Hoping for luck of the Irish

02/03/2011 | By More

We don’t often discuss cricket, but the World Cup is on right now so it’s a good time to do so.

Just before the World Cup began I looked at England’s prices, and despite going unbeaten in their opening two group games, they have lengthened from around 6.0 to 10.0 to lift the trophy.

Next up for the Three Lions is Ireland and England will know they cannot take William Porterfield’s side lightly given their close call against another Associate nation. England’s slim margin of victory against Netherlands perhaps makes their match odds of 1.04 seem stingy, but I certainly would not be laying after England sensationally matched India’s huge total on Sunday. Outright trading opportunities are limited so we might do better to look at the range of other markets on offer.

Andrew Strauss’s knock of 158 against the hosts puts him at the head of the tournament batting charts with a total of 246 runs and an average of 123.00. He is 1.71 to score a 50, and it’s worth backing now. It will only shorten if he stays in for a few overs and there are few better equipped to keep a cool head and mount an early score against Ireland’s often wayward bowlers.

Youngster George Dockrell displayed his talents against Bangladesh with two wickets and England will be keeping a close eye on the 18-year-old spinner, who has said in the build-up to this game that he is considering pursuing a career with the English Test side. He’s favourite to be Ireland’s top wicket taker, but that looks a lay at 6.4. He proved economical against Bangladesh, but four wickets fell before he claimed a scalp.