Tuesday, October 02, 2007

Aussies beat India convincingly

Daily Result: £516.71

Only really caught the middle stages of this game. Decided not to get up early for it as I thought heavy rain and a wet outfield would severely delay the start and I need all the beauty sleep i can get!

However, it turns out the groundsmen worked a few miracles and there wasn't much of a delay. So by the time I tuned in Australia were struggling with 3 wickets down and I'd missed all the early price action. In true vintage style though Australia then turned things round and for much of the latter stages of the game it was simply a question of waiting for India to be bowled out. By then there was no chance of an India win, the market was glued to 1.01 and I had long turned over.

Guess the two most interesting periods from a trading point of view were the 94 run partnership between Hayden and Symonds and the early promising signs in the Indian run chase. I eventually got on the right side of both swings but blew most of the green I made at the start of the Indian innings by pushing my luck with a lay of Australia near the top of the swing.

The other points of interest were onfield discipline. Clarke's dismissal, which was happening as I tuned in, was another of those wait on the boundary rope incase the 3rd umpire overrules the decision affairs. Was an interesting debate on Sky on whether this constitutes dissent. We were also treated to the site of an umpire man handling Harbhajan Singh off the square after the spinner decided to have words with the Aussie team following his dismissal. While Sreesanth comfortably outnelled Nel. The bowler's antics haven't exactly covered him in glory recently and today's excessive appealing for a run out when the rest of the world realised the ball was dead, as well as screaming and gesticulating in Symond's face when he got him out was frankly embarrassing. Check the scoreboard mate. And perhaps the rules. I'm all for showing passion and aggression on a cricket field but when your own captain has to lead you away from flash points you create the penny should drop that people are laughing at you.

Anyway, Australia wrapped up a comfortable 84 run win to take the 1-0 lead in the series they were looking likely to take in the first match before rain caused the game to be abandoned.

Away from the ODI the first test between Pakistan and South Africa is going well from a trading perspective. As mentioned previously I had a small lay of the draw as my first position and I layed it again today at various prices from sub 1.7 to start with up to 2.6ish from memory. As hoped for the pitch is deteriorating and it's difficult to see how there won't be a result. If I level out I'll be around £580 green any result but for the time being will leave it red the draw and a smallish 4 figure green the two results. Plenty of time to play around with that if anything unexpected happens over the next few days. Will be looking in on it tomorrow and hopefully can add some more green to the book.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hi BFT, a quick question if i may. On average how many trades do you enter per Cricket match (ignoring where you are nicking a few ticks ere and there). I realise this may vary from event to event but just wondered if it was say in the 2-4 range or do you get in and out much more often.

Many thanks.

The Betfair Trader said...

Hi, you're right it does vary a lot. In yesterday's ODI (11th Oct) between Aussies and India for example I simply made a few lumpy backs of the Aussies when I tuned into the game and India were collapsing and left it at that.

But on the whole I am a lot more active in the markets. I don't try and follow set rules about the number of trades I make. Rather just get involved when I consider it an opportune time. Go with the flow of the match but oppose prices when I just consider them plain wrong. So it does vary considerably match to match. I do try to nick ticks often yes. Discounting those I would say on average I still *easily* surpass the 2-4 range a match. This was especially true in the recent T20 world cup where I adjusted my approach a little to take profits more frequently and not hold on to positions for as long.

One thing I do try and do is increase positions as a market moves further my way. All kept in relation to the size of my existing book but I will get in on a team at say 1.6, 1.4, 1.2 etc if I feel it appropriate and will often use some sizeable lumps at odds lower than that. Again, these are always kept in relation to my existing book though. So I wouldn't risk all existing green with a massive lump on a short price that could wipe out previous positions obtained in the match with a relatively small drift.