Cricket: England up against it

Cricket: England up against itBookies VC Bet have chalked England up at 7/2 to beat Australia in the First Test that gets underway at Lords on Thursday. Michael Vaughan's team are rated by many as the best England side for several years but VC Bet's Nick Gray believes that won't be enough to see them claim their first Ashes success since 1987. "In terms of pure quality this England side is still a fair bit behind the 80s class of Ian Botham, David Gower, Mike Gatting, Allan Lamb and John Emburey. "And it's fairly conclusive that the current Australian side has much greater depth than the losing one of 87. "From a bookmaking perspective we obviously want to see a competitive five match series but if Australia hit top form early they might just have sewn things up after the third Test at Old Trafford." VC Bet's series correct score betting has seen hefty support for the tourists to win 3-1 at 11/2. The Australians are 20/1 to pull off a 5-0 whitewash with England 125/1 to match that feat. England 7/2 Draw 7/4 Australia 1/1 Outright Series England 11/4 Drawn Series 11/2 Australia 4/9