England Expects... How Strauss Can Deliver More Cricket Success For Patriotic Punters

Many purists, and no doubt many punters, will be looking forward to the return of Test cricket in May as England host Sri Lanka in a three Test series to mark the start of the domestic season.

Cardiff's Sophia Gardens: Venue for the first test against Sri Lanka

The mini-series opens in Cardiff at the Sophia Gardens ground (May 26-30) which stages only its second ever match at this level following the drawn 1st Ashes Test against the touring Australians back in 2009.

Then it's straight off to cricketing HQ with Lords (June 03-07) the following week before the series decider ... possibly, at the Rose Bowl in Southampton (June 16-20) with the Hampshire ground itself set to host a first ever match at Test level.

England Set To Climb World Rankings

Under captain Andrew Strauss England have become a highly effective unit in the Test arena, culminating in their 3-1 series win Down Under (a first since 1987) which saw them convincingly retain the Ashes.

The team has risen to third place in the ICC world rankings, still some way adrift of India but right on the tails of second placed South Africa. A positive result against Sri Lanka (and the home side are best priced 2/5 to win this early season encounter) will see England climb even higher in the table.

Sri Lanka Lose Murali... And Now Malinga

The tourists come here after a hugely creditable performance in the recent ICC Cricket World Cup (admittedly part-played on home soil) where they only found India too good in the final.

However they come to England without their two best bowlers, both through retirement, Muttiah Muralitharan and more recently Lasith Malinga, making their chances of repeating their famous series win of 1998 appear slim ... to say the least!

Under new captain Tillakaratne Dillshan, who takes over from Kumar Sangakkara who resigned in the wake of the World Cup, the Sri Lankans, fourth in the world rankings behind England, are priced up at 7/1 to pull off an unlikely series win (a drawn series is a 4/1 chance).

The early signs are that Strauss can lead his side to yet another win, more so as home conditions will be a huge advantage to England, and the smart money suggests a 1-0 (9/2) or 2-0 (13/5) series scoreline - with the weather sure to play a part at some point! - will reward punters will a decent odds against success to start off the new cricket season.

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