Ashes Betting / Frank Gregan / 29 November 2010 /

Frank Gregan tells us why despite the First Test having ended with a share of the spoils, it is England who will have taken more positives out of it and look the more likely side to draw blood when they meet again on Friday morning.

England will be feeling pretty chuffed with themselves and quite rightly so after digging themselves out of a massive hole at the ground nicknamed the 'Gabbatoir.' Starting their second innings 221 runs behind at a ground which in the past has been as helpful to them as a traffic warden with piles, England's top three gave a batting masterclass that secured a draw.

Andrew Strauss, Alastair Cook and Jonathan Trott were magnificent, making more records than the Beatles, as they taunted the Australian attack. Peter Siddle had claimed before the Test that the Aussie bowling attack was the best in the world and on their second innings showing he could be right - if you were to take out South Africa, India, Sri Lanka and England. You could probably throw in the rest of the 'Big Eight' and while you're at it - Zimbabwe and Bangladesh as well!

The confidence that the English supporters felt prior to the Test started to wane after their side's poor first innings display with the bat and was then vaporised by the Michael Hussey and Brad Haddin stand that guided Australia to a total that looked a couple of light years away - 481. All that was turned on its head courtesy of the magnificent fightback and England fans are not only confident once again, they're downright cocky!

But how will the players be feeling? It must have been a subdued hotel after day three with a lot of rallying cries being made and tons of soul-searching going on. They responded brilliantly and Andy Flower will be keeping their feet on the ground to make sure that they are mentally prepared for Adelaide on Friday. The players will be keeping it in perspective, getting out of jail in the manner that they did might feel like a win, but it wasn't. All they did was draw a Test match and they know all the hard work still lies ahead.

The team meetings this week will be interesting. There's no doubt that England 'walked into one,' the Hussey/Haddin partnership which could easily have proved a match winner and without which Australia would really have struggled. Lesser sides (including many English teams of the past) would have folded but England stood tall. Confidence is a state of mind and they have many positives to take out of the first Test which Flower will be using to inspire. But...

England won't be thrilled with their bowling. There were however, some positives. Steve Finn's figures of 6-125 were especially pleasing but the attack bowled 184.4 overs and only took 11 wickets over the whole match. That's not a great stat but it compares favourably to the Aussies, who bowled 228.5 overs for the same wicket return.

The lack of wickets is a worry and the Adelaide track is forecast to be as tame as the one that they've just been playing on, so there's not going to be any additional help coming from the surface. Flower has to get inside the bowler's heads and make them believe they can take twenty wickets this time around.

The betting is really close, with Australia at [3.65] to win the second Test, England available at [3.75] to back and the draw at [2.16] because of the batsman-friendly wicket and the blunt bowling attacks. The series betting has fluctuated, England started the series at [2.9] to prevail over five tests but drifted out to [4.2] after day three of the first Test. After the top three batsmen's heroics they are now a much more realistic [2.52].

This is going to be a really tight series. Andy Flower knows that and he'll be making sure that the players are mentally sound going forward. There's no room for cockiness or arrogance, what is needed is the same kind of gritty determination that pulled them back from the brink at the Gabba.

Opportunities to win Test matches are going to be very difficult to come by. Australia had a gilt edged one but blew it, England will take great heart from that, it might just be enough to give them the mental edge.

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