The appointment of Kevin Pietersen as England Captain for both test and One Day International matches, following the resignation of Michael Vaughan has caused much eyebrow raising and controversy among cricket betting enthusiasts, hard-line cricket fans and commentators alike. That we have to resort a South African in the absence of a suitable English candidate itself underlines the fundamental problem Pietersen will have to address – the crisis which exists in English cricket today.

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Another critical test match for England starts at Edgbaston today and once again the familiar sensation of doom pervades our expectations, while any amount of pondering struggles to find an answer to the recurring question ‘what is wrong with the England cricket team?’. Cricket betting enthusiasts will be weary with the almost permanent sensation that absolutely nothing seems to be working.

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The first test between Sri Lanka and India got underway last Wednesday, heralding, for the first time, the opportunity for each team to make three challenges against the decisions of the umpires. Television replays are then used to determine the accuracy, or otherwise, of the umpire’s decision. If the TV reveals that the umpire was wrong in dismissing a player, then that player is permitted to remain at the crease.

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The South African cricket team has arrived on our shores to take on England in a series of four test matches, one Twenty20 and five one day internationals. The series starts today with the first test match at Lords. England v South Africa test Match betting fans will regard this as the most challenging home based encounter for the England cricket team since the excitement of the Ashes in 2005. The South Africans have yet to beat England at home since their readmission to the international game.

The South African captain, and opening batsman, Graeme Smith, is a controversial figure noted for his understanding of the value of intimidation in winning cricket matches. A huge man, he commands enormous respect and loyalty from his team, while demanding of them their best, and shows the way with a personal batting average of an amazing 48.75. Early notoriety came from the orchestration of the sledging of Michael Vaughan, in the drawn series of 2003, in which the England captain’s sexuality was drawn into question. Passing it all off as a joke, Smith had to concede that the effect on Vaughn had certainly affected his play.

It will be interesting to observe the relationship between England star, Kevin Pietersen and Smith. Pietersen was raised in Natal before defecting to the England team following frustration with South African racial quotas. Smith has ruefully acknowledged the difference Pietersen would have made had he stayed at home.

The pace of the South African bowlers will seriously challenge the England top order and there can be no doubt that this is a side which will lay bare the true strengths, and weaknesses, of this unchanged England team. Online betting enthusiasts will be hoping that their side can rise to the challenge and show the resolve and skill, which, only occasionally, was evident in their recent games with New Zealand.

English sport has suffered another setback this week with the events at the fourth One Day International between England and New Zealand at the Oval. Fair minded cricket betting fans noticed that things started to go downhill when Kiwi batsman, Grant Elliot collided with Ryan Sidebottom during a run and subsequently failed to get to the crease before being ‘run out’.

The England side called an appeal and the umpires, acting within the laws of the game, gave the Kiwi out. The umpires then gave England Captain, Paul Collingwood, two opportunities to rescind the decision but he failed to do so. Luckily, the incident did not affect the outcome of the game and New Zealand went on to win. Collingwood was also given a four match suspension for England’s slow over rate.

After the match, Collingwood went to the visitor’s dressing room and apologised for what, on reflection, he had decided was a ‘wrong call’. Subsequently many cricketing luminaries have leapt to Collingwood’s defence. Perhaps more depressingly, public bulletin boards also defend his action on the basis that it is his job to win the match so long as he stays within the rules of the game.

In sport it’s not just the rules that govern the mode of play; there is also the etiquette which underlies the spirit of the game. Sports betting enthusiasts will agree that there is no better sport than golf to observe etiquette at play. Players routinely report an accidental misdemeanour which they have committed while out of sight of any observer. They are then penalised so that no advantage is obtained. It’s called being fair. To see this occur sends tingles down my spine and deeply enhances my appreciation of the game and of life itself.

Football is the source of most bad gamesmanship. There is barely any etiquette left in the game at all and it seems that this attitude of winning at all costs is seeping into other sports. It should be the other way round and that the good manners within golf were the source of inspiration for all of the sporting fraternity.

The cricket betting world will be watching closely this week as the MCC held a meeting to decide what to do about the issue raised by Kevin Pietersen’s switch from a right handed stance to a left handed one in order to strike the ball to a shorter boundary protected by only one fielder who was guarding the offside of the field when the ball was bowled.

The field is set, usually by the bowler, in conference with the captain, to counter the threat posed by a right handed batsman and the strategy of these two is guided by the stance of the batsman. If the batsman changes his stance from left to right while the ball is in the air then the question arises: has he infringed the laws of the game or is this an issue of etiquette?

The MCC has decided that Pietersen’s ‘switch hit’ variation on the reverse sweep is legal within cricketing law and therefore, presumably he can continue to use it. The MCC went further and welcomed the shot as a positive addition to the game. According to them, the shot is ‘innovative and exciting for the game of cricket’. Others have said that it will help to increase the popularity of the game with the public but some argue that it is not what sports betting purists want to see.

These people may be right and probably are in the game of Twenty20. This is a cricketing environment in which changing various rules might offer more popular excitement. I can’t help feeling uneasy, however, and suspect that the acceptance of Pietersen’s innovation might further undermine the minutely and carefully controlled structure of test cricket. The challenges created by the rules are what hone the mettle of the player and too many ‘exciting’ departures may take their toll on the future skill quality of players and the age-old strategies and tactics of the game.

The Twenty20 international, between England and New Zealand today, heralds the start of the five-match One Day series beginning at the Riverside on June 15th. England’s head coach Peter Moores regards today’s match as an important opportunity to get his men into shape and take the upper hand in the confidence stakes. Many cricket Betting fans regard the Twenty20 format as a bit of a slogfest and, in comparison to test cricket, it is a bit like watching the Bolshoi do a one-off cameo for ‘Strictly Come Dancing’.

Inevitably, there’s more to it than that and the key to success is attack. Opening batsmen need to set the pace with a confident and swift accumulation of runs. Bowlers need threatening and accurate bowling to pin down the attacking strikers and gain the upper hand. Not all batsmen are strong on attack and losing a couple of early wickets can be decisive in this format. Although England invented the Twenty20, others have developed the skills needed to succeed in it and England are still sorting out roles in the team.

England captain, Paul Collingwood is causing some concern with his batting. His average in the recent test series was just 10.66 and in last Wednesday’s Twenty20 against Durham he managed only seven runs. Glovesman Tim Ambrose is looking good, however, and his support for Pietersen in the last test must have upped his confidence. Anderson too, after his superb test bowling performance, will be worrying the Kiwis.

Online betting punters might be well advised to take of heed of the New Zealand captain, Daniel Vettori’s, worrying confidence. He and some other members of his team have gained valuable experience in the Indian Premier League with key man, Scott Styris, having been there for the whole tournament. Vettori believes that Styris’s experience will help in terms of his knowledge of the way the Twenty20 game is moving and developing.

We were in day four of the second Test at Old Trafford and cricket betting fans who, 24 before, had again thrown up their hands in frustration at the lamentable performance of the upper England batting order are now gaping at their plasmas in bewilderment as the home team edged their way to a victory which defies all comprehension.

New Zealand’s first innings was predictable fare with their batsmen knocking our ineffectual bowlers all over the place to build a respectable total of 381 on what was a difficult wicket very much favouring swing and spin. With the welcome exception of a Strauss revival, England then delivered on their usual commitment to abject failure, slinking back to the pavilion with a mere 202 runs on the board. In comes New Zealand to deliver the expected second innings death blow only to meet, wonder of wonders, a rampant Monty Panesar who proceeds to strew five of the top six of their strike crew right and left and knock the lot out for pathetic 114.

England batsmen then come back in for their second innings and gradually reveal that they have condescended to actually make an effort and score a few runs. The more cynical among sports betting fans might conclude that this new found enthusiasm to earn their pay results from concerns about keeping their jobs. These days the selectors are less inclined to regard team places as sacred. Strauss reasserts his return to form and makes 106 while Vaughn continues to offer reliable support. A solid batting performance ensues to produce a comfortable win for England. Joyous as this is, online betting buffs must wonder why it is such a rare event that England teams make the decision to go out there and do the business.

There are only a couple of weeks to go before the start of the English 2008 County Championship season and a cloud of uncertainty hangs over cricket betting enthusiasts and the cricketing community. Since the formation of two Twenty20 competitions, the Indian Cricket League (ICL) and the Indian Premier League (IPL) the threat of English players deserting the county game and signing up for the lucrative Twenty20 teams has caused much concern among the authorities who are now threatening all manner of sanctions to halt this exodus.

The controlling authority for world cricket, the ICC, sanctioned the formation of the IPL to combat the threat to their authority posed by the rebel ICL. Money talks though, and a number of players have signed up for the IPL despite having contracts to play within their own home competitions. Hampshire professional, Dimitri Mascarenhas, is the first English player to sign up for the IPL. He has been signed for £50,000 by Jaipur and will play for them for some of this summer and over the next two years. Hampshire will be compensated for the loss of Mascarenhas for six games and are said to be happy with the situation.

More worrying, though, is the effect that these changes will have on test cricket. The Indian leagues offer huge earnings for cricketers and a maximum of 44 playing days in a season. Ricky Ponting, the Australian captain, who has signed up for the IPL, hits the nail on the head when he wonders where it will lead. Players will have more time to spend with their families and have the money to retire early. Undoubtedly all cricketing authorities are going to have to monitor the situation and perhaps establish their own Twenty20 leagues. Perhaps they will then be able to control the influence of Twenty20 on the world game so that test cricket doesn’t disappear altogether – a possibility that would disappoint fans of online betting everywhere.

Over the past few weeks, cricket betting enthusiasts could have been forgiven for thinking that England are rubbish at just about every sport we attempt. We casually threw away two Six Nations rugby matches, gave New Zealand the One day International Series on a plate and then rolled over and died in the first Test Match – all this misery adding to our anguish over the bleak summer ahead because we didn’t qualify for Euro 2008.

And then, all of a sudden, we trash the Irish in the Six Nations and end up second in the table, not just beat but crush New Zealand in the second Test Match in Wellington, have four teams from the Premiership in the final eight of the Champions League and Hamilton wins the first Grand Prix in Melbourne. Blimey – what’s going on?

What’s going on is that England teams and individuals can do it when they decide they want to. There is a learning curve going on out there on this game psychology issue and hopefully they will make that decision more often. If so, sports betting fans have a juicy sporting summer coming up and England will feature very strongly in the winning stakes.

The first opportunity an England team has to show that they can sustain the winning urge is the cricket team in the Third Test Match at Napier beginning this Friday. The team knew they had let themselves and fans down in the first test and they got a grip in the second. Let’s hope they keep it together for the third and we can then come out of New Zealand with pride intact and be ready to take them on when they come to our shores this summer.