Cricket Betting: England's bravery deserves reward

England Cricket / Frank Gregan / 08 December 2008 / Leave a Comment

Frank Gregan applauds the England cricketers' bravery as they prepare to meet India in the first Test on Thursday.

Abu Dhabi - it sounds like the name of the villain in the Arabian Nights Christmas pantomime special! It's not though; it's a country, albeit now part of the United Arab Emirates. I know it is a country because I once played football against the international side as part of their preparation for their World Cup qualifiers.

They were managed by a guy called Ray Wood and I expected an old bloke with a beard to be on the touchline singing "I wish it could be Christmas every day!" Alas it was the former Manchester United goalkeeper (and Munich air disaster survivor) not the legend from Wizard who was in charge of them!

The game was played in Germany and I remember little about it except the opposition were tiny, it was boiling hot, my centre-back partner had a hangover and we got beat 3-1!

Abu Dhabi has been in the sporting news this week as it has been the base for England's cricketers as they prepare for the two match series against India which up until a few days ago looked highly unlikely to go ahead. The players have been briefed as to the security situation and assurances have been given about their safety and to a man the squad has elected to participate.

Their bravery has to be applauded because the speculation surrounding the tour may have raised their profile as potential targets despite assurances to the contrary. It is one of those situations where politics is more crucial than sport and the players are showing tremendous solidarity with the Indian people.

Now that the decision has been made the Indian Security Forces will be doing everything in their power to protect them. They will be subjected to a security cordon the likes of which they will have never seen before. Andrew Flintoff described the conditions they are going to face as "a lockdown" and emphasised that he personally had found it a very difficult decision to make.

Flintoff was also quick to point out that, politics aside, this is a sporting contest and the players are going into Thursday's first Test in Chennai looking to win. It will not be easy, the Indians have recently completed a test series win against the might of the Aussies and were wiping the floor with England before the ODI series was abruptly curtailed.

Patriotism and pride are factors when placing a bet on this test. I read a headline that the "Team Bond" was the reason that the English player's decision to tour was unanimous. England will need more than Team Bond, they could do with the services of James Bond during this test series because they are going to be right up against it.

Their preparation has been awful. They have not played a test match for four months and their concentration levels in the training camp in Abu Dhabi must have been on par with an aged goldfish! They will be rested physically but mentally they are likely to be all over the place and coming to terms with the enhanced Colditz style security will also take its toll.

Betfairians seem to think that the English could well be put to the sword this week. England are a massive [12.0] to back before a ball has been bowled with the Indians available at [1.87]. It would appear that Betfairians have been doing their weather research because the draw is only available at [2.56]. The weather forecast on Saturday, Sunday and Monday in Chennai is for thunderstorms.

Sometimes things are just meant to be and the brave actions of the English cricketers deserve some reward. I'm going to be backing the draw at [2.56] and doing a rain dance all weekend!