ENGLAND v NEW ZEALAND: Our cricket tipster The Edge previews Thursday’s Test opener with a recommended BETDAQ bet.

MATCH OVERVIEW:

It’s all change in the cricket world this week on BETDAQ Betting Exchange as we go from the thrills and spills of the Indian Premier League to Test cricket as the England v New Zealand series kicks off on Thursday. This series should be a cracker, and we have a huge amount of questions as we kick off the English summer at Lord’s. Since the West Indies series there’s been a lot of change to the England set-up. Joe Root has fallen on his sword as captain, Ben Stokes takes over and Brendon McCullum is the new coach. We’re bound to see a very attacking style of play from this England side, but the question is will they be good enough to deliver?

Joe Root made the huge call to leave Jimmy Anderson and Stuart Broad out of the West Indies tour, and the attack looked toothless. They are back, which must be awkward for England’s best batsman as obviously he left them out for a reason – there was certainly some drama within the dressing room. They are getting on in age though, and you have to wonder when to just look to the future? There will be pain now, but the younger bowlers need experience too. I felt they were rotating them well before the West Indies series, but dropping them didn’t work and Root paid the price. Root is England’s best batsmen but he always comes across as a little shy. Stokes is the opposite, and it will be interesting to see his style of captaincy.

New Zealand come into this series having lost the warm-up game which is unusual. They won’t be fazed by conditions though – they more or less have the same swinging conditions at home. Their captain Kane Williamson had a horrible IPL where he looked out of form, coming back from injury the idea was so have some fun in T20 cricket and ease himself back in – given his form I doubt he enjoyed it! New Zealand are still World Test Champions though, and this will be a massive test for England with their batting really struggling over the last few years. A fantastic Test awaits.

WEATHER AND PITCH WATCH:

The weather looks beautiful in London this week. There’s a 40% chance of showers on Friday, but it’s around 20 degrees each day and given the time we can make up each day, I don’t see the weather being a factor even if we do get showers. The temperature is so nice the showers might not develop either – check the radar closer to the start time. Generally at Lord’s you want to look up rather than down at the wicket – if the sun is out it’s a good time to get on the batting side and if it’s cloudy you want to bowl. Given the likely conditions on Friday, I would definitely bat first and then look to have a bowl at some stage Friday with (hopefully) a decent score on the board by then.

RECOMMENDED BET:

A fascinating betting heat to start the Test summer. This is going to be a very good game for trading in my view with a lot of twists and turns in-running. Given the likely sunny conditions, we should have batting friendly conditions which does bring the draw into it. I feel Friday is a very important day because if it is cloudy and we do get good bowling conditions that day, that might give the edge that wins the game. With sunny conditions expected though, and possibly Friday can improve, I would expect the draw to hang around a lot in-play. I still wouldn’t back it outright at 3.5 though. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t worried about New Zealand losing the warm-up game or the form of Kane Williamson, but I still believe the 2.38 is too short on England here. It’s been a long time since they were a good Test side, and they still have huge issues with the middle order. Of course there is a question mark about the bowling, even with Anderson and Board back. New Zealand are a world class Test side, and I’d have the sides priced closer together. England are a decent value lay at the odds.

The Edge Says:
Two points lay (liability) England to beat New Zealand at 2.38 with BETDAQ Exchange.

View the market here -> https://betdaq.biz/EngNz

IN-RUNNING STRATEGY:

I’m going into this game with an open mind. I have a lot of questions to be answered here. I want to see how Kane Williamson performs after a terrible IPL – it might be a popular choice to take him on, but obviously he has a lot more time to settle here and that will help. I’m also obviously very interested in how Anderson and Broad perform after being left out of the West Indies series, and then how Ben Stokes captains too. There’s a lot of moving parts in this Test, and that’s why I can see a lot of movement over the course of the Test! From a trading point of view, I feel we’ll get a better idea of all those questions by the second innings so it might be easier to form a clear strategy then. The best trading angle, as always as Lord’s, is to get against the bowling side when the sun is out and we see a lot of blue sky. I doubt that will change here.