Cricket

David Warner has apologised for the language he used during his Twitter outburst on Saturday but said he felt the need to defend himself after a photo of him was used to illustrate a story on the seedy side of the IPL

The first Test match of the English summer seen a nice profit landed as England beat New Zealand inside 4 days at Lord's. The quick turn around in the direction of the match on the Saturday morning allowed me to turn a potentially losing position, into a £30.01 win. I started off trading the Test match on Betfair before a ball had been bowled. I thought the draw looked too short around 48-36 hours before the scheduled start of play, so I started off by laying it (it was 2.44 when I placed my lay bet). This short price was obviously down to the bit of indifferent weather that was lingering over London and most of the UK in the build up to the Test match. It's amazing, the effect the weather can have on cricket betting in England! Sure enough by the morning of the Test match, I was in a position to trade out for a couple of quid profit on all outcomes. Unfortunately, this is where things started to initially go wrong though. I didn't trade out. I thought that in the hour or so prior to the start of play, the draw would drift further out to around the 2.9 to 3.0 mark (I believe it would have been around 3.4- 3.5 without a weather risk). It didn't drift though, it stayed at around 2.62-2.68. This price still offered me a profit, but I didn't take it and I then compounded things as I then took my eye of the ball and missed the toss. This gave me a massive problem as England won it and decided to bat. This meant that the draw immediately got backed in, as the Betfair cricket betting market felt that England would probably bat for 4 or 5 sessions and take time out of the game, and with the dodgy weather in the air, increase the likelihood of a drawn match. Had England bowled first, I believe the draw would have drifted, as the market would have expected England to bowl New Zealand out cheaply given the overhead conditions, and move the match on at a pace. Anyway, I know found myself in the position of either having to take a hit, or sit tight and hope/expect that the match would turn. It clearly didn't on Day 1 as play was cut short by rain, and England had batted very cautiously and slowly prior to that. Day 2 seen an improvement as wickets started to tumble. After the two Kiwi wickets fell early in their innings, I managed to trade out for scratch and thought I had got away with things. On Friday night I then decided to trade the draw on Betfair. I put my lay bet up, it got matched, so and I put my back bet up, and that got matched, giving me a couple of quid profit. I did it again, only this time I placed both my back and lay bet at the same time. This was a bit lazy of me, I didn't expect the draw to shorten, so I should have got my lay bet matched first (as I could only see the draw drifting), and only then should I have placed my back bet. Anyway, only my back bet got matched as the draw drifted. I went to bed assuming it would come back in, and that I would get up in the morning to see a small profit on all three outcomes, but I didn't. When I got up in the morning, the draw had drifted even further. This left me with a nice profit on the draw, but large losses on an England or New Zealand win. And I didn't think the game would end in a draw!! So I then decided to place a large lay of New Zealand at 3.75. I did this in the belief that that they would either lose wickets, meaning they would drift. Or they would also grind out a score over a long period of time, taking time out of the match like England did, and their price would also drift (but not as much). My preference was a clatter of wickets, and luckily that's what happened. I then found myself in a position to trade out for a nice all round profit. My green on England was around £46.00, so I waited until it was time for England to bat again, and then stated to reduce some of my New Zealand red (by backing them at longer odds). I gradually reduced my potential New Zealand loss over the Saturday afternoon, and I was pleased I did

New Zealand wicket-keeper BJ Watling has been ruled out of the second and final Test against England which begins at Headingley on Friday with a knee injury. He picked up the injury during New Zealand's 170-run defeat in the opening match at Lord's and will be replaced - as he was at the home of cricket - as wicket-keeper by captain Brendon McCullum.

Michael Carberry continued his excellent form in the Yorkshire Bank 40 as holders Hampshire extended their lead at the top of Group B with a nine-wicket victory against Lancashire at the Ageas Bowl.

Playing against Mumbai Indians in the Qualifier 2 clash won't be an easy task. And no one knows it better than Rajasthan Royals skipper Rahul Dravid.

we look back at the Eliminator which saw Rajasthan Royals beat Sunrisers Hyderabad by four wickets. Brad Hodge played a starring role with a wonderful unbeaten half-century to take the Royals from a difficult position of 57 for five to victory in the final over when he hit Darren Sammy for two sixes to finally knock Sunrisers Hyderabad out.

Expressing surprise at Pune's decision to withdraw from the T20 league, BCCI clarified that it has had "no direct communication" from Sahara in this regard.

Ray Illingworth, the former Yorkshire and England batsman, has criticised the way Jonny Bairstow was treated by England over the winter.

In a tense chase, Brad Hodge provided the balm over Rajasthan Royals' wounds and ensured a four-wicket win to set up a Qualifier 2 clash with Mumbai Indians.

Durham proved they have the credentials to regain the County Championship after getting the better of title favourties Middlesex on day one at Chester-le-Street