2009 Ashes / Joe Dyer / 13 July 2009 / Leave a comment " class="free-bet-btn" rel="external" onclick="javascript: pageTracker._trackPageview('/G4/inline-freebet');" target="_blank">Free Bet

Early betting puts poor England as the outsiders after Cardiff escape.

After coming agonisingly close to taking a lead in the Ashes series Australia can be backed at [2.86] to win the second Test match on Betfair.

The draw is a solid [2.26] favourite with England - humbled for much of the Cardiff Test - trading at [4.6] to steal an unexpected victory at Lord's.

The weather is likely to play a part in the second Test match with heavy bursts of rain forecast to hit the south east.

But after dominating much of the first five days of Ashes action, plenty of punters will be prepared to chance an Aussie victory at odds of nearly 2-1.

Ricky Ponting's men were backed at an in-running low of [1.12] to win the first Test, after England lost Paul Collingwood's wicket on Sunday afternoon.

That brought Monty Panesar to the crease, where he joined Jimmy Anderson in a highly unlikely last wicket stand. The pair of tailenders had nine overs to survive against an Australian attack that had snared seven wickets so far on the day.

What happened next is already Ashes folklore - the pair writing their names into history with a determined, almost chanceless stand to deny the Baggy Greens.

So it's on to Lord's on Thursday for the second instalment of the Ashes series. Betting.betfair will bring you a match preview on Tuesday as well as live blogging from betting expert Ed Hawkins throughout the second Test.