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Following his heroic centre court battle with Richard Gasquet on Monday, Wimbledon betting enthusiasts recognise that Andy Murray has taken the first steps towards his rehabilitation with the, largely English, Wimbledon crowd. The young Scot recently declared that his sporting allegiance was always with whatever team was playing against England and this has, apparently, caused resentment among some of those living south of the border.

To the English, however, it’s a matter of plain fact that all foreigners who profess hatred for them are simply confused and what they are really feeling is a mixture of envy and deep admiration for the English spirit - a condition they sympathise with and are easily able to forgive. On the other hand foreigners may just resent the attitude of aloofness and misguided superiority, especially in the face of the woeful performance of the English in most sports. Perhaps having a Scot as their best tennis player (as well as their Prime Minister, most of their key politicians and about half the media) is just too much to bear.

Nationalism aside, Murray’s demeanour is something else though and he has always exhibited what appears to be an unattractive anger and resentment for something or other. His autobiography is called ‘Hitting Back’, although against what is not clear. The ultra mild Tim Henman has allegedly called him ‘a miserable git’ and his conduct on court seems to support this view. The Wimbledon crowd, though, when they detect fortitude, resolve, bottle, pluck, guts, backbone and courage will overlook anything and on Monday Murray dished-up these traits in truly amazing amounts. Written off for dead after losing the first two sets, and with Gasquet serving for the match in the third, the sizzling Scot reached deep within and found rich veins of boundless energy and skill.

Admittedly, the Frenchman caved-in under massive crowd pressure but it was clear that Murray had moved forward massively along his career path. Today he faces Nadel. To some degree we will be able to observe and quantify the performance of the new Andy Murray but, if defeat comes at the hands of the formidable Spaniard, as today it probably will, all canny sports betting fans that watched his performance on the centre court on Monday know that Mr Murray’s day will surely come.

Andy Murray must be walking on an air of self-confidence after his terrific fight back in the fourth round against Richard Gasquet after being 2 sets to love down and looking like his Wimbledon dream would be over for another year. Who would have bet against Gasquet at this stage. But, Murray found something inside of himself to fight back and win the match by 3 sets to 2.

It was a punishing victory as both players gave it their all in the diminishing light. Now, Murray faces Nadal. A man he has never beaten. Nadal has yet to break sweat in the games prior to tomorrows quarter-final match. He looks confident and every part of the World’s No 2 seeding he currently holds.

Any wimbledon betting person would say the clever money would be on Nadal. But that spirit of Murray gets drawn from a young man who is passionate about winning. With the crowd also behind him it looks as though the match will be another tense affair.

Quarter-Finals Wimbledon 2008
Andy Murray vs Rafael Nadal
Centre Court - 2nd July 2008

For those of you who missed Murrays momentous moment of clawing back from being 2 – 0 sets down and Gasquet serving a match point in the 3rd set, you can watch below.

Casey Stoner has revived his chances of retaining the World Championship title after two stunning wins in one week. Last weekend, MotoGP betting fans saw him first to cross the line at Donington and yesterday he cruised to an easy victory in the Dutch MotoGP at Assen. Now just twenty five points away from Valentino Rossi and twenty nine short of leader, Dani Pedrosa, Stoner, second favourite with online bookies, looks set to mount a strong defence of his title.

Donington saw the debut of the new Ducati software program which has boosted the pace of the GP8 bike and given Stoner the missing edge he needs to maintain dominance. Rossi looks on ruefully and concedes that ‘ Casey has ridden very fast and on the limit all season but now he is one second faster so they must have found something different that is very strong to use’.

Yamaha are rushing to produce their own updated software for the YZR-M1 although Rossi fears this will not appear prior to MotoGP’s month-long summer break which begins after Laguna Seca on July 20.

Rossi finished in eleventh place at Assen after a mistake in the first lap caused him to crash and have to continue with a damaged machine. Dani Pedrosa finished in second place with Colin Edwards in third. British rider James Toseland disappointed British online betting punters with a below par ninth place following on from his disastrous first lap crash at Donington.

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.

Tonight hosts the second semi-final of the Euro 2008 Championship with Germany just squeezing past Turkey last night in a gripping 3 – 2 encounter. Latest Euro 2008 Betting for the Spain vs Russia match has it in the favour of the spanish giants.

Both teams met in their first group match and Spain thumped Russia that day 4 : 1. However, Russia has since gone on to beat Greece, Sweden and Holland. Spain won their group with ease then were held by the Italians 0 : 0 and proceeded from the quarters in a 4 – 2 penalty shoot-out win.

Spain vs Russia Team Analysis

You can still great great deals for the remaining matches at our Euro 2008 betting page where you can pick from a whole host of free online betting offers.

The summer is upon us as last week we celebrated summer solstice. But what are the chances that we will also be celebrating British success this summer. We passed up on having any British representation at the Euro 2008 finals - already. Who will our hopes of British Gold rely on? Our summer online betting guide shows you potential betting events to get immersed within this summertime. But the British public need something to cheer about this summer and at free online betting we have featured our best chance of picking up some summer gold.

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After trailing home in tenth place in the French Grand Prix at Magny-Cours, Lewis Hamilton has once again failed to make the podium and the Motor racing betting world notes with dismay that he has now been out of the points for three consecutive races. Starting in tenth place on the grid having been penalised for shunting Riakkonen in Canada, Hamilton was docked another ten points in France for obtaining advantage while overtaking. Denying the charge, Hamilton asserts that he will not be put off his pursuit of the title although he now trails Felipe Masse by ten points in the driver’s standings.

This is not an insurmountable deficit, with ten races still to go, but one that will be only made up by Hamilton stepping back and reflecting on his approach to the next two or three races. Certainly there are tracks coming up that are more suited to the McLaren but Silverstone, where the next race will be held on July 6, is not one of them and Hamilton cannot rely on this alone. He needs to calm things down a bit and refocus on his skill and patience.

Despite Hamilton’s claims of innocence, questions are being asked about his capacity to withstand the pressure he is under to live up to. There are undoubtedly extravagant expectations that have been placed upon him by people who should, perhaps, know better. Formula 1 followers who would have used their French Grand Prix free bets this weekend know that this sport is a massively challenging one and pure skill is not enough to win the battle for driver supremacy. Nerve amidst calm is a condition of mind which can only be nurtured in the fires of experience and Hamilton must be allowed to mature on the track in his own time and not in that of the media.

Nobody’s got a clue who will win this years Wimbledon, either in the men’s singles or the women’s. This is largely due to the uncertainty Wimbledon betting fans feel about how various players match up to one another on the different surfaces used in the major tournaments. Federer was embarrassingly trashed by Nadal in the French Open but bookies have him to take the top honours at Wimbledon. Maria Sharapova barely featured in France, beaten in the quarter finals, but is top dog for Wimbledon this year, if the Williams sisters allow it.
 
How a player ‘matches up’ against another is a useful indicator of how a match will turn out. Obviously, all players have strengths and weakness but two players can be said to match up when each perceives the other’s weaknesses and plays against them. Nadal, with his power is able to make the ball kick-up with his powerful cross-court forehand. Federer’s backhand is his major strength but he prefers a low ball to be at his most effective. Nadal can achieve a higher ball on clay and therein lays Nadal’s challenge on grass.

It’s useful for online sports betting fans to grasp these differences because they pretty much apply to all players, both women and men, in one way or another. The ball loses 60% of its speed when coming off clay but far less when coming off grass. At the same time, the ball takes more spin from clay and can kick up higher.  Someone like Nadal, however, knows all this and works very hard in that area to compensate. The question is: has he got there yet? If he hasn’t this year, he probably will do in 2009.

The Euros have not failed to deliver and for football fans everywhere we have witnessed some great games and fantastic goals. Online betting has been in full swing for the Euro 2008 Championships and keeping with the momentum here is a quick run-down on the latest quarter final matches and their betting odds.

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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.