Bat and ball / Andrew Hughes / 19 May 2010 /

With the First Test at Lord's barely a week away, the English cricket season is in full swing and there are a host of betting opportunities for the cricket punter to tuck into before the end of September. Andrew Hughes previews the best of the summer action.

The English cricket summer has never been busier and for the cricket punter, trying to follow the ins and outs of multiple international series, not to mention the many and varied domestic competitions, can be a bit of a headache. This summer there are no fewer than three international teams visiting these shores and two new county tournaments to wrestle with. So to help you get the most out of the summer's betting opportunities, here is the Betfair guide to the pick of the next four month's action.

The first of the tourists are international whipping boys Bangladesh, who take on England in a two match Test series, starting at Lord's next Thursday. The home side are [1.1] favourites for a series win and anything less than a two-nil victory will be a major disappointment. England are on a high at the moment, but the Test team is still a work in progress and it will be interesting to see whether any of the Twenty20 heroes such as Craig Kieswetter or Michael Lumb get their chance in the longer format. Bangladesh are also England's opponents for a three match one day international series starting on July 8.

England's next opponents are somewhat familiar. Gone are the days when the Ashes foes met twice every four years. In what could be a taste of things to come as the ECB seek to milk their biggest earner, the Aussies are in town for a five match one day series, beginning on June 22. Last year, Australia owned England in this format but it will be fascinating to see whether the home side's recent Twenty20 resurgence can be translated onto the one day international stage.

The final international tourists of the summer are Pakistan, who line up for four Test matches beginning on July 29, followed by a brace of Twenty20s and five one day internationals, the last of which is scheduled for September 22. Previous encounters between these teams have tended towards the controversial and with Pakistan now lead by the unpredictable Shahid Afridi and coached by England's old nemesis, Waqar Younis, there could be fireworks. The home side are likely to be slight favourites for most of these matches, but Pakistan can be brilliant and we can look forward to a closely fought and thrilling contest in all three formats.

Cricket fans will have an additional treat this summer as Pakistan will also be taking on Australia in two Twenty20 games and two Test matches, beginning on July 5. These were originally slated as home games for Pakistan, but have been switched to these shores due to the understandable reluctance of teams to tour that country. It is likely that the 'home' support will be bigger and more vociferous here than in South Asia and on the cricket front, it will be fascinating to see whether this young team led by an inexperienced captain can improve on their dismal showing down under last winter.

With so much going on internationally, it would be easy to forget the domestic scene, but betting on county cricket offers a multitude of opportunities for punters. The County Championship is increasingly popular as a betting medium and Betfair offers a host of markets for both divisions of this venerable competition. Nottinghamshire have made a perfect start in Division One and are the early market leaders, closely pursued by Yorkshire. County cricket punters can also get stuck into the revamped forty over competition, the Clydesdale Bank 40 that runs throughout the summer, culminating in the final on September 18.

Perhaps the most significant domestic competition is the Friends Provident T20, the replacement for the Twenty20 Cup. Attempts to set up an English version of the IPL have come to nothing but this is a much expanded tournament and there is no doubt that of all the domestic formats, Twenty20 is the biggest crowd puller. And with places in the Champions League up for grabs, this competition is the one that all the players want to win. The counties are divided into two divisions, North and South and the tournament culminates in Finals day on August 14. Somerset are the antepost favourites on [9.2]

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