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Surrey's Pope can start summer well
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Swerve Root, Stokes and Brook
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Late-order runs for Irish
England v Ireland
Thursday 1 June, 11.00
TV: Live on Sky Sports
Ollie Pope top England 1st inns bat 9/2
England's batters are in two camps for this one. Those who have had game time in first-class cricket this summer and those who have not.
So as much as we respect the likes of Harry Brook, Ben Stokes and Joe Root for their undoubted brilliance, they've spent too much time picking bench splinters out of their bum in the IPL.
Meanwhile, Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope and Jonny Bairstow have been putting in some hard yards on the red-ball cicuit.
Of that group only Bairstow doesn't have a ton this summer. He got close in a second XI match with 97 but it is hard to call that as form.
Crawley and Duckett, such is the life of the opening bat, will always be vulnerable to the moving ball. Particularly Crawley who is beginning to doth protest too much about his place in the England team. he will be under pressure. They are 5/16.00 and 4/15.00 respectively and although we wouldn't rule them out we prefer to make one, strong selection.
And that is Pope. As you can see from the chart below he has a decent win rate in the Stokes era, giving him a 5% swingon implied probability in our favour. Prior to that he would have been a bet on that rationale, too.
He took 122 off just 101 balls against hampshire at The OVal in April in one of the most imperious batting displays you're ever likely to see. This could be the start of a golden summer.
Top bat wins under Ben Stokes captaincy
Brook 4/6
Pope 3/13
Bairstow 2/6
Root 1/12
Stokes 1/13
Crawley 1/13
Duckett 0/5
Fionn Hand top Ireland bat 66/1
As discussed in the match preview, Ireland are likely to struggle for runs on a potentially bowler-friendly pitch against a strong England attack, even if James Anderson and Stuart Broad are missing.
It is hard not to feel for opening pair James McCollum and Peter Moor. They face tricky new-ball spell from England one suspects. The first port of call is a short of their runs in-play in the late teens.
Finding a winner on top runscorer is a relatively simple strategy. It should pay to look lower down the order, although Sportsbook are wise to this and are giving little away.
Curtis Campher at 7/18.00, Mark Adair at 25/126.00 and Fionn Hand at 66/167.00 all have a shout. Campher is, of course, a recognised batsmen while the thinking behidn the otehr two is that they could steal it with a frisky 40-odd. Hand had a swing to our liking against Essex in a warm-up for example.
Lorcan Tucker and Harry Tector are, rightly, considered Ireland's best batters. They have talent to burn and if England weren't so well stocked these days they'd probably be trying to poach them.
The market for these two may be to score a fifty. Tucker is 4/15.00 and Tector 5/16.00. In an ideal world Ireland bat second, the clouds atre burnt off and the pitch a little easier (as it tends to be in time at HQ) for us to tuck in at that Tucker price.
*Don't miss the Cricket...Only Bettor crew on ENgland v Ireland best angles and trades