The gamble started in South Wales and moved down towards London from there.

This is already the biggest betting Test series ever, with up to a record 50 million pounds riding on the outcome of the five-match series, and with the unprecedented interest in the outcome of the final match we are expecting cricket punters to bet over a million pounds in a single day for the first time as the game gets underway.

I don't think Tony Blair wants to go until he has beaten Margaret Thatcher's 11-1/2 years in office and that will take us to 2008.

In one way, it's a good thing. In another, it's bad because you could easily get all 20 Premier League clubs in the next round and they could go on to dominate the competition.

I hope we are trivializing it, ... The Booker takes itself far too seriously. We are popularizing it and making it far more accessible. It's great that people have a flutter.

I hope we are trivializing it. The Booker takes itself far too seriously. We are popularizing it and making it far more accessible. It's great that people have a flutter.

Still, you can't afford to take chances when a gamble develops on this job as previous bitter experience has shown us.

That result will cost us a six figure payout but we have done well out of the elimination of Italy, so there is a silver lining to the cloud,

The odds are that Sven can survive this latest embarrassment but you wonder just how much more humiliation the FA will be prepared to put up with.

A few years ago this match would have been inconsequential but we now have clients in these markets and feel obliged to offer odds.