Cricket betting: 1st Test - NZ vs England

Could it be a case of déjà vu for bettors ahead of England's three-Test series against New Zealand, which begins in Hamilton on Tuesday night? Just as England were considered to be the stronger team before the one-day series and priced up prohibitively only to let their supporters down, there are bound to be a few concerns about taking the 8/11 about the tourists asserting their supposed dominance.

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Nerves are put to one side when it comes to trying to form a case for the home side, who are as big as 3/1 (Bet365). Although the player drain did not count against them as they produced a stunning effort to triumph in the one-day stuff by a 3-1 scoreline, it will not be so easy to paper over the cracks in the Test arena.

Whereas one-day cricket is all about hitting the ball as far and as often as possible, the Test game requires greater skills. It is about taking 20 wickets, setting canny fields and batting for long periods often without trying to hit it all. England are better equipped to do all three. Their bowling attack could well prove to be in a different class to New Zealand, who will miss Shane Bond, their best and fastest bowler.

Matthew Hoggard will lead an England attack who will find conditions similar to back home and his 17 wickets the last time England toured there in 2002 is a good pointer for those wanting to play the top series wicket-taker market. Hoggard is 9/4 with Blue Square to outbowl his team-mates.

England have won only two of their last six series in New Zealand.That is a misleading statistic because they were by far the better team in 2002 but succumbed to a 1-1 draw by collapsing to defeat in the last Test after cricket seemed meaningless in the immediate aftermath of the death of all-rounder Ben Hollioake.

Verdict: 1pt Hoggard top England series wicket-taker @ 9/4 (Blue Sq)

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