Chester-le-Street Test Match

Last week’s first Test was an absolute blast. The cricket itself which was pretty ordinary and dull, but our two backs of England left us with a doubled up stake on evens. It was a good start to our summer of international cricket, with the Ashes yet to come in July. As the second Test vs West Indies gets under way tomorrow can England and us confirm our good form at Chester-le-Street?

Chester-le-Street is a new ground (since 2003) so there are not many matches to go on. England have played three and won three here. A nice 100% record but the opponents were Bangladesh. Zimbabwe and the shocking 2007 incarnation of the West Indies. That’s hardly a stellar lineup.

The problem here is that in these early season conditions WI are not much better so should we just lump on England again? In the first Test there were bad signs for England. The batting failed apart from Ravi Bopara and Swann and they changed the game. England have scored 400 in every first innings here though so maybe a buy of runs around 350 may be worth a go.

But I have to say my thoughts – and this is dependent on weather – is that the English seamers have proved too good for West Indies batters in every match, both senior or county, that has been played on this trip.

Only Shiv Chanderpaul worries me for longevity at the crease and so I do not see why we should try and be cute and do anything but back England. The price is 5/6.

Take it and we will again trade live and possibly look to bolster it if England start well.

Betting Update, Day One

England have won the toss and are in to bat. The pitch looks white but can still offer
assistance to the seamers while the clouds are gathering. I want to watch a
bit and only buy runs when the sun is shining.

For the moment though we
have our one unit back at 5/6.

Day Two Update

The rain is killing the second day. Our back of England was fine after yesterday and we can accept one day washed out but we really need the weather to clear for the weekend. If it does all the moisture will at least make batting harder and the English seamers will have plenty of chances to attack the West Indies’ batting.

This is all reliant on the weather tomorrow though and I have checked 3 forecasts and had 3 different opinions!

Final Day Update

We were stuck with our 5/6 back of England and in need of enough play for the fragile West Indian batting to be dismissed. Thankfully the rain gods were kind on Saturday and Sunday and the overs lost were manageable. Also England bowled well and forced West Indies to follow-on.

The equation is that we have one day left and seven wickets are needed. If the weather holds England should win this match. It all depends on the weather.

There have been opportunities throughout the weekend to secure a profit from our starting point of 5/6 and England have traded around 4/6 on Betfair. However, I have held and hope for play to start on time this morning.

Result

The sun was shining and our good old bowlers have done the trick. West Indies are all out and England have won the second Test by an innings and 83 runs, meaning we bank our 5/6 bet from Thursday.

We have effectively taken three units around evens for the two Test matches which is handsome winnings and puts us in good stead for the rest of the summer. Well done England and well done us.