africa also are likely to be strengthend in their bowling attacks with Dale Steyn expected to come back into the side. Meanwhile England are in disaray with their line-up with the struggling performances of Ian Bell and Alastair Cook whilst their bowling attack struggled thoughout the test.
We’ll have a couple of small bets here.
$100 on UMAR AKMAL to be the leading run-scorer for Pakistan in the series at $5.50 on SportsBet (Sports Managed Fund 5% Bet)
$40 on KAMRAN AKMAL to be the leading run-scorer for Pakistan in the series at $13.50 on Betfair (Sports Managed Fund 2% Bet)
$200 on SOUTH AFRICA to beat England in the 2nd test at $2.74 on Betfair(Sports Managed Fund 10% Bet)
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