Guest post written by Anthony Raine
We are going to look at a very lucrative market which we can make serious money from with just a nominal risk.
For the last 3 months Alastair Cook of Essex & England has had a torrid time at the crease struggling to get the ball off the square at times, and when this happens it is time to step in and take advantage by laying him to be top scorer in the top batsman market. I have layed him over 10 times at odds of 7/2 to 5/1 he has failed to land the odds on each occasion and I intend to continue to lay him at level stakes until he returns to form.
There are numerous opportunities throughout the season to profit from players out of form. Kevin Pietersen, ‘ARE YOU MAD’ I hear you shout he’s the world’s best batsmen, well Mr Pietersen is bang out of form and he is not the only one in the England team. Just spend an hour or so going through players past scores over the last few months and the opportunities will spring out at you.
Take particular note of opening batsmen out of form as they have to face the new ball and this makes it more difficult for them. If you had watched Alistair Cook over the last few months you would have cringed at how out of touch he is and at the very highest level it is more prominent.
The upcoming one day and Twenty 20 series against Pakistan (more of the cheating later) is an ideal opportunity to profit from the top batsmen markets, consider laying Alistair Cook in the one day games, I don’t think he will play the 20 Twenty’s (I personally don’t think he should play the one days either !!!) but he is a must lay if he plays.
I was going to suggest laying Kevin Pietersen but It has just been announced that he has been dropped for the forthcoming series (unbelievable when they continue with Cook who is not a one day player in my opinion).
You can apply this method to all form of cricket and at every level where Betfair offer a market, which is every live game and a large number of games that aren’t live. All you need to do is use Cricinfo.com to select batsmen that are out of form, you will be surprised how long it takes for a batsman to return to form.
The modern game has seen the development of players and now it is not unusual for number 8’s and 9’s to score fifty’s and beyond which is all the better for us, as this makes the number of rivals to our lay even greater.
Now on to darker matters! On Sunday morning I awoke to Sky Sports News reporting of corruption in the 4th test taking place at the home of cricket, Lords. To say I was saddened would be an understatement.
To be truthful Pakistan do not have a good record of honesty and haven’t had for some time so it did not come as a total surprise to me and many others within cricket, but if we look at the larger picture the spot fixing, as it’s called, does not affect the UK as none of our bookies offer odds on how many no balls are bowled or if the next ball will be a no ball.
Basically what has been alleged is that the Pakistani bowlers were deliberately bowling no balls at specific times so that bets could be placed with illegal bookmakers in Pakistan and India. I know that cheating is cheating but bookmakers in the UK have already made it clear that none of their in play markets have been affected and Stan James who offer more in running and outright markets have stated that no wrong doing has taken place in this country. I can honestly say that cricket in England and the rest of the world is pretty straight.
Well after getting all the doom and gloom out of the way back to the investment side. England go to Australia this winter to defend the Ashes and I believe that England have their best chance of bringing the Ashes back to these shores for some time.
I am going to advise you all to lay Australia at 1.81 on Betfair. England will win a test match and if they win one early this price will lengthen dramatically and you can then trade out for a healthy profit.
I will look at the tour to Australia in great depth next month and advise some investments for the whole tour.
Until then thanks very much for listening and invest wisely.
Yours in sport
Anth Raine
Having worked as a manager for the biggest bookmaker in the UK, Anthony has now decided to join the world of full time professional bettors. Although betting on horses daily, his main focus is cricket but takes an interested in rugby league, football and occasionally tennis and darts.
