Monte's Multiple / Jaymes Monte / 12 May 2009 /

The Grand Old Duke of York, he had 10,000 men, he marched them up to the top of the hill, and he marched them down again.....

Hold up, hold up! If this Old Duke of York is so 'Grand', then why, once he had marched his 10,000 troops to the tactical high ground upon the top of a hill, did he decide to march them back down? I'm thinking that the nursery rhyme world is a little over zealous in its praise here, but who am I to argue with a nursery rhyme? And they do say - 'if you can beat 'em, join 'em'.
So here we are, this week we have Grand Monte's Multiple for you...

Bet 1: Cricket - England v West Indies - 2nd Test

Back on familiar turf, the England bowlers seemed like world beaters last week. It's the first time in seven test matches that England have taken 20 wickets, and it secured them their first win at Lords since 2005. The ball swung for the seam bowlers and Graeme Swann's spin destroyed the left handers with a man of the match performance.

For all the praise that has been rightly heaped onto the English bowlers, equal amounts of criticism should be put onto the West Indies side. Fidell Edwards apart they were lacklustre to say the least, a series of dropped catches meant that despite some inspired bowling from Edwards, the England players were let off the hook too many times.

Gayle has since spoken out about the conditions in England, maybe unsurprisingly as just 48 hours before the first ball was bowled he was sunning it up in South Africa. If Gayle and his compatriots thought that it was a little too chilly in the relative warmth of an early London summer, then they are in for a harsh reality check when they head up north to Durham.

England have the opportunity to strengthen the side with the addition of Ryan Sidebottom and Ian Bell to the squad for the second test, and will look to avenge their disappointing winter with a 2-0 victory in the first test of the summer.

Selection: Back England to beat West Indies @ [2.0]

Bet 2: Football - SPL

The SPL title race took another, and perhaps final twist at the weekend as a solitary Steven Davis strike meant the three points went to the blue half of Glasgow. It means that with three games remaining Rangers are in the driving seat with a two point cushion over their nearest and not so dearest rivals - Celtic.

Manager Walter Smith was quick to quash any talk of the title already being won, and he was wise to do so. Although the SPL has one of the greatest divides within a league in European football, both teams still have some tough encounters ahead. The example made of Barry Ferguson and Alan McGregor in recent weeks seems to have drawn the rest of the squad together, as they have now won seven on the bounce. It all means that there won't be any allowance for players to relax ahead of Wednesday night's game against Hibernian, who they have already beaten three times this season.

Hibs won the Edinburgh derby last week, thanks to a Derek Riordan penalty, despite being ravaged by injuries to regular first choice players. However, a Rangers side in pole position for the title won't be so forgiving against a young and inexperienced side, and I expect them to take full advantage of their victory at the weekend.

Selection: Back Rangers to beat Hibernian @ [1.6]

Bet 3: Cricket - IPL

The IPL table is beginning to take shape now as the cream is rising to the top. Last week we took on the Bangalore Royal Challengers and were right to do so, as when they lost Jaques Kallis early they never looked like threatening the scoreboard enough to post a decent total. Since then they have also failed to chase down a decent total against the Mumbai Indians, after losing Kallis early on. And although Mark Boucher produced a patient 48 from 56 balls further down the order, nobody could hang around him for long enough to get them close to the required total.

Thursday's opponents are the tournament's top run scorers - Chennai Super Kings. They also boast the tournament's top individual run scorer, Matthew Hayden, who has been rejuvenated in this year's IPL scoring a staggering 426 runs from just 281 balls.

Chennai have consistently posted big totals throughout the tournament and Bangalore have consistently struggled to chase down big totals. Therefore the obvious bet here is to back Chennai at a respectable [1.6].

Selection: Back Chennai to beat Bangalore @ [1.6]

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