England v Pakistan Test Review
There was no shortage of excitement for spread bettors during this summer's Test series between England and Pakistan. This was typified by the frantic final game where spread punters who held positions in the series win index saw things change dramatically in the fourth Test at Lord's.
With England 2-1 up after three clashes in the four-match series, the hosts began terribly in conditions not conducive to batting. At one point the Three Lions had tumbled to 47-5 and Pakistan looked set to leave with a series draw. That result would have been welcomed by spread buyers of their series win index. This Sporting Index market grants 25 points per game won and 10 in the case of a particular Test ending in a draw, meaning said spread buyers would have ended with 50 points and copped a nice point profit.
However, to the delight of spread buyers of England's win index, as well as spread sellers of Pakistan's - not to mention the home fans - Jonathan Trott and Stuart Broad pulled a pair of rabbits out the hat for their team. They nailed a Test record eighth-wicket partnership of 332 which took the fight out of the tourists and helped see Andrew Strauss' men go from their perilous position on day one to an innings and 225-run victory.
Trott's stand of 184 helped him comfortably eclipse his top-order rivals with a magnificent series haul of 404. Any spread bettors who saw this coming by buying his series runs spread would have been delighted at that final make-up. Other big winners for spread buyers in the Test series player markets were Broad who ended on 250 and Matt Prior who delighted his spreads supporters with a total of 234 runs. Both non-specialist batsmen comfortably exceeded Sporting Index's pre-series predictions and outscored not only the rest of their teammates - with the exception of Trott - but every single member of the opposing squad as well.
Like Broad, Graeme Swann is a man who can contribute with bat and ball, and sellers of his all-round performance will be hanging their heads after the Nottinghamshire man's final make up reached a tally of 578 in the market that awards 1 point per run, 10 per catch, 20 per wicket and 25 per stumping.
Swann was not, though, the top series bowler, at least as far as Sporting Index's bowling index is concerned. The spinner reached a total of 270 points in this market, thanks in no small part to the nine wickets he claimed in the final Test, but it was King of the Swingers, James Anderson, who reached the highest bowling index total with 280. He only took three wickets at Lord's, but few spread buyers of his series bowling index will forget the performance at Trent Bridge when the Lancastrian took 11 wickets and gained a pair of 25-point bonuses given by Sporting Index for the separate five wicket hauls in each innings.
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