Sir Ian Botham says England are the most feared Test side in the world and deserve to be top of the ICC rankings.
Tony Battie Jersey . Alastair Cooks team are fourth in the official world rankings behind Australia, India and this summers tourists Pakistan, who they face in the first Test at Lords on Thursday, live on Sky Sports.England have won four of their seven Test series since a shock home defeat to Sri Lanka in 2014, with their victory over Angelo Mathews men earlier this summer following triumphs against India, Australia and South Africa. Cooks side have also drawn with New Zealand and West Indies in that time, with their only defeat coming against Pakistan in the United Arab Emirates last November.England can leapfrog Pakistan and tie India with a 2-0 or 3-1 series win, but former skipper Botham insists they are already the best side in the world regardless of where they are ranked come the end of the four Test matches.The Sky Sports commentator said: England are the best side in the world right now and certainly the most feared - they proved it against Australia and then beat South Africa on their own soil. Alastair Cook steered England to a 2-0 series win over Sri Lanka England are a confident side and a very well-organised unit. I dont pay too much attention to the ranking system, they deserve to be number one in the world now. Pakistans recent record in England is poor, with 3-0 and 3-1 defeats in 2006 and 2010 respectively, and Botham does not expect things to improve this summer, despite the hosts being without record wicket-taker Jimmy Anderson and all-rounder Ben Stokes for the opening Test. Beefys Bets Beefys tipping James Vince to top score in the series for England at odds of 8/1 It will be an exciting series but I cant see Pakistan winning a match, said Botham, who has tipped England to win the series 3-0 at 7/2 with Sky Bet.England have had their problems at the top of the order and have countered that by moving Yorkshires Joe Root up to No 3 following Nick Comptons decision to take a break from the sport.Root had an indifferent series against Sri Lanka, scoring 87 runs in the series, and slipped down to number four in the ICC rankings, but Botham believes it is the right move to promote him up the order. Botham agrees with the decision to move Root up to No 3 in the batting order. He said: Ive no problem with Joe batting at three. All the best batsmen in world cricket bat at three - look at [Ricky] Ponting and [Viv] Richards.Joe is the best batsman in the world right now, and Im sure hell be fine with moving up the order.Botham feels the move could also provide an opportunity for James Vince, who only scored 54 runs in his four innings against Sri Lanka, to stake his claim for the number four spot and is tipping the Hampshire captain to go well in the series, at 8/1 in his Sky Bet tips. James Vince has a chance to cement his place in the side. Botham said: Root and Cook are too short in the betting for me, theres no value backing them in my book.Vince is a quality player and has an opportunity to make number four his own, he just needs a big score and Im sure hell kick on from there.Watch the first Investec Test between England and Pakistan from Lords, live on Sky Sports 2 from 10am on Thursday. BEEFYS BETSPakistan SeriesEngland win - 4/11England win 3-0 - 7/2Top England bat: James Vince - 8/1Top England bowler: Chris Woakes - 100/30Double - Vince most runs and Woakes most wickets - 33/1Treble - England win series, Vince most runs and Woakes most wickets - 40/11st Test v PakistanEngland win - 4/5Top England bat 1st inns James Vince - 8/1Top England bowler 1st inns Chris Woakes - 3/1Vince top England runs and Woakes top wickets (1st inns) - 25/1England wins, Vince top England runs, Woakes top England wickets - 33/1 Also See: Pakistan v England: Story of 2015 Bairstow can be one of the best England fixtures/results Pakistan fixtures/results
D. J. Augustin Jersey . The 90-plus minutes of play are about trends and approach.
Scott Skiles Jersey . -- Rory McIlroy birdied his last two holes Thursday for a 7-under 63 to take the lead after one round of the Honda Classic.After losing their last two series, the Toronto Blue Jays will try to claim their weekend set with the Tampa Bay Rays at Tropicana Field on Saturday afternoon. Drew Hutchinson will take the mound for the visitors in the second contest of the three-game series. He has been solid for the Blue Jays this season, boasting a 3.86 ERA with 93 strikeouts to just 33 walks, but he has just a 6-7 record to show for it. Hutchinson has lost three of his last four starts, including on July 6 when he allowed eight hits and three earned runs in 5 2/3 innings of work against the Athletics. Despite allowing 10 hits, seven walks and five earned runs in 5 1/3 innings against Tampa Bay this season, Hutchinson is 2-0 against the AL East rivals. With David Price battling illness, Jake Odorizzi will move up a day to start against the Blue Jays. Tampa Bay is hoping Price will be well enough to pitch Sundays finale. The right-handed Odorizzi had a two-decision winning streak halted on Monday with a 6-0 loss to Kansas City. He yielded only two runs over six innings however, striking out eight batters while falling to 4-8 with a 4.10 ERA on the season. Odorizzi will make just the second start of his career versus the Blue Jays, getting a no-decision against them prior after allowing three runs over five innings. The Blue Jays captured a victory in thrilling fashion on Friday night. With the game tied at 5-5 in the ninth, Steve Tolleson, a late replacement forr the injured Munenori Kawasaki, put Toronto up with a two-run single.
Josh Magette Jersey. Jose Bautista added an RBI single of his own, and Casey Janssen closed the door in the ninth for his 14th save to lift the road team to an 8-5 win. "We needed that one," Toronto manager John Gibbons said. "The way things have been going then to blow a comfortable lead, (losing) would have been tough." Jose Reyes collected three hits out of the leadoff spot to go with two runs scored and two RBI. Bautista had two RBI to give him 54 on the season. Aaron Loup (3-2) earned the win in relief after starter Mark Buehrle went five innings allowing nine hits and two earned runs. "Im frustrated with myself," said Buehrle, an AL All Star. "To go five innings, thats not really called for. I need to go deeper into games to give us a chance to win." Chris Archer was bailed out of a poor start for Tampa Bay, leaving after five innings with a no-decision after surrendering six hits, three walks and five runs. Grant Balfour (0-3) yielded five base runners in just a third of an inning in the loss. Sean Rodriguez belted a three-run homer, his ninth of the year, to tie the game in the seventh inning. Ben Zobrist, Logan Forsythe and Brandon Guyer all added two hits in the losing effort. Toronto has won four in a row versus Tampa Bay and six of eight in the season series. ' ' '