Cricket Betting: Gayle convinced Windies can upset odds in Oz

Australia Cricket / Frank Gregan / 08 February 2010 / Leave a Comment

Will the West Indies captain be smiling at the end of the ODI series against Australia?

"The West Indies haven't won a 50 over one day contest against an international side since they beat India on the June 28 last year. Despite having 10 attempts!"

Chris Gayle believes his side can record a memorable ODI series victory over Australia. Has he lost the plot, asks Frank Gregan.

They say that jockeys are the worst tipsters in the world but West Indian skipper Chris Gayle, is trying his best to surpass them. The Australians are enjoying a fantastic summer, sweeping all before them but Gayle is unimpressed and boldly predicted that his team would win the one day series in the land of Oz. Not content with merely predicting victory he gazed into his crystal ball and saw a whopping 4-1 scoreline.

Give me a bottle of what he's been drinking! The journalist conducting the interview would have been perfectly entitled to ask a follow up question such as, "Are you hearing any voices in your head, Chris? Are they telling you to say this?" Gayle may have a cunning plan, Saturday's debacle, during which his team was hammered by 113 runs may be part of it, give the Aussies their rubber early on and then smash them in the next four matches. Somehow it just doesn't seem feasible, unless of course your medication is delivered by Nurse Ratched!

At best, if not insane, his remarks were ill-advised. There seems to be no logic behind them. The West Indies did get better as their earlier test series Down Under went on but they were still put to the sword, losing 2-0. There wasn't really much there to give Gayle this new found optimism but he is adamant that his side will prevail in the one dayers. "On our side we have a lot to offer. We have depth and we have players who are capable match winners," he said prior to the series getting underway. Where are they? They haven't won a 50 over - one day contest against an international side since they beat India on the June 28 last year. Despite having 10 attempts!

The Australians tend to like a sportsman who plays a good game rather than one who talks one and Gayle's comments will not have gone unnoticed in the Aussie dressing room. They are a disciplined, focussed outfit and a handful for any side - there's no need to wind them up prior to a series. Gayle's comments may well have been tongue in cheek but he really would have been wiser to keep his counsel.

The Aussies are a class above everyone in the 50 over format and given the current state of West Indian cricket they are hosting a side that are not exactly one of the stronger members of the Big Eight. The West Indians at full strength would struggle against the hosts but they are currently missing key players - they went into Saturday's game without Dwayne Bravo, Ramnaresh Sarwan and Shivnarine Chanderpaul. There is only one team capable of winning this series 4-1 and Chris Gayle is not their skipper. Ricky Ponting is!

The series continues on Tuesday in Adelaide with a 3:25 am GMT start. Unsurprisingly, Betfairians seem to be following the form rather than Chris Gayle's barmy prediction so the Aussies are a very skinny [1.28] with Gayle's men priced at [4.5]. A match in the region of [1.1] should be available on Australia to win the series and whilst many professional backers will consider that an opportunity to buy money most of us don't like to see the screen showing a large liability for a small profit.

In order to avoid a minor heart murmur the recommendation is to stay away from the skinny prices and have a look for some value elsewhere. Four West Indian wickets had fallen during the first ODI in Melbourne before they reached the total achieved by the Australian openers. A match in the region of [1.7] should be available on the Australian opening pair outscoring their West Indian counterparts and given the form of the two sets of opening batsmen that looks a very big price.