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Saeed Ajmal was at the forefront of an emphatic victory for Pakistan over England in Dubai.

Building up to the first test was much speculation about the ongoings of the previous tour where three Pakistan cricketers were found guilty of spot fixing. Since then England have gone from strength to strength in the test arena and as a result sit as number one in the world. Many cricket betting sites had England down as firm favourites to clean sweep Pakistan. However, Pakistan came into the game as somewhat of unknown package – much the story of their colourful history – with many believing it to be a new era for Pakistan cricket after the allegations.

It was Pakistan who came out fighting and duly went on to seal an empathic first test victory by 10 wickets. The majority of their good work came from the bowling of Saeed Ajmal who returned match figures of 10 for 97, 7 of those wickets being taken in their first innings. Only contributions of 70* from Matt Prior and a late surge from the English tail set England apart from a very embarrassing score to muster up 192.

Pakistan came out in their first innings with a bang and duly put on 114 for the first wicket before Stuart Broad finally go the breakthrough that England so badly needed. Half centuries from Hafeez, Umar, Misbah-ul-Haq and Akmal saw Pakistan post a more than handy 338 in reply to England. Whilst this gave them a commanding lead going into England’s second innings, it was merely seen as relatively par score on a flat pitch that offered little turn.

Once again the England batsmen failed to perform and their dismal start to the tour continued for them. This time is was the work of Pakistan’s pace bowler Umar Gul who returned figures of 4-63 in some hostile spells for the English batsmen. With not even a half century to register in the second innings, England failed to even emulate their first innings score and just so added enough runs to make Pakistan bat again, albeit for 3.4 overs.

Whilst England won’t be  too hasty with team selection for the time being – that’s not the managements style – they will be looking at the option of possibly bringing another Spinner into the team for the second test. Either way, their batsman will certainly be in no mood for niceties and will be looking to take advantage of these flat pitches on offer.

Pakistan managed to seal a series whitewash against Bangladesh in a low scoring affair in Chittagong.

After being bowled out for 177 in just 46.1 overs, Pakistan then went on to return the favour by bowling out their opponents for a mere 119 on a day where the bowlers took control.

The Pakistan innings got off to a rocky start with the loss of Hafeez in the just first over of the game off the bowling of Islam for zero. The Bangladesh team certainly looked up for a fight as they tried to salvage a bit of pride in a series that had already passed them by. This brought Younis Khan to crease who was one of only three men in the entire innings to make double figures.

Pakistani opener Shafiq battled hard but never looked comfortable and he was put out of his misery by Al Hasan who removed him for a scratchy 7 off 23 balls. This brought to the crease Misbah-ul-Haq who was the Pakistani’s second top scorer with 47 from 89 balls. Hardly a fluent innings from the classy number three batsmen.

Younis Khan was dismissed for 26 but Pakistan kicked on with the introduction Umar Akmal. Both ul-Haq and Akmal put on 94 for the 4th wicket before both were dismissed in quick succession from the bowling of  Razzak and Elias Sunny respectively.

This brought the Pakistan collapse however and from a promising situation of 133-3 they were later bowled out for a dismal 177 with no player after Akmal managing to get into double figures. Mahmuddal retuned stand out figures of 3-4 from just 1.1 overs whilst Razzaq also chipped in with 3-21 from his allotted 10.

Finally the Bangladesh team could smell blood and anyone live cricket betting were starting to fancy an upset here in Chittagong.

However it was another disappointing batting display from the Bangladesh team as they managed to muster just 119 all out and never really looked like staging a fightback. The writing was probably on the wall early when star batsmen Iqbal was bowled first ball of their innings with the team never really recovering from that.

The second wicket partnership of 69 gave them hope but after both Nafees and Mahmuddal – who performed heroics earlier on with the ball – fell in quick time the Pakistani attack continued to rip through the Bangladeshi’s with 3 wickets a piece for Hafeez and Malik.

The Pakistani victory seals an easy series win and sets them up nicely for the challenge they will face in Dubai against England in the new year. That looks to be a much sterner test, especially over the longer format of the game, but the Pakistan team are resurgent and the fresh faced team seem to be gelling well.

It’s been a long a tiresome 18 months for English cricket, but they have finally reached their goal of becoming the number one test nation in the world. A comprehensive 4-0 thrashing of India on home soil was the perfect way to toast their victory, but Andy Flower’s men aren’t done yet. The determined Zimbabwean coach has already set their targets on becoming the best one day team in the world as well. Great such as Ian Botham have claimed England will be top for the next 5-8 years, he even suggest placing a wager on it and his sports betting picks are often up there with the best.

So how did they mange to get their?

One of the main reasons was the sheer strength and depth of the team. They had cover for every position, and not just some journeyman, can’t quite cut it cricketer from the county scenes who have been rife in the English game for far too long, but quality players who could easily be in the team on merit. The depth f the squad is a great facet for any team. looking back at the great Australian team of the late 90′s and early 00′, players like Lehman, McGill, Martyn and Symonds are all fantastic cricketers who should have 50 caps each, never got a look in. The English team have adopted this ‘Aussie’ like mentality and have raised the bar in international cricket.

Their bowling attack has long been prised by many pundits and ex professional players around the world. They have the perfect balance with strong, quick fast bowlers (which are a dying breed in the modern game), with the guile and finesse of the number one spinner in the world that is Graeme Swann. The boys have worked tirelessly at their game and Swann is a great example to any young cricketer to never give up. It was only 4-5 years ago where Swann’s international chance has deemed to have come and gone. He has totally turned his career and life around to be one of the best English spinners of all time.

Their batting is also fearsome force with the team consistently posting scores of 500+ against India, Sri Lanka and Australia. This has largely been down to likes of Ali Cook and Jonathan Trott who both have scored heavily in three test series. There have been no fewer than 7 double hundreds made over the last 18 months. I dare say it’s probably a lot more than in the last 10 years put together.

Even when England rest players and make changes for things such as the one day series and T20 matches the young guns that are waiting in the wings seem to be really exciting prospects. Jade Dernbach looks to be as good as they come when it’s about bowling at the death. Jonny Bairstow, ScottBorthwick and Ben Stokes are breaking into the English ranks and it will be interesting to see how they fair on the sub continent against India in the one-day series.

The future is certainly bright for English cricket, there’s no doubt about that.

England make an unlikely victory in the opening test of their three match test series in Cardiff. With the Sri Lankans needing to see out just 50 over for to secure a draw in the final session of a rain affected first test, England sharpish ripped through a faltering batting line up to wrap up a victory in under 25 overs.

After bowling the visitors out for 400 in their first innings, England battled back with a spirited onslaught of an under par bowling attack. Cook and Bell both completed their centuries with seamless ease, backed up by a magnificent double hundred by Jonathan Trott. Trott carried on his fantastic form from Australia with a faultless innings that saw the Sri Lankan bowlers toil in the field for nearly two days.

England declared in 496-6 leaving just 50 overs left in the day for Sri Lanka to bat out what looked to be a certain draw. However, the positive mental attitude that is now synonymous with this England team once again saw them up their game and be at the fore front of a catastrophic collapse by Sri Lanka. 4 wickets a piece for Chris Tremlett and Graeme Swann saw the initiative swing in England’s favor before Stuart Broad wrapped up the innings with two wickets at the end saw the visitors bowled out for just 82, their lowest ever total in England.

This win sees England take another step towards becoming the best test nation in the world and set up an exciting two final tests against Sri Lanka before welcoming arguably their biggest rivals in India before the end of the summer.Andy Flower’s men have come on leaps and bounds in the last 18 months and pose one of the strongest sides in world cricket.

India are currently on tour in the West indies before heading to England for a full test series, one day international series and handful of Twenty20 games to decide which team is the best in the world. To bet on the outcome of the series versus India, take a look at BettingBonus.org.uk

The County Championship Season is once again upon is and throughout this article we will be looking at some early season betting prices.

Nottinghamshire are defending champions from 2010 and will be looking to retain their crown, however without the evergreen Ryan Sidebottom heading north to Yorkshire wickets could be a problem. If they can get hold of Stuart Broad and Graeme Swann for prolonged periods then they will defiantly be there or there abouts this season. Nottingham go off at 5.00 with instant win slots games.

Favourites for the title in 2011 are big hitting Somerset. The south coast team smashed it at one day level but are hotly tipped to transfer that fire power to the four day event. If they can recall the likes of Kieron Pollard and Alfonso Thomas then they will certainly be a force to reckon with.

Durham had a disappointing county championship campaign last season and will be looking to rectify this in 2011. A massive boost for the squad will come in the form of Paul Collingwood who has retired from International cricket and will be available for the vast majority of the season. Durham goes off at 5.50.

Yorkshire will be looking for their young squad to step up this season. The likes of Rashid and Sidebottom will certainly help in the wickets department but they have been drastically short of runs for a few seasons now. Yorkshire goes off at 7.00

Lancashire have spent big this season, albeit on their ground, so will be looking for their stable squad to kick on this year. It could be tough for Lancashire as developments to Old Trafford mean they will be dotted around the North West for home games without ever having a steady based home venue. Lancashire goes off at 8.50.

Stay in touch for more slots and games review of the 2011 B Division county championships.