Sporting Index | The Mole

The result of the third Test will hopefully act as a wake-up call to an England team who could be forgiven for getting ahead of themselves after such a good year. Jonathan Agnew was shot down by Andrew Strauss for asking him whether it was a good thing to have lost the third Test but I think he's got a point. During another enthralling Oval Test there was one bright moment for England and the very few punters who kept faith with Alistair Cook with one particular client buying his 2nd Innings Runs at 41 for £100. Due to the competition for battling places in the side there's always one player that's going to be under pressure to score, and unfortunately it's Cookie's turn to be that man. With his Ashes place slipping away and up against the most exciting bowling attack in world cricket, it wasn't the most aesthetically pleasing knock but it was one of the best in the career of the 25-year-old opener. Cook shone in an otherwise dreadful batting performance which couldn't even set the visitors a difficult target, although with the way that Pakistan's batsmen like to collapse, 20 more runs might've been enough to win! Cook managed almost 50% of England's total which has all but secured his Ashes place and made one cricket fan £6,900 richer.

I don't know why but American hip-hop trio De La Soul once wrote that the magic number was three. The number nine is considered pretty lucky in China but the number they're all talking about in the Premier League at the moment is six. After Arsenal wiped the floor with Blackpool on Saturday, we'd already had three 6-0 scorelines in just 17 games! And when I appeared from my long trek underground at St. James' on Sunday I certainly didn't expect to witness the fourth 6-0 of this embryonic season. Neither did the client who sold the game's goals at 2.5 for £500. Although after nine minutes this punter's tale might've been about four inches higher up this page when the clown that is John Carew blasted a penalty high into the large round belly of a shirtless Newcastle fan. What a start for our man! Villa despite the miss were still looking good, dominating possession and knocking it around nicely. That was until Joey Barton briefly morphed into Cristiano Ronaldo and hit a dipping shot past a befuddled Friedel. Villa were still the better team until Kevin Nolan doubled their lead. The client was in trouble especially as it looked like Kevin MacDonald's men could still, bizarrely, get a goal back at any stage. Alas that didn't happen as the Villa players seemed to give up and Newcastle, particularly Andy Carroll, couldn't believe it as he helped himself to a hat-trick and Nolan a brace to embarrass a team that sent them down two seasons ago. You know the scoreline, the client was left £1,750 adrift.

Premier League With 64 goals already it's no surprise that we've seen plenty of movement on our Premier League Relegation Index. Having leaked 10 goals without reply so far it's no surprise to find Wigan's pre season price of 14-17 has gone out to 26-29. Looks like curtains for Roberto's boys. Then again Wigan were hammered a number of times last season (including a 9-1 defeat to Spurs and 8-0 at Chelsea) but still managed to stay up and record wins over Chelsea, Liverpool and Arsenal.

West Ham have also had a woeful start to the new season shipping six goals and scoring just one. A pre-season price of 7-9 reflected the belief of many (including me) that West Ham were a mid-table side but with United and Chelsea up next, the current price of 14-17 suggests those disgraceful fans who booed Carlton Cole and co on Saturday will have plenty of fun this season.


YouTube Based Banter

This week a horse race where two of the horse's names contradict themselves with hilarious consequences. Paul Collingwood eat your heart out! And this must've hurt the German Gabby Logan.