Cricket Betting: First Test: Sri Lanka v England

England begin a three-match Test series against Sri Lanka in Kandy on December 1 in a bid to crawl free from the rubble of the regime of Duncan Fletcher. But the bookmakers give them little chance of dusting themselves down - Bet365 make England 7-2 - on pitches which could crack, crumble and end up with more fissures than Andrew Flintoff's reputation. The big man is injured for this contest and his absence, given the headlines about his antics, is probably a good thing. Indeed, whisper it like you would that you believed in Santa, but England are not a bad bet. Traditionally England suffer on the sub-continent because conditions are so alien compared to back home; very little swing for their bowlers and slow, low bounce for their batsmen to contend with. It is true that England have only two wins in Asia (against the established top nations) since 1984. But one of those came in Sri Lanka under the tutelage of Nasser Hussain in 2003 and they have at least been hard to beat in Asia . Don't forget they pulled off a draw with depleted ranks in India two winters ago so they know how important it is to play attritional cricket. The importance of their series victory in the one-day arena in Sri Lanka in October should also not be underestimated. Normally the shorter version has no bearing on the five-day game but that upset will have provided huge confidence. The key man could be Matthew Hoggard, whose form in the warm-up matches has been superb and who is 9-4 with Stan James to be the top first-innings wicket-taker. He is a master at bowling in batsmen-friendly conditions and should form a potent new-ball partnership with Ryan Sidebottom who is also 9-4 with Stan James. England's chances should be increased if they decide to jettison Steve Harmison. Not only is his wayward style not required, Stuart Broad would add depth to the batting in the crucial No 8 spot. As for Sri Lanka they come in to the series in poor form. That loss against England in the one-dayers was a blow and they suffered a 2-0 reverse in Australia. There they were reliant on Muttiah Muralitharan and if he fails to fire, England could take advantage.