Diary of a Spread Bettor (Week 8)

Thursday 9th July

I thought England's 435 all out was an unbelievable score in the circumstances. The tail wagged as well as I have ever seen a tail wag before. Swann, Anderson and Broad all chipped in with boundaries galore to post a decent total. The English spirit of 2005 was back and n my eyes, the Aussies were certainties to lose an early wicket in response...

I sold Hughes' runs at 50 in-running for £5 and was thrilled to see him nick a Freddie Flintoff special through to Prior for 36. A cheeky £70 profit and I was off to the perfect start. I was confident and more importantly, so were England. In fact, there was a real chance that the Three Lions could actually take more wickets and go on to win the match.

I soon sold Katich for £3 in-running at 82 and sold Australia runs for £4 at what looked a massive 525. Sadly, it soon became clear that the only person heading to Lord's 1-0 down was going to be me! I had taken one giant step into that 'corridor of uncertainty' and I had to decide quickly whether I was going to head back.

As the ball began to rattle its way to all four corners of Cardiff, I decided to take my hit shortly before 6pm and buy Katich back at 132 (a £150 loss) and also opted to buy £8 of Australia runs at 575 to take another £200 loss and go the other way for £4. Both batsmen were closing in fast on their centuries and with the score at 249/1 at stumps, I had done the right thing. Sometimes it's right to take the hit if you've blatantly got something wrong. My misjudgment had cost me £350, but if Australia batted on past 575, I had a chance of getting something back.

Anyway, if Strauss continued to captain the side like Bungle from Rainbow (look him up if you don't know who he is), there was more than just a good chance that Australia could post 700! What was he doing gifting both Ponting and Katich hundreds and not applying more pressure and why did he take the new ball and then put the spinners on again ten overs later... a certain Geoffrey would have never done that!

Friday 10th July

I found myself in the very strange position of driving to Newmarket and cheering on every Aussie boundary. The scoreboard raced onto 299 and then Katich was trapped LBW by Anderson for 122. Spread betting does funny thing to you. While all English cricket fans were celebrating, I was sat quietly irritated. Not only had the dismissal cost me £30 (I had closed Katich at 132), it also meant that my buy of Australian total runs at a ridiculously high level was also looking dodgy to say the least!

The next 30 minutes were horrendous and by the time I had parked the car (told you it does funny things to you), both Hussey and Ponting had joined Katich back in the pavilion. They were 331/4, their runs quote had collapsed and I didn't know what to do. I had taken too many hits already and my proverbial gum shield was hanging out of my mouth. I didn't panic and decided not to watch or listen to another ball until getting back in the car.

To cap it all, I'd also backed Scenic Blast ante-post in the July Cup and was upset when the Aussie sprint sensation trailed in a distant sixth. I had spent the afternoon throwing money at all things Australian and it was costing me a fortune. It hadn't been a G'Day (sorry had to do it)!

Saturday 11th July

The weather forecasters had said all week that we'd be lucky to see a ball bowled in Cardiff on Saturday - they were wrong. Two full sessions and thank god, a sack full of Aussie runs. They batted brilliantly all day and when Haddin was eventually caught for 121 (with his partner North not out on 125), the total had reached an impressive 674. The declaration followed disappointingly (I must be the only man in England who wishes they were still batting now!) and I had made 99 x £4.

After all the stress and strain, I had won back £396 to cover the £350 loss and add to the early £70 profit. England lost two early wickets which was great news for my £5 sell of Cook's series runs at 355. His contribution in the first test was just 16 from his two knocks and things were looking rosier.

Sunday 12th July

Watched Pietersen leave one he'd have never have left if the world and his wife hadn't been on his back for playing 'that shot' in the first innings. Strauss and Prior then followed him quickly back to the pavilion and at 70 for 5 before lunch, they were heading for certain defeat.

Collingwood stood firm throughout the day and then Anderson and Panesar somehow managed to pull off an incredible draw. I didn't have a bet, but was firmly back supporting England. It was a huge result and was made even more enjoyable by Ponting's sour grapes at the press conference. I also think that Collingwood is beginning to turn into Alan Shearer... close your eyes the next time he is interviewed.

By the way, I found out some interesting cricketing trivia today too. Did you know that James Anderson now holds the Test cricket record for the batsman with the most consecutive innings' without a duck. It currently stands at over 50! Lara, Bradman, Tendulkar... none of them managed to do it!

Also, Michael Vaughan, Jacques Kallis and Ricky Ponting have over 80 test match centuries between them, but none of them went on to make a double century. That's an extraordinary statistic when you think that Jason Gillespie only made one test century in his career and he coverted that into a 'double-ton'!

Monday 13th July

A rubbish day of sport to start an unbelievable sporting week that includes not only the Open Golf Championship, but the second test from Lord's.

Ayr were forced to abandon racing when seven horses fell in one race on a slippy surface. Luckily all the horses were okay although a few jockeys will now be on the sidelines for a bit. They are scheduled to race there again next Monday, so there must be a great spread betting 'slip' market somewhere - how about the number of horses that slip over at Ayr multiplied by the number of slip catches taken at Lord's!

By the way, Steve Harmison was named in the squad for Lord's as a possible replacement for a doubtful Freddie Flintoff. I'd say that he'd be a good selection for an English side that only managed to get six wickets in Cardiff!

Tuesday 14th July

Bastille Day in France and Aidan O'Brien saddled half the field in the Grand Prix de Paris run at 7.20pm in Longchamp. I didn't fancy any of his four runners, but there was no real value to be had selling his rags too cheaply. I opted to sell Age of Aquarius at 14 on a 50-25-10 index on the basis that I reckoned he'd get tapped for toe at the business end and would make-up 0. In short, a £10 sell would have yielded a £140 profit if the Lingfield Derby Trial winner failed to make the frame. Sadly, there were no fireworks and he finished second in a messy race costing me £140 at the same time.

Wednesday 15th July

The calm before the storm. Two of the best sporting events of the year get underway tomorrow and it's time to get stuck in. Starting with the Cricket and I've decided to have a go at individual player match runs, or should I say lack of runs! I've sold Cook's contribution for £3 at 70, Bopara for £3 at 70 and Hussey for £3 at 67. All three look out of touch and I cannot see them scoring over 200 runs in the match between them. I also couldn't resist buying Strauss at 84 for £3 on his favorite track in test cricket.

The Open (used to get in trouble from my Dad for calling it the British Open) gets underway ludicrously early tomorrow and I've had a right crack at a few finishing positions (I always say that with a slight Geordie accent for some reason - must be the Alan Shearer within me).

I've sold Mahan at 34 for £5, Kaymer at 38 for £5, Curtis at 38 for £5, Perry at 38 for £5 and Watney at 41 for £5. I've also got against the following by buying their finishing positions for £5...Garcia at 32, Goosen at 39 and Singh at 41. I have also bought the winning score at 274.5 for £30 and sold players under par for £20 at 9. Basically, I won't have a clue whether I'm winning or losing until the weekend... I bet Bungle Strauss will be hoping for that same feeling!