England can reign at Lord's

The weather forecast is a bit dodgy, but there should still be enough time for England to win the opening Test against New Zealand, which begins at Lord’s on Thursday.

Punters have latched onto the draw in view of rain being forecast for Thursday and Friday, with Ladbrokes cutting the price on a stalemate to 5-4 from 2-1.

However, there does look like being some dry interludes at St John’s Wood tomorrow and Friday looks like being mainly dry, while Saturday and Sunday promise to be fine.

England should not need five days to polish off the Kiwis. Michael Vaughan’s men, inspired by Ran Sidebottom, were too strong for them on their own patch during the winter and it is difficult to envisage the visiting team, who have since been weakened by the retirement of captain Stephen Fleming, faring any better.

Money for the draw means England have drifted out to 10-11 to win the opening Test, with New Zealand, chalked up at 7-1.

That looks a fair price, although an even better bet could be the 3-1 that Ladbrokes quote against England winning the series 3-0.

Sidebottom, who is likely to have conditions in his favour, looks a solid favourite at around 13-8 to emerge as England’s top wicket-taker in the series in the absence of Andrew Flintoff. Batting wise, Vaughan is overdue a decent run of scores and could offer a bit of value at 6-1 with totesport.