Weekend of 23rd-24th September

Coming up this weekend

• Horse Racing, On the flat at Ayr, Catterick, Newbury, Newmarket, Wolverhampton and York
• Football, the Premier League matches include Arsenal v Tottenham
• Rugby Union, the Rugby World Cup continues.
• NFL, the new season continues, week 3.
• Formula One, the Japanese Grand Prix
• Tennis ATP Astana and China Opens.
• Golf the Ryder Cup next week in Italy

The Cricket World Cup

The 2023 Cricket World Cup is to be held in India starting on 5^th October and running until 19^th November. We’ll have full coverage of the tournament including the outright and props markets ante-post and each match through to the final. The cost of the package is £50 and you can sign up here

Free Tip

Cricket England v Ireland 2^nd ODI at Trent Bridge 11am Saturday

The first match of the series on Wednesday at Headingley was rained off, so it’s now a two-match series starting at Trent Bridge on Saturday.

England’s squad for the series consists almost totally of players not selected in England’s World Cup Squad though squads can be changed up until September 28, two days after the culmination of England series against Ireland. Joe Root was at short notice inserted into this squad at his request to play the first game of the series and Harry Brook, added to the World cup squad at the expense of Jason Roy, was removed from this series. Root will now rest ahead of the World Cup which is a bit frustrating for him as he was seeking some touch in the format. Since the 2019 World Cup Final he has only batted in 16 ODIs with just three 50s and no hundreds.

A complication is that the Ireland series is a direct clash with the final two rounds of the County Championship. In a statement accompanying the squad announcement, the ECB said: “The England Men’s selection panel consulted with the first-class counties and weighed their ambitions in the run-in to the end of the LV= Insurance County Championship season, before finalising the squad.”

Captain of this squad Zak Crawley has long been touted as a white-ball player given his attacking style and high strike rate in the red ball game but largely due to commitments with the Test squad he has found his chances in limited overs cricket restricted at domestic, franchise and international level. After impressing at the top of the order in the Covid-affected series against Pakistan two years ago, Crawley now has another chance to press forward his white-ball case. The two first choice openers in England’s 2023 World Cup squad Bairstow and Malan are unlikely to make the 2027 tournament and there are gaps in the England top order that will need filling sooner or later.

There is no obvious successor to Ben Stokes in the Test set-up, nor is there an obvious long-term successor to Jos Buttler in the limited-overs teams. In this low-key end-of-term affair Crawley will have three major opportunities to make what has already been a very good summer for him on a personal level even better.

Given the context that this is a squad of players not going to India for the World Cup it is an extremely strong squad. Crawley and Duckett are fresh off the back of good Ashes campaigns, Jacks is one of the most sought-after franchise players in the world, and 19-year-old Rehan Ahmed is an exciting prospect.

In Carse, Wood and newbie Scrimshaw, there are three quicks capable of touching 90mph and that’s before you get to Potts a bowler with a decent England record.

The identity of the two uncapped batters Smith and Hain is perhaps most revealing: both are high-class players who, in any previous era, would surely have been capped in one format or another by now.

The England top batsman market is as follows: Salt 100/30, Crawley 7/2, Jacks 4/1, Duckett 5/1, Jamie Smith 8/1 and Hain 9/1

Unlike some England batting orders through this summer the line up doesn’t have a lot of late order depth and has two debutants. In Crawley’s form this summer, with the opportunity to open the batting and get in first against weaker opponents he is a solid prospect to top score.

10 points Zak Crawley top England run scorer at 7/2 Betfair Sportsbook/Paddy Power and 3/1 Coral/Ladbrokes

Red or Green?

There’s many a way to pass a message onto the rugby field these days. Ear-pieces, water carriers and plain old shouting to name a few. Gone are the days at the top level where a decision is solely the captain’s to make. But the South Africa coaches had a unique approach in their first rugby world cup match against Scotland utilising traffic light signals to influence the team’s decision-making on the field.

When the Springboks were awarded a first-half penalty in a good attacking position the TV cameras panned to the South Africa coaching box where an assistant raised a red traffic light. South Africa fly-half Manie Libbok then pointed to the posts to indicate he wanted to have a shot at goal.

Libbok slotted the three points, having missed an earlier attempt with much made about his fluctuating fortunes off the tee. However, the use of the light certainly caught the eye with the red signal clearly meant to inform on-field captain Siya Kolisi that the powers that be wanted him to take the points on offer.

While for the majority of the Rugby World Cup 2023 viewers watching around the world, it may have been the first time they’d seen this unique tactic it is said to be an Erasmus favourite. When he was the Cheetahs coach he once flashed lights from the roof of the Free State Stadium in Bloemfontein.

The use of the light caused a stir on social media and divided opinion. Some onlookers thought it was effective communication and a smart ploy while others were not so impressed. After the game when questioned about the tactic, South Africa head coach Jacques Nienaber revealed they use it because crowd noise often makes it hard to be heard.

 

StattoBets Dave Monthly Subscription - Soccer - Tennis - Darts

Stattobets write ups, analysis and bets are available to monthly subscribers.

Results = points bet 34780 profit +1506.90 ROI +4.33% Full details here

Monthly subs are £50 a month and can be cancelled at any time. You can sign up here. 

Betting Emporium results

The detailed results page has been updated on 1^st July 2023. They can be found by clicking RESULTS

If you bet £10 per point on every recommended bet since launch you would be winning + £67,126 All bets have an ROI +3.05%

A £4000 bank betting £10 a point on all selections would now be worth £71,176 a 1678% increase 

 

 

 

 

The Road to Riches Weekend of 16-17th September

Coming up this weekend

• Horse Racing, On the flat at Bath, Chester, Doncaster, Lingfield and Musselburgh.
• Football, the Premier League returns including West Ham United v Manchester City.
• Rugby Union, the Rugby World Cup continues.
• NFL, the new season continues, week 2.
• Formula One, the Singapore Grand Prix
• Cricket, the Metro Bank One Day Cup final, Leicestershire v Hampshire.
• Tennis ATP Opens in Zhuhai and Chengdu and the Rogers Cup.
• Golf the French Open on the DP World Tour

The Cricket World Cup

The 2023 Cricket World Cup is to be held in India starting on 5^th October and running until 19^th November. We’ll have full coverage of the tournament including the outright and props markets ante-post and each match through to the final. The cost of the package is £50 and you can sign up here

Free Tip

Cricket Metro Bank One Day Cup Final Leicestershire v Hampshire at Trent Bridge, Saturday 11am

A victim of the crowded domestic cricket schedule this 50 over competition has taken back seat in terms of profile for the last three years running concurrently with the Hundred during August. Every county side lost players to the new franchises, though sides were affected to different degrees. For example Hampshire reached the knockout stages and then onto the final having lost 10 players to the 100. They are all now available for the final and understandably enough they are odds-on favourites for the final.

In contrast Leicestershire, one of the smaller counties, lost only three players to the shorter competition. One of those, spinner Rehan Ahmed is still away, this time with England for their ODI series against Ireland next week. In addition Australian wicketkeeper-batsman Peter Handscomb is absent, back home preparing for the domestic season.

With Leicestershire essentially playing a first XI through he pool stages against opponents playing a few first team players but mostly Second XI and fringe players they won 7 out of 8 pool games and then best Gloucestershire (another side hardly affected by the Hundred) in the semi-finals.

Hampshire’s achievement in also winning 7 out of 8 pool matches was arguably more admirable, they then beat Warwickshire in the semi-final with returning from the Hundred Liam Dawson taking 7 for 15.

Now Leicestershire’s squad advantage from earlier in this competition has disappeared but they have two things in their favour.

Firstly, change has been afoot. They’ve won no trophy for 38 years and earlier this summer after just two wins from 14 matches in the T20 Blast head coach Paul Nixon departed in unexplained but plainly acrimonious circumstances. Since then the club has blooded younger players. Progress has been seen in the County Championship where the side sits third in division two and with an outside chance of promotion as we reach the final matches of the season. In the One Day Cup they’ve compiled some big scores. I watched them chase down 325 to beat Surrey with 46 balls to spare at The Oval and they compiled 298 to beat this weekend’s opponents Hampshire at Southampton.

In the bowling ranks Chris Wright (16 wickets) and South African All-rounder Wiaan Mulder (12 wickets) have been mainstays but there have been eye-catching contributions from younger players such as Tom Scriven (14 wickets) and Josh Hull an 18 year old left arm quick with 15 wickets. Definitely one for the notebook, a tall and fast bowler for the future.

Secondly the weather forecast for this weekend in Nottingham is decidedly mixed with some rain forecast. If the match is affected and Duckworth-Lewis were come into play this becomes much more of a “toss game” than it would be in good conditions, as the formula very much favours sides batting second. Either of these sides would be favourites winning the toss in that scenario.

In these circumstances, I am going to take the underdog.

12 points Leicestershire to win the One Day Cup Final at 6/5 Bet365, William Hill and BetVictor

Tank

As the Arizona Cardinals tank without admitting that they’re tanking they have another way to position themselves for the next stage of their rebuild from 2024 onwards.

They have a legitimate business reason for keeping their best player off the field for the entirety of the new season. Franchise Quarterback Kyler Murray is currently on the “Physically Unable to Perform” list and will miss the first four games of the season at minimum after tearing his ACL in Week 14 of last year. He has millions in injury guarantees that become fully guaranteed this year and next. If a player can’t pass a physical on the date the guarantees convert, the team cannot avoid the financial commitment.

The Cardinals are under the new guidance of head coach and general manager and have already demonstrated they're not afraid to cut ties if needed, as players such as DeAndre Hopkins and Isaiah Simmons a first round draft pick two years ago are off the roster. If the Cardinals are contemplating a future without the first pick in the 2019 draft, it makes good business sense to keep him on the PUP list not just for the first four weeks but for the entire 2023 season. The current contract pays him $56m but rises to $92m if he plays again and is re-injured.

In those circumstances there has to be a doubt that Murray will on the field this year and whether  the Cardinals would fully guarantee a contract for a player that might not be in their plans moving forward. Keeping Murray on the PUP list also has the important added benefit of keeping new nack up Josh Dobbs at quarterback, increasing the chances that the Cardinals fall to the bottom of the standings and rise to the top of the 2024 draft order. The 2024 draft has several top Quarterback prospects, notably Heisman trophy winner USC’s Caleb Williams and a brilliant young wide receiver, Marvin Harrison Jnr.

Finally, another team might trade for Murray at the end of the year. NFL teams can be desperate for a quarterback, there simply aren’t enough of sufficient quality for all 32 and the trade compensation back to the Cardinals might be better if he’s traded on a lower value contract.

 

StattoBets Dave Monthly Subscription - Soccer - Tennis - Darts

Stattobets write ups, analysis and bets are available to monthly subscribers.

Results = points bet 34780 profit +1506.90 ROI +4.33% Full details here

Monthly subs are £50 a month and can be cancelled at any time. You can sign up here. 

Betting Emporium results

The detailed results page has been updated on 1^st July 2023. They can be found by clicking RESULTS

If you bet £10 per point on every recommended bet since launch you would be winning + £67,126 All bets have an ROI +3.05%

A £4000 bank betting £10 a point on all selections would now be worth £71,176 a 1678% increase 

 

 

The Road to Riches Weekend of 9th-10th September

Coming up this weekend

 

• Horse Racing, On the flat at Ascot, Haydock, Kempton and Thirsk on the all-weather at Wolverhampton and over the jumps at Stratford.
• Football, European Championship Qualifying including Ukraine v England.
• Rugby Union, the Rugby World Cup starts.
• NFL, the new season starts.
• Cricket, the Second ODI between England and New Zealand in Southampton.
• Tennis the Davis Cup Finals.
• Golf the Fortinet Championship on the USPGA and the BMW PGA Championship the DP World Tour

2023 NFL Season

The package covering all 18 weeks of the regular season begins this week and costs £99.The season ante-post write up is live now for subscribers here and the Week 1 write up is live today.

The Rugby World Cup

The Betting Emporium package is available now costing £50. The first write-up, including all the outright, pool and player markets is available now to subscribers here and the write-up for the matches over the first weekend is now live.

Previous Rugby World Cup Results 2015 +112 points ROI 28% 2019 +122 points ROI 47%

Free Tip

Cricket 2nd ODI England v New Zealand 11am Sunday Southampton

This is the second game of a four match ODI series following the drawn T20 series earlier this month, a warm-up for the 50 over World Cup in India starting on 5^th October where England are defending champions. Current ODI world rankings have New Zealand 4^th and England 5^th, and the two play each other in their first game of the World Cup in Ahmedabad.

The England squad for this series is that for the World Cup, where the provisional squad had a major controversy with the surprising omission of Harry Brook, and the return of Ben Stokes from ODI retirement probably as a batter only a partial cause of the top six logjam. Brooks has now been added to the squad for this series and I would expect to ultimately be in the World Cup Squad.

The probable aim of the team selection in India, with games to be played in places like Lucknow and in the far north at Dharamsala, will be to support Rashid with another couple of spinning options in Livingstone and Moeen but the selection of six seam options, albeit three of them via all-rounders looks a bit top heavy. We’ll see if the final squad has any adjustments. It will be interesting to see if these games are played on any used pitches to give practice for sub-continent conditions.

New Zealand are captained by Trent Boult and have their top batsman Kane Williamson just coming back from a serious injury suffered at the start of the IPL. As we saw in the T20 series, and in a lot of recent World Cups (reached the last four or better in six of the last eight editions) they are not to be under-estimated in short form cricket. Many of their players are experienced franchise competitors worldwide.

I am writing before the result of the first ODI at Cardiff on Friday is known. For that game England selected Brook as opener (a pre-cursor of things to come?) with Roy and Bairstow injured and a bowling attack of Willey/Topley/Woakes/Atkinson and Rashid.

Looking at England player markets, and aware that rotation across the squad will be the name of the game throughout this warm-up series once again the England batting market is congested. Root as the "glue" around which the dashers play is probably the most reasonable and consistent option at around 7/2.

In the bowling market Adil Rashid is a veteran of 125 ODIs and England’s front-line spinner. With 183 wickets in the international format at under a run a ball he is assured of his full complement of overs here and his variations give him a wicket taking potential that the other part-time spin options should lack. At around 7/2 with pitches baked by a week of solid sunshine, he is a solid bet in this market

10 points Adil Rashid top England wicket-taker at 7/2* with William Hill and Bet365. (*first ODI price, will update when the second game prices go up)

The Splits

A generation ago the multi-player bench came in for safety reasons to ensure players didn’t come on and play in positions they weren’t trained for particularly in the front row of the scrum. However strategies have evolved and teams most usually go for a 5-3 split  calculating the risk of injury/fatigue in certain positions. A partial move to 6-2 was teams like South Africa playing to their strengths.

The potential safety angle aside, 7-1 is a recently rare innovation in rugby. Many defensive patterns have been imported from Rugby League and attacking patterns in many teams are moribund. In a World Cup, particularly in the knock-out stages the risk of injuries mid-game in the backs makes a 7-1 split unlikely.

However the advent of the “hybrid” player increases the multi-skilled player’s opportunity to play at the highest level for their country. For example South Africa flanker Kwagga Smith has played hundreds of sevens games and could line up at winger whilst France’s Sekou Macalou can play flanker or winger.

StattoBets Dave Monthly Subscription - Soccer - Tennis - Darts

Stattobets write ups, analysis and bets are available to monthly subscribers.

Results = points bet 34780 profit +1506.90 ROI +4.33% Full details here

Monthly subs are £50 a month and can be cancelled at any time. You can sign up here. 

Betting Emporium results

The detailed results page has been updated on 1^st July 2023. They can be found by clicking RESULTS

If you bet £10 per point on every recommended bet since launch you would be winning + £67,126 All bets have an ROI +3.05%

A £4000 bank betting £10 a point on all selections would now be worth £71,176 a 1678% increase 

 

 

 

 

The Road to Riches Weekend of 2nd-3rd September

Coming up this weekend

• Horse Racing, On the flat at Beverley, Chester and Sandown, on the all-weather at Chelmsford City and Wolverhampton and over the jumps at Newton Abbot
• Football, the Premier League fixtures include Arsenal v Manchester United.
• Cricket, the Second T20I between England and New Zealand in Birmingham.
• Rugby Union, the Rugby World Cup starts next week
• Formula One, the Italian Grand Prix
• Tennis the US Open continues.
• Golf  the Irish Open on the DP World Tour

2023 NFL Season

The package covering all 18 weeks of the regular season begins in early September and costs £99.The season ante-post write up is live now for subscribers here .

The Rugby World Cup

The Betting Emporium package is available now costing £50. The first write-up, including all the outright, pool and player markets is available now to subscribers here.

Previous Rugby World Cup Results 2015 +112 points ROI 28% 2019 +122 points ROI 47%

Free Tip

Cricket T20 International England v New Zealand Friday 6pm Old Trafford

This is the second game of a four match T20I series ahead of a four match ODI series, itself a warm-up for the 50 over World Cup in India in October. There is also a T20 World Cup next year.

In the ever more crowded international schedule including a proliferation of new franchise tournaments across the world, England last played limited overs cricket in February in Bangladesh, winning an ODI series 2-1 but losing the T20s 3-0. New Zealand meanwhile lost an ODI series to Pakistan 4-1 but won the T20 series 2-1.

The England squad contains a deep and strong batting line up with Buttler, Bairstow, Brook, Malan, Roy, Livingstone and Jacks plus all-rounders Moeen and Sam Curran all now successful franchise players in the format. In the first game at Durham the “locks” in the 50 over team were batting in the positions they are expected to in the World Cup, namely Bairstow opening, Buttler 5, Moeen 6 and Livingstone 7

The bowling attack selected in the squad is where there is experimentation with Gus Atkinson, Brydon Carse and Luke Wood all new or relatively new to international cricket as the selectors look to broaden the talent pool ahead of next Summer’s big tournament.

New Zealand’s squad meanwhile is experienced. Players like Finn Allen, Devon Conway (a big success opening the batting for CSK when winning the IPL this year), Glenn Phillips, Daryl Mitchell and Jimmy Neesham are all familiar to domestic cricket watchers this season and the bowling line up containing Henry, Milne and Santner alongside captain Tim Southee is well-rounded.

In the first game at Durham on Wednesday England restricted New Zealand to 139 on a slow pitch and won with six overs to spare by seven wickets.

Looking at England player markets for the first two games, the top batsman market was a really tough one. England bat down to 8 (Sam Curran, who bats 4 or 5 in other T20 teams) and I decided it was to be avoided.

The top bowler market has less depth, five front line bowlers are being supported by part-time spinners Livingstone and Jacks. Whilst we should expect some team rotation through a four match series, I am not sure there will be too many changes to an impressive winning team for the second game.

In the first game Luke Wood and Curran took the new ball, Brydon Carse was first change and Rashid and Ali bowled a full complement on a friendly pitch for them

Prices for the second game, from William Hill, are:

Atkinson 100/30

Curran 100/30

Jordan 100/30

Wood 7/2

Carse 9/2

Ahmed 5/1

Moeen 5/1

Atkinson, Jordan and Ahmed are currently in reserve. It was notable in the recent Hundred tournament how few wickets Sam Curran took, 6 in 9 games this despite a new ball that swung in the early overs throughout the tournament (conjecture has it that the white balls in use this summer have a more pronounced seam than normally). Luke Wood meanwhile, a fellow left arm seamer, has taken 15 wickets inside the Powerplay across the T20 Blast and Hundred this year, only two players across both competitions have taken more. Wood backed this up with 3-37 in the first T20I recovering despite being hit for three sixes in the first over of the match

At 7/2 he’s decent value to back that up here

10 points Luke Wood Top England bowler 2^nd T20I v New Zealand 4/1 Betfair Sportsbook and Paddy Power, 7/2 William Hill 100/30 Bet365

 

Discipline

In the recent Rugby World Cup Warm Up Match at Twickenham against Wales Owen Farrell was sent off at Twickenham for driving his shoulder into the head of an opponent. The England captain initially avoided a ban after the team’s lawyer argued successfully in a virtual disciplinary hearing that there had been enough mitigation for the red card to be downgraded to yellow, because of the “sudden” movement of the ball-carrier.

World Rugby then took the rare step of appealing its own disciplinary panel’s decision. The fresh appeal panel ruled that Farrell's failure to attempt to wrap his arm in the tackle meant the foul play review officer was correct in his decision to upgrade to a red card during the match. The panel therefore deemed the tackle was "always illegal", and no mitigation can be applied to a tackle that is "always illegal" under World Rugby's head contact process.

For more than four years, World Rugby has been committed to a policy of trying to force players to tackle lower through the use of red cards, bans and, more recently, a tackle education programme. It does not appear to be working.

The concussion rate continues to rise and defenders continue to risk these rugby league-style tackles, which are deemed by World Rugby to be the most dangerous in the game but are not illegal.

Players look to tackle upright and with force for four reasons: to make a dominant impact, to target the ball in the hope of ripping it clear, to be in the best position to execute a turnover once the ball-carrier is on the ground and to prevent off-loads.

Players understand the safety concerns but if they don’t defend that way they risk being dropped. The players therefore find themselves caught between what the game demands of them on the field to win matches and what the lawmakers demand of them to make the sport appear safer.

Farrell addressed the issue during the Premiership season

“If you are constantly being passive you probably won’t get picked next week. It’s a fine line and I don’t think people quite understand when it gets slowed down on TV how quick those decisions are on the field.”

Players sent off with a first offence can attend World Rugby’s tackle school the equivalent of a speed awareness course. World Rugby argues that the programme has a 5% reoffending rate, but it is seen elsewhere as no more than a tick-box exercise that has no hope of rectifying deep-seated technical issues.

World Rugby has to be aware that the Farrell affair has damaged the sport’s credibility. It would be a surprise if World Rugby did not eventually react by pushing through a lower tackle height in professional rugby.

StattoBets Dave Monthly Subscription - Soccer - Tennis - Darts

Stattobets write ups, analysis and bets are available to monthly subscribers.

Results = points bet 34780 profit +1506.90 ROI +4.33% Full details here

Monthly subs are £50 a month and can be cancelled at any time. You can sign up here. 

Betting Emporium results

The detailed results page has been updated on 1^st July 2023. They can be found by clicking RESULTS

If you bet £10 per point on every recommended bet since launch you would be winning + £67,126 All bets have an ROI +3.05%

A £4000 bank betting £10 a point on all selections would now be worth £71,176 a 1678% increase 

 

 

 

 

The Road to Riches Weekend of 26th-27th August

Coming up this weekend

• Horse Racing, On the flat at Goodwood, Newmarket, Redcar, Windsor and York and over the jumps at Cartmel
• Football, the Premier League fixtures include Newcastle United v Liverpool.
• Cricket, the Hundred concludes, the Eliminator on Saturday and the final on Sunday.
• Rugby Union, the final 2023 Rugby World Cup Warm up matches
• Formula One, the Dutch Grand Prix
• Tennis the US Open begins.
• Golf the European Masters on the DP World Tour

2023 NFL Season

The package covering all 18 weeks of the regular season begins in early September and costs £99. An article describing what to expect from the package has been published, free to read here.  The season ante-post write up will be live on 28th August.

Free Tip

Rugby World Cup Warm Up New Zealand v South Africa 7.30pm Friday at Twickenham

A final warm up match ahead of the start of the Rugby World Cup on 9^th December where these two teams are in the same half of the draw and potential Quarter final opponents.

New Zealand were in the relative doldrums a year ago, including a home series loss to Ireland and a defeat to Argentina but prospects have improved dramatically this year particularly up front where a new forwards coach has got the pack really humming. They were dominant during the recent rugby Championship and their success in that truncated tournament propelled them back to World Cup favouritism ahead of France.

South Africa lost 35-20 in Auckland over the summer, the game lost in the first 20 minutes when they went 17-0 down before achieving parity in the remainder of the game. Their traditional strength up front is a given but in the absence of first choice fly half Handre Pollard for the World cup their attacking approach may have to broaden as they don’t have another game controller/kicker like him.

As it is, pending this match, South Africa go into the World Cup having not beaten a top four ranked side in more than 12 months though these are usually gritty narrow losses including 19-16 in Ireland and 30-26 in France. If they are peaking for the major tournament at the end of this four-year cycle, they are leaving it late.

Supporters will say that South Africa won the 2019 World Cup even though New Zealand were pre-tournament favourites and England were widely tipped to win the final.

What some people often forget, though, is that they had beaten the All Blacks in New Zealand prior to that World Cup, had won the 2019 Rugby Championship a couple of months before the tournament in Japan and had also beaten England in a three-Test series staged in 2018.

All that said South Africa have picked a strong line up here, and all the noises are that this is being treated as a major one-off test match and thoughts of the World Cup only begin after the match.

New Zealand are just five point favourites to win the match, which would seem a skinny spread given they have picked a powerful team pretty close to first choice and their recent supremacy over the same opponents in the Rugby Championship. They have to be supported on such terms given everything we’ve seen from the two sides recently.

11 points New Zealand -5 points at 10/11 generally

 

The Rugby World Cup Betting Emporium package is available now costing £50. The first write-up, including all the outright, pool and player markets will be available on Tuesday 29^th August and will be available to subscribers here.

Previous Rugby World Cup Results 2015 +112 points ROI 28% 2019 +122 points ROI 47%

 

The Jury is Out

This weekend sees the conclusion of the 2023 Hundred competition, the third edition of the event. Once against this year the women’s Hundred has been a big success providing game by game exposure including on terrestrial television and following on from an exciting multi-format Ashes earlier in the summer.

The men’s tournament has had better games than last year where the top few sides were way ahead of the rest of the tournament. Despite mixed weather, good pitches have ensured some high scoring games including a score over 200. Ticket sales have been very good. Average attendance for men’s matches is at over 80% of capacity.

The men’s tournament has been hit with the withdrawal of big-name players, for whom the proliferation of global franchise leagues is lucrative but comes at a cost of increased injuries. It does not feature any of Australia’s Ashes players who mostly did not even enter the draft. There are no Indian players and there are no signs that the Board of Control for Cricket in India is going to let them participate. The situation is likely to get worse rather than better in the future, with other leagues offering much bigger value deals than the £125,000 top contract in the Hundred. The new American Major League Cricket competition is set to expand and clash with the Hundred directly, and is offering contracts of a much higher value thanks to backing from the IPL and private investment.

The tournament is not making any significant profit and the knock-on effect is that the ECB will not be able to hike the value of the player contracts and will not be able to compete with richer leagues. The 100-ball format has not been picked up anywhere else in the world meaning that the value of the intellectual property is limited and unless the ECB decides to sell off either the competition or the teams to private investors, it is hard to see how it will have the financial clout to compete with other franchises around the world.

The impact of the Hundred on the rest of domestic cricket remains large. Taking up the whole of August the Ashes were squeezed into the six weeks previous and the 300 men’s professional players without a Hundred contract have been playing in a  50 over competition that for many of the counties who have lost up to 12 players to the Hundred is relegated to development status. The ten counties that do not have a Hundred team at their ground feel marginalised and cannot access to the revenue that the eight host grounds command and they argue it is increasing the gap between the wealthier counties and the rest.

The future remains in doubt. Upcoming discussions in the autumn about the domestic schedule are mooted to include options such as ending both the T20 Blast and the Hundred and replacing them with a T20 competition which involves all of the 18 counties, although probably not playing under county names.

There is no doubt that the Hundred is bringing in new audiences to the game but it is unclear yet if those who come to the tournament as their first experience of cricket then go on to fall in love with the game. There remains outright hostility from many established cricket fans, particularly County Members and those with an affinity to existing teams.

The Jury is still very much out.

StattoBets Dave Monthly Subscription - Soccer - Tennis - Darts

Stattobets write ups, analysis and bets are available to monthly subscribers.

Results = points bet 34780 profit +1506.90 ROI +4.33% Full details here

Monthly subs are £50 a month and can be cancelled at any time. You can sign up here. 

Betting Emporium results

The detailed results page has been updated on 1^st July 2023. They can be found by clicking RESULTS

If you bet £10 per point on every recommended bet since launch you would be winning + £67,126 All bets have an ROI +3.05%

A £4000 bank betting £10 a point on all selections would now be worth £71,176 a 1678% increase