Sports Blog 19/05/2016: Test Preview – England v Sri Lanka, Thursday 19th to Monday 23rd May 2016

A much changed Sri Lanka have arrived in England ahead of this summer’s curtain raising test series, starting this morning at Headingley.

Gone are the great Sangakkara and Jayawardene, with captain Angelo Mathews leading a hungry, young side into battle against a rejuvenated England. Cook’s men go into the series as firm favourites, quoted at just 1/8 to take the series victory; the Sri Lankans are available at 14/1, with the draw chalked up at 7/1. For those looking for a slightly more enticing price on England the series correct score market may be of interest. Our traders make an England 3-0 whitewash 2/1, whilst a narrow 2-1 series win for the hosts is on offer at 15/2. On the spreads England series supremacy is pitched at 15-18, with 10pts for winning the series and 5pts per test won by. It is clear then that the Sri Lankans are really up against it in this series, with the traders giving them little respect despite their famous series win on their last tour of England.



As at the start of most English summers, several players will be looking to cement their place in Alastair Cook’s side. After the unfortunate retirement of James Taylor, it appears Hampshire’s James Vince will be given first crack at a place in England’s middle order. Vince is a heavy scorer, and there is a growing school of thought that his game will be ideally suited to Test cricket. Our traders quote his series runs at 185-200, with his series Ton Ups available at 16-21. It would be a sensational start to his test career were Vince to top score for England in the series, something our traders rate an 8/1 chance. You would think that any century would be enough to secure his place for the rest of the summer, with Pakistan arriving in July.

Alex Hales will be given more time to forge an opening partnership with Alastair Cook, having held off the challenge of Sam Robson for his opening slot. It’s been a mixed start to Hales’ test career, and with patience running out he will be desperate for a big score to really announce himself at this level. Despite Sanath Jayasuriya’s claim ahead of this series that Sri Lanka have the best bowling attack in the world, Hales should be licking his lips given a chance to open the innings in his home conditions. Our traders are certainly not getting carried away with Hales’ prospects however, with his series runs quoted at just 205-220. Given his opening partner Cook is pitched a full 55 runs higher, this perhaps shows the gulf in proven test class between the two. If you do fancy Hales to silence his critics, he is an 11/2 poke to top score for England in the series, and if you fancy him to go big his series Ton Ups are on offer at just 22-27.



Given Jayasuriya’s claim, the Sri Lankan batsmen should have no trouble seeing off the likes of James Anderson and Stuart Broad after a few net sessions against the likes of Nuwan Pradeep and Dhammika Prasad. In all seriousness though, the Sri Lankan line-up will have their work cut out in English conditions. Captain Angelo Mathews will be the mainstay of the middle order, with our traders pitching his series runs highest of all the tourist batsmen at 205-220. If you fancy the captain to lead from the front his series Ton Ups are on offer at 18-23. Of the other batsmen, the relatively experienced Dinesh Chandimal will have to stand up and be counted as well. With his series runs quoted just 5 lower than his skipper at 200-215 our traders clearly expect Chandimal to contribute well to the visitors’ middle order.

For what feels like the umpteenth time, England go into a home test series with Stuart Broad and James Anderson spearheading the attack. After his heroics last summer, it is perhaps Broad who would now have to be considered the leading threat, and our traders certainly share that view quoting his series bowler performance at 152-162, a full 12 points higher than the Burnley Lara (10 pts per wicket taken, 25pt bonus for a 5 wicket haul). With the test selectors again resisting the temptation to select Adil Rashid, Moeen Ali will be the lead spinner. Perhaps unsurprisingly in early summer conditions our traders are not overly optimistic about Ali’s chances of success, pitching his series bowler performance at just 92-100. One spinner who will perhaps be expected to pose slightly more of a threat will be Rangana Herath, with the Sri Lankan’s series bowler performance pitched at a more respectable 110-120.



A whole range of specials have been priced up for the 3 test series. Series Ton Ups are quoted at 257-272, with England Ton Ups 177-187 and the visitors 78-86. If you fancy the big-hitters to get stuck in then our series 6s quote of 22.5-23.5 may well be of interest. Series wides are quoted at 24-25, with series ducks at 11.2-11.7. Series off to a flyer (aggregate of runs scored in the first over of each of the 3 matches) is chalked up at 7.37.8, with England’s aggregate first innings supremacy pitched at 360-400. As well as these markets a whole range of specials will be on offer for each individual test match.

So it’s all set up for an intriguing start to the English test match summer. The hosts will be expected to win, and certainly can’t afford a repeat of their embarrassing defeat to this opposition on their last tour. Play gets underway (weather permitting!) tomorrow morning at 11am, with the all-important toss at 10:30. As ever, Spreadex will offer the fullest range of spread and fixed odds markets throughout the 5 days play, so stick with us for all the action!

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