However, another miserable weather forecast is expected when play is supposed to begin this Friday. The gloomy weather forecast has led to the odds on a draw being shortened to 6/5 following a big hit taken by the bookies after Australia batted out the final day at Edgbaston yesterday. Even before play began the odds of a draw were backed into 2/5 from 7/5. Blue Square’s Neil Lucas said “we tried our best to avoid the draw throughout but regardless of how short we made it, money kept coming.” Bookmakers will therefore be frightened of such an event recurring which is why most bookmakers are as short as 11/10 three days before the test even begins.

England meanwhile, despite leading the series, are as long as 10/3 with the bookmakers to win the fixture whilst they can be backed at 4/1 on the betting exchanges. The loss of Andrew Flintoff’s form from the first test may be responsible for this alongside the injured Kevin Pietersen. However, England’s younger bowlers seem to be holding their own, especially when the ball is swinging, and these may be generous odds if the weather holds out. Australia as always must be feared, especially with a player such as Bret Lee returning to the fold and they are therefore available at just 15/8 despite not yet recording a victory.

Andrew Strauss is favourite to be England’s top run scorer at 3/1 and on present form this might be the bet to have. Cook and Bell can be backed at 9/2 and 5/1 respectively whilst Flintoff is an outsider at 12/1. Hilfenhaus and Mitchell Johnson are joint favourite to be crowned top Australian bowler at 11/4, which seems fairly short, especially considering the recent form of Siddle who is available at 9/2 and may offer better value.

With rain making it increasingly likely that Headingly will be a washout draw, the series betting has seen England’s price reduced to 5/6, whilst the draw is 9/4 and Australia are as big as 11/2 to win the Ashes. Michael Clarke is 11/10 favourite to be the series top run scorer, whilst England captain Andrew Strauss is 3/1 and Australian skipper Ricky Ponting has been pushed out to 7/1, despite a magnificent 150 in the first test. However, there are still two tests to be played and you can expect all these series odds to fluctuate throughout so make sure you keep up to date with them here.

The first Test Match between West Indies and England begins tomorrow in Jamaica, with England the 4/7 favourites to win the series.

England have not lost a test series to West Indies in 15 years, and it is difficult to make a case for the home side. Punters hoping for an 27/10 upset in the first test will need Chanderpaul to be at the top of his game, who is 11/4 to be the Top West Indies Batsman, just ahead of 9/2 Chris Gayle.

England drew their tour match with West Indies A, which was fair enough as they were only given 4 sessions in which to bat.  Andrew Strauss thought that it was a pretty good work-out, but still admits that his side needs to sharpen up.

In the betting for the 1st Test Match, there has been a bit of money for the draw, which has been cut from 5/2 into 9/4. If Andrew Flintoff stays fit, England will be good value to cover totesport’s 1.5 test match handicap at odds of 5/4.

I won’t be having an interest in the Man of the Match market, because the bookmakers are betting to 150%. Chanderpaul and Flintoff are the 10/1 co-favourites in that market, whilst Flintoff is 11/4 to be the top series wicket-taker.

Kevin Pietersen is pretty short at 11/4 to get the first English Century, so backers could be tempted by either 7/2 Strauss or 4/1 Cook. Alastair Cook is 4/1 to Hit a Six and Matt Prior is 6/5 to make a stumping.

bookies.com is your best bet for comparing odds on cricket markets:

West Indies v England Series Betting

West Indies v England 1st Test Match Betting

West Indies v England Specials

Kevin Pietersen has left his position as England Cricket Captain today, following a row with coach Peter Moores. Although the details are still not clear, it looks like Moores has quit as England coach. That means there are 2 new markets this Wednesday on bookies.com, Next England Captain and one for the Next England Coach.

Paddy Power must have made a mistake by offering 11/10 on Andrew Strauss, as he is now 2/5 favourite with Ladbrokes. The markets have been shambolic this morning, with Kevin Pietersen priced up at varying prices from Paddy Power’s 11/8 and Coral’s 14/1. Unsurprisingly, Coral and Paddy Power have taken down their markets whilst things calm down a little.

Check the terms with your bookmaker before placing a bet, because although most are taking bets on the captain for the 1st Test against West Indies, William Hill have specified that their market is on the captain for the 1st Ashes Test. Meanwhile Ladbrokes will void bets if Pietersen is captain for the West Indies Test Series, so their 2/5 about Strauss is probably a better price than other firms’ 8/13.

Andrew Strauss has enjoyed some great form recently and is a well respected player who deserves his place in the side. That said, we may well see 2/1 KP return as captain under a different coach. Pietersen is currently the 7/4 second favourite on Betfair, so perhaps there may even be value in 2/1 with Stan James.

Other contenders are 8/1 Flintoff and 20/1 Collingwood. As for 33/1 Michael Vaughan, it looks like his time is up. Robert Key has had some interest in the market, 20/1 from 40/1.

In the Next Coach market, Andy Flower is the 2/7 hot favourite, who may take over as an interim coach. He was made assistant coach in May 2007, and the bookies reckon that he’ll be promoted. Ashley Giles is 6/1, but 5/1 Graham Ford is probably more of interest, in from 12/1.

This turmoil means that Australia have shortened for the Ashes, with Boylesports offering the stand-out price of 6/5, although some bookmakers go odds-on.

bookies.com compares odds between the top UK bookmakers on hundreds of cricket markets:

Next England Captain Betting

Next England Coach Betting

The Ashes 2009 Betting

Will Shane Warne bowl a ball in the Ashes? Betting

West Indies v England Test Series Betting

New Zealand v West Indies 4th ODI Betting

Today the money is coming in for India in the one-day series which starts early tomorrow. India have been cut from 4/6 to 1/2 to take the 7 ODI series, whilst England have drifted out to 7/4. India will be without big names, such as Sachin Tendulkar who will be rested for the first 3 games. England have a chance if they can bowl well, but the Stanford series showed how poorly the vistors cope with unfamiliar venues.

Today we are previewing the ITV series ‘I’m a Celebrity…’ which has numerous punting opportunities. bookies.com are here to guide you through all of the contestants in betting order and novelty bets.

4/1 Joe Swash

The former EastEnders star is the market leader, and has the right profile of a winner. As well as being outgoing, he is good looking – sure to be popular with the voting public.

6/1 Simon Webbe

‘Simple’ Simon describes himself as ‘giving’ and ‘sensitive’. He used to be part of boy band ‘Blue’ and is the alpha-male in the camp. I prefer him to market leader Swash, which is why I’d be tempted to to back him at 3/1 to be Top Male.

8/1 Martina Navratilova

Will her competitive nature and Wimbledon victories give Martina an added advantage? Punters seem to think so, as she has already been cut from 10/1 into as short as 6/1. Coral are the only firm to have the top price 8/1, which could be a decent investment over the 3 weeks of the series. Phill Tufnell, a former England international cricket player won last year, so sporting figures may hold an edge over the WAGs.

8/1 Esther Rantzen

The 68 year old TV campaigner was paid a £25,000 fee to appear on the programme and is taking part to challenge herself. She is completely barmy and should get along fine in the jungle. I’m not certain that she’ll click with the voting public, but we should have some idea after the first week. I wouln’t take Paddy Power up on their 25/1 that she is the first female to go topless.

8/1 George Takei

There has been a little support for Takei, who played Mr Sulu in Star Treck and the father of Kaito Nakamura in Heroes. He is the 12/1 outsider for the first bushtucker trial and at 8/1 in the ouright market, there are others preferred.

12/1 Dani Behr

Behr has recently flopped in the U.S. and it has been a while since she appeared on TV. She has been living in Australia for the last year, which may attract punters who are tempted by her decent price.

12/1 Carly Zucker

Fiancee of Chelsea winger Joe Cole,Carly works as a personal trainer so should be as fit as a fiddle. She isn’t the most paparazzi-friendly celeb, which may mean that she doesn’t click with the public. She isn’t a celebrity in her own right and I certainly wouldn’t back her, even for beer money.

16/1 Brian Paddick

Formerly Britain’s most senior openly gay police officer, the odds are stacked against Paddick. He ran against Boris for the Mayor of London Position, but only polled about 10%. He’ll need a much greater share of votes to survive in the jungle. He takes a lenient position when it comes to cannabis, and Paddy Power offer 25/1 that he smokes the substance during his short time in the jungle.

18/1 Robert Kilroy-Silk

Robert is now an independent MEP for the East Midlands and is 11/4 to be the first evicted.

20/1 Nicola McLean

She is afraid of the prospect of going without make-up and is the 5/2 favourite to be evicted first. One of the lesser known wags, she is engaged to a footballer from Peterborough United. 10/11 that she is the first girl to go topless.

Recommendation:

The men have a strong hand with both Simon and Joe, and are 4/6 in the winning gender market. I’ll have a cheeky wager on the ultra-competitive Martina.

2pts 8/1 Martina Navratilova

bookies.com compare odds on numerous specials, including Miss World. There is even a market for the evicted Laura White getting re-instated in the X Factor.

I’m A Celebrity… Winner Betting

I’m A Celebrity… Top Male Betting 

I’m A Celebrity… Top Female Betting 

I’m A Celebrity… Winning Gender Betting 

I’m A Celebrity… 1st Bushtucker Trial Betting 

I’m A Celebrity… First Girl to go Topless Betting 

I’m A Celebrity… Specials

I’m A Celebrity… Number of Voluntary Walkouts Betting 

Former champions Kent are up against Sussex today. It already looks pretty decisive given that Sussex have lost one of their top run scorers, Luke Wright, and Mushtaq Ahmed is out for the whole tournament due to injuries. To cope they’ve signed Dwayne Smith, a West Indies all rounder known to be inconsistent in form (a possible promise of brilliance). William Hill and Betfred both have Kent at 4/6 for this match.

Racing Post’s Ed Hawkins feels Leicestershire are the best side to put up for the champions league, Totesport has them up at 16/1 to win the tournament. It’s reasonable to say they have a good chance against Lancashire today but the northern teams are a cut above the rest and in this competition conditions are liable to turn around at the drop of a hat.

We have now seen the first weekend of the IPL and if the games continue to be as exciting as the first five have been then it looks as if the tournament is here to stay. So far we have watched a whopping 1386 runs and 57 wickets in just 188 overs. You could easily fit 188 overs into two days of test cricket and end up watching about a fifth of the runs already scored in the IPL. It doesn’t take much convincing to realise that test cricket and to an even greater extent one day cricket may well have had their moment and that this recent evolution of cricket may well leave them in the history books.

However, what is really important about the IPL is getting a bet on and winning some money. With matches being played everyday for the next month, I’m not sure its going to be too difficult finding a bit of action. The quick pace of Twenty20 is going to create some frantic in match betting and if you don’t have the speediest of live feeds at your fingertips you may well find yourself in trouble as just a single ball at Twenty20 can really turn a game either way.

The odds have certainly been mixed up a bit since last Friday and Kolkata are now 7/2 favourites to win the tournament after two convincing wins. Deccan Chargers have been pushed out to 11/2 with skybet after their late defeat to the Knight Riders but remain 7/2 favourites in a very liquid betfair market so those of you who enjoy arbing events may want to get involved in this one. Jaipur, who were originally the 12/1 outsiders for the title are now out to 16/1 after losing by nine wickets to the Delhi Daredevils.

The Chennai Superkings have also been shortened up to 4/1 after beating the Kings XI by 33 runs on Saturday. The Deccan Chargers are seen as favourites over the Delhi Daredevils in Tuesday’s game and so if they get a result then you can expect them to shorten up a bit in the title odds.

Why not check out all the IPL markets here.