2009 ASHES TOP BATSMAN BETTING TIPS

If you're looking to back the top batsman for the 1st Ashes Test at Cariff, Kevin Pietersen leads the line for England with a 10/3 price. Andrew Strauss is listed at 4/1 with Alastair Cook tied with Ravi Bopara at 9/2. Ian Bell is listed at 11/2 with Paul Collingwood carrying a 7/1 price. Andrew Flintoff and Matt Prior are both at 9/1. For the Aussies Ricky Ponting is the outright favourite to be named top batsman with a 7/2 price against Phil Hughes at 4/1. Simon Katich is right next to Michael Hussey at 9/2. Michael Clarke is 5/1 while Marcus North carries a 7/1 pricetag. Kevin Pietersen is 6/1 to be named player of the series. Mitchell Johnson is listed at 7/1 with Australian captain Ricky Ponting at 8/1- the same price as Andrew Flintoff. James Anderson is listed at 10/1 with Michael Hussey available at 12/1. Brett Lee is listed at the same price. Phil Hughes, Michael Clarke and Ravi Bopara are all at 14/1. Andrew Strauss, Alistair Cook, Stuart Broad, Graeme Swann and Peter Siddle all come in at 16/1. Simon Katich is at 20/1, alongside Paul Collingwood and Matt Prior. Brad Haddin and Shane Watson share a 25/1 price with Stuart Clark while Marcus North and Andrew McDonald both prop up the odds at 33/1. Mitchell Johnson is 15/8 to be the first Aussie to take a five wicket haul. Brett Lee took 5 very quickly against the Lions last week and he's listed at 5/2. Stuart Clark is listed at 7/2 with Peter Siddle just behind at 5/1. Nathan Hauritz is 8/1 with Ben Hilfenhaus at 10/1. Andrew McDonald and Shane Watson are a long 25/1. In terms of the match betting for Englands batsman, I like Andrew Strauss at 4/5 over Alastair Cook at 10/11. Pietersen vs Bopara is going to be an interesting one with Bopara paying out at 11/10 with KP at 4/6. It's a dead heat between Flintoff and Prior at 5/6 apiece.The Australian match betting on the opening first pits Phil Hughes against Simon Katich with Hughes getting the 4/5 nod while Katich weighs in at 10/11. Ponting is a heavy favourite to outscore Michael Hussey with the Tasmanian at 8/11 and Hussey sitting at evens. Kevin Pietersen is 11/10 to get to fifty in the first innings with Strauss commanding a 5/4 price. Cook is at 11/8, Bopara is at 6/4 and Paul Collingwood sits at 13/8. Ricky Ponting is 11/10 to get to 50 in the 1st innings with Phil Hughes and Simon Katich at 5/4, Michael Hussey at 6/5 and Michael Clarke at 6/4. Pietersen is 3/1 to score a century and Strauss pays out at 4/1. Alastair Cook is listed at 9/2 with Paul Collingwood at 6/1. Ponting is 3/1 for the Aussies, Hughes is listed alongside Katich at 4/1 while Michael Hussey has been dropped down to 7/2.