I've decided to buy £10 of Edoardo Molinari's finishing position at 30 in tomorrow's European Masters as I'm sure his mind won't be on the job having won last week and in the process secured his place at the Ryder Cup. I've also sold £10 of Jimenez at 29 as he is playing well and finished 3rd and 4th in the last two runnings of this event. After a bad week, I really need a couple of winners! Anyone got a number for Mazhar Majeed?
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It was my son Alfie's third birthday party at a local farm… he is obsessed by tractors, so it seemed the perfect venue. The gang of 15 toddlers all had a wonderful time going on tractor rides and stroking different animals. I wore the wrong shoes (trod in something nasty) and was mildly irritated by the world's grumpiest tractor driver. Anyway, Star Rover's win in the 3.40pm at Leicester paid for it all, so I cannot grumble.
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A relatively quiet Bank Holiday Monday with little to report on the punting front except a few long term US Open tennis bets. I bought £20 of Wozniacki (even though she sounds like a Star Wars character) at 16 on the Women's outright index (60/40/20/10/5) and bought £15 of Nadal at 27 on the Men's index. I was tempted to sell Murray at around 24 but feel sure he'll make the last four.
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After absorbing the first eight pages of the News of the World (reading rather than eating it), it felt strange watching Pakistan roll over again… They were soon 73-8 and only a few slogs from Umar Akmal prevented them for being skittled for under 100 again. They were eventually dismissed for 147 and the test match limped to its conclusion. As expected, Strauss didn't bat again, so the Pakistan collapse had cost me £568. Luckily, Collingwood also didn't get the chance to add to his first innings duck so I immediately won back £504.
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I arrived at Lord's in sunshine (is there a better sight in world sport?) and took my seat well in time for first ball. Trott and Broad carried on exactly where they left off and the scoreboard began to rattle again. Even though Trott reached his 150 virtually straight away, it was Broad who was on fire and he threatened to catch his more senior partner. He hit a stunning cover drive to take his total to 150 and England's total to 400-7. The pair didn't stop there and boundary after boundary soon saw their partnership become the highest eighth wicket stand in test history.
It all eventually came to an end in the 135th over when Broad was eventually trapped LBW by Ajmal for an incredible 169. He got a well-deserved standing ovation for a knock that had won me £455 (but cost me as well). It was now essential that Anderson and Finn didn't hang around and undo all the good work. England went to lunch on 445-8 meaning that my total runs position was costing me exactly £800. Thankfully their innings only lasted 8 more balls after lunch and they finished all out for 446 meaning a loss of £804. Trott eventually fell for a massive 184 winning me £255. All that meant that I had lost £94 in total on the innings which was a huge result given my original bet.
The rest of the afternoon was hugely frustrating as not only did I miss Bullwhip winning Newmarket's 2.25pm race (I wanted to buy £10 at 14 on the index), I was also put off selling both Pakistan openers and total runs by a good cricketing friend who said that the pitch was too flat to sell anyone. Well, Bullwhip bolted up and Hameed was out in the fourth over for just 2 runs and Farhat followed 11 balls later for 6. Pakistan were reeling at 9-2 when I sat back down and were suddenly 10-3 when Yousuf fell for a duck. Should I be selling their runs at 178? I had missed the wedding, so certainly wasn't going to go to the funeral…
I wished I had… 46-4, 55-5, 55-6, 57-7! Suddenly, I realised that Pakistan were going to bat again and that it was highly unlikely that England would bat again. Another disaster… my Andrew Strauss position. However, the Collingwood sell eases the burden a little.
Pakistan were eventually all out for 74 and I went looking for my 'flat track' friend but couldn't find him! The light wasn't great when they came out again and the wickets continued to tumble. They finished an incredible day on 41-4 in darkness and rain. It had been an unbelievable spectacle with 17 wickets falling… sadly, the Sunday papers were about to question whether or not it was actually a believable day after all!
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I tuned into the cricket to hear Alistair Cook being caught behind third ball of the day and he was followed seven balls later by Pietersen for a duck. England were reeling at 39-2 when my man Collingwood arrived at the crease. I had sold £8 of his match runs at 63, but was worried that the stage was set for a typical Collingwoodesque gritty innings. I needn't have worried… he fell (via a review) just three balls later for a duck. God gives with one hand and takes with the other!
He was followed a couple of overs later by Morgan and England were suddenly 47-5. Trott and Prior did manage to move the score into three figures before the latter finally fell to Amir for 22. Swann fell two balls later and England looked dead and buried at 103-7! However, Trott and Broad began to put together a partnership and soon took England past the 150 point. Sadly, that's roughly around the time where I decided to step in and sell England runs for £4 at 245. With so little in the way of batting to come, there seemed very little downside.
Well, the reality was somewhat different. The partnership remained intact as England sailed past 200 and Trott rapidly approached a century and Broad his fifty. It would have cost me over £300 to close my position, so I decided to buy both Trott and Broad's runs instead. I bought £5 of the former at 133 and the same amount of the later at 78.
The runs kept coming and Stuart Broad raced past 78 and soon became only the 14th batsman in test history to make a century batting at number nine. England ended the day on 347-7 with Trott unbeaten on 149 and Broad on 125. Having sold £4 of England runs at 245, I was already guaranteed a loss of £408. However, Broad was winning me back at least £235 and Trott £80. I was going to Lord's the next day and wanted to make sure I could cheer on every run.
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While the rest of the world is still talking about the first ball of the third over in the deciding test match between England and Pakistan, I'm more focused on the first ball of the 12th over. It was the one that removed Andrew Strauss for just 13! Amir's blatant no ball may still be grabbing all the headlines, but it was Asif's delivery that left my £8 buy of Strauss's match runs at 84 looking somewhat dodgy to say the least. I needed Strauss to make at least 71 in the second innings to break even and England weren't even sure to bat again. Not even Mazhar Majeed could get me out of trouble!
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