England v West Indies Second Test Betting
England and the West Indies will meet for the second of three Test matches at Trent Bridge on Friday May 25. This will be the first chance for either of the sides to react and recover if the first Test match did not go according to the coach’s plan. Trent Bridge has been a good ground to England as they won their last game in Nottingham against India by 319 runs.
England v West Indies second Test betting opens up a number of different markets which will take greater significance than in the first Test. There will also be a number of betting markets which change based on what has happened in the first game. It will still be possible to get value out of England v West Indies second Test betting but the trick is knowing where to look.
Test Match Betting Odds
Test match betting odds will change in certain markets such as the series winner or with backing either side to win the second Test. If either of the sides wins the first Test match at Lord’s by a considerable margin then it is only natural for the Test match betting odds on that side in these markets to go shorter.
It is important to remember that Test match betting odds will still offer good value across other markets such as backing individual players to do well. For example, Ian Bell scored a massive 159 in England’s second innings during the last Test match at the venue against India which helped England win the game. Test match betting odds also depend a great deal on the conditions at each venue. Trent Bridge is one of the venues that tends to offer a little extra assistance to the bowlers.
Conditions at Trent Bridge
The conditions at Trent Bridge seem to favour the bowlers more than the batsmen, especially on the opening couple of days of a Test match when the pitch is fresher and harder. Conditions at Trent Bridge tend to suggest that the pitch gets flatter through the middle part of a Test match which is where the batsmen markets will come into play.
The last Test match against India shows that conditions at Trent Bridge made batting difficult during the first two days; England were bowled out for 221 in their first innings and India were bowled out for only 288 in their first innings. Only the experience of Rahul Dravid (157 Test matches) shone through as the Indian opener made 117 in that first innings.
England v West Indies Betting
The bread and butter cricket betting markets should not be ignored. Even though England v West Indies betting odds will be short in certain markets, there is still a very good chance that either side can turn things around and make the most of the remaining two Tests.
England and the West Indies have some very good players who can all feature and produce betting value. For England, Andrew Strauss, Alastair Cook and Jonathan Trott can make big runs while James Anderson, Graeme Swann or Tim Bresnan can all take five wickets.
England v West Indies betting will be interesting throughout the series because the West Indies are going through a phase of transition. They are missing many experienced players such as Chris Gayle with Shiv Chanderpaul possibly the last remaining player of the older generation.