Cricket Betting: New Zealand no match for England's strength in depth

"England should be strong enough to overcome New Zealand in all three formats. The Black Caps won the limited overs series in South Africa, but it was against a side weakened at times by suspension and injury, neither of which are concerns for England."

England's cricket team have arrived in Auckland ahead of their series against New Zealand. Richard O'Hagan takes a look at the make-up of the squads and at how the tour might pan out.

If you want some insight into the craziness of the international cricket schedule, consider this: England have just played a one day series in India while New Zealand finished a similar series in South Africa on Friday. Now both have trekked all of the way down to the Land of the Long White Cloud to face each other. That's a lot of air miles.

There were few surprises in the squads announced by England. Stuart Broad is restored to full fitness and to all three squads. Graeme Swann, Jonny Bairstow and Jonathan Trott come back after their breaks from the one day game. Eoin Morgan and Samit Patel having both failed in the number six slot in the Test side, and Joe Root having been a success there, it was obvious who was going to be picked and who wasn't.

There are a couple of interesting tweaks, though. Chris Woakes replaces Tim Bresnan, whose Test bowling average since elbow surgery a year ago is now over 55 and who, it has been decided, will remain in England to have the problem looked at again. Craig Kieswetter finally loses hold of the one day wicket-keeping spot, not to Matt Prior but to Jos Buttler. New Zealand will see that as an area of potential weakness, because Buttler's record in both ODIs and T20Is is inferior to Kieswetter's in every way. 

The most interesting change came two days after the squads were announced, when left arm spinner Danny Briggs had to pull out of the tour with injury. Rather than bring in another specialist spinner, the selectors simply added Root to the T20 squad, relying upon his developing off-spin despite his failure to take a wicket in India. Spin will play less of a role in New Zealand but the extra batting strength that Root will also provide might make it hard for the likes of Bairstow to find their way back into the matchday 11.

Even with these changes England should be strong enough to overcome New Zealand in all three formats. The Black Caps won the limited overs series in South Africa, but it was against a side weakened at times by suspension and injury, neither of which are concerns for England. They may well scrape one of the three games, which makes a 2-1 England win at around 3.02/1 look the best bet. 

In the Test series they looked horribly out of their depth, will again be missing former captain Daniel Vettori and at 3.02/1 a 3-0 series win for England looks a good bet indeed.

Recommended Bet
Back England at around 3.02/1 to win the ODI series 2-1

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Tennis Betting: Strength in numbers?

General / Guy McCrea / 06 March 2011 / Leave a Comment

Andy Murray and Serena Williams at a fashion show last year

"More combined events can be good for the WTA but only if it is a genuinely equal partnership."

There are now more combined WTA/ATP Tour events than ever before, with this month's prestigious tournaments at Indian Wells and Miami prime examples. Guy McCrea considers whether this is a good thing for the women's game.

One thing you quickly learn about professional tennis is that change never comes easy - not least when it comes to the development of combined events.

Take next week's tournament at Indian Wells. Way back in 1987, this crucial spot in the Californian desert hosted a WTA event for the first time, immediately prior to the long-standing men's tournament. But it wasn't until ten years later that it was played at the same time as the men. Even then, it was, along with Miami, one of only two combined WTA/ATP events on the calendar, in addition to the four (ITF controlled) Grand Slams.

Fast forward to 2011 and things are very different. For the first time, both Rome and Cincinnati will stage combined events, with the Canadian Open 'virtually combined' as it hosts the men and women in the same week, but at different locations. Not including the Slams, there are now 20 combined WTA/ATP events each season.

Why this hasn't happened sooner? Above all, both the WTA and the ATP have always been most concerned to protect their own commercial interests. Both saw the other as a rival rather than as a potential partner.

There has also been the obstacle of both tours having sold long-term licenses to tournaments - pre-existing spots on the calendar which are tough to quickly renegotiate. Consider the legal battle the ATP encountered when it downgraded and moved the previously Masters 1000 level event in Hamburg and you start to see why any calendar change can be problematic.

The benefits are obvious though. In the same place, both tours are sure to benefit from greater media exposure. Off-court photo opportunities, such as Venus Williams (priced at around [36.0] to win the 2011 French Open) and Andy Murray stopping traffic on Miami's Ocean Drive two years ago to play tennis and promote the event, are stronger when both tours are involved.

The WTA players themselves, including Kim Clijsters ([6.0] favourite to win Roland Garros) also frequently talk up what they feel to be the better atmosphere and ambiance at combined events.

But for me, there are also some dangers for the WTA. Principally, will it struggle to attract the same sort of interest that the ATP does? You almost see it already, with men's matches dominating the television schedules for large parts of events. At the Slams, it's common practice to schedule the women's match in the night session before the men. The rationale (backed up by stadium numbers) is that fans will stick around for the later men's match, but not so much if it is the other way around.

The concern is that the women's game might lose credibility if regularly placed on the same stage as the men. Historically, Rome has always garnered better attendances for the men's event than the women's. It will be interesting to see what happens this year when it is combined. The Canadian Open has also consistently published figures which show its men's event to have drawn bigger crowds than the women's tournament in each of the past 30 years.

In addition, there are still only a couple of main showcourts at a week-long combined event - but with double the number of top ranked players involved. This is fantastic value for a fan with a ground pass. But the danger for the WTA is that they will receive less television coverage if many women are placed on outside courts with no cameras around.

But these issues aside, it's easy to see that the WTA has much to gain from more combined events. Despite signing a new sponsorship agreement with a Swedish cosmetics company last month, the WTA has so far been unable to source a new tie-in for what it probably wants most of all - a new title sponsor to replace Sony Ericsson, who decided not to renew its previous $88 million deal. Although they are still involved in some other schemes with the WTA, these are not thought to be in the same league as that landmark contract.

Both tours must realise they only possess a handful of genuine global stars who have real crossover appeal - currently the Williams sisters and Maria Sharapova ([28.0] to win the French Open), along with Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer and Andy Roddick. Ask the average sports fan how many more they can name and you will struggle to get answers.

Today's global sports marketplace is more cut-throat than ever before. Tennis is just one sport of many. Ultimately, more combined events can be good for the WTA but if - and only if - it is a genuinely equal partnership in every way.

So, how about a completely combined men's and women's tour in the future? Don't hold your breath on that one - but I wouldn't rule it out either.

There are now more combined WTA/ATP Tour events than ever before, with this month's prestigious tournaments at Indian Wells and Miami prime examples. Guy McCrea considers whether this is a good thing for the women's game....

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