Yesterday was the first time in MLB history that the two reigning CY Young award (given to the best pitcher in the American and National leagues) winners both gave up 8+ runs on the same day.

These are the sorts of stats they love in the US!

Just watched the Quins/Munster game and I can't say I've seen a better performance from a lock all season than the one Paul O'Connell has put in. Outside shot to captain his 2nd Lions Tour? Currently 8/1 with Hills.

Possibly, but we are quite heavily invested in that Market already.

We have Warburton and Heaslip so far, though I'd not be averse to others if there was warmth. I enjoy RU, but I am no judge of good or bad amongst players.

Well he's into 15/8 fav now so I think we've missed the value anyway!

Just watched the Quins/Munster game and I can't say I've seen a better performance from a lock all season than the one Paul O'Connell has put in. Outside shot to captain his 2nd Lions Tour? Currently 8/1 with Hills.

Teams with a new manager tend to keep things very compact in the first game so I'm not sure there is much value in that price to be honest. I think Chelsea win the game but I wouldn't be surprised to see it 0-0 at half time.

Pune are capitulating in the first game of the day - 38/5. Samuels out for single figures again. It's a long competition but I think we are struggling with this lot!

I'd like to be in please

IPL day 4 update:

Frustratingly for Fred, Rajasthan decided against selecting our man Owais for their first game and nearly paid the price after a middle order collapse left them at par when 180+ was looking likely. Fortunately for them, depleted Dehli fell six runs short despite looking favourites with 10 balls to go.

The other game saw our boys Mumbai pick up a creditable win against Chennai in Chennai. The fact it was in Chennai meant Mumbai was missing Malinga so the win was all the more impressive as he is arguably the finest T20 bowler in the world. A result that bodes well for our chances of collecting.

Today's early game sees our other tip Pune take on the Kings XI Punjab in a game with various points of interest for Fred. Pune are coming off the back of a poor performance so I can see them bringing in Luke Wright to bat in the top three. He can be destructive so a quick 20 and out would suit. Top batsman tip Marlon Samuels gets another chance to make inroads into Chris Gayles lead as well. A good performance would be a big bonus as Gayle is a guy who could get away at the head of that market very quickly. The Kings XI feature another protagonist in our top Englishman bet - Azhar Mahmood - who is somewhat of a maverick. How he'll go on any given day is anyone's guess. I don't see him as a real threat overr the course of 16 matches regardless.

The other game of the day features Royal Challengers Bangalore and Sunrisers Hydrabad and has no direct connotations to any of Fred's sweats as far as I can see.

Albert Pujols is first player in AL history to hit two homers and receive 3 intentional walks in same game, and 3rd in AL history.

Pujols a massive star for the Cardinals in the NL for years until the Anaheim Angels broke the bank to offer him a contract last season

Huge designated hitter

the opponent here chose, once he had homered twice to walk him onto base three times (each time throw four unhittable balls) rather than risk another home run

very rare, clearly

Ironically, the guy who came up to bat after the intentional walks was the oppo's (Texas Rangers) former star Josh Hamilton. They made a wise decision as he went 0-4.

I sometimes wonder what the coaches/captains are thinking in the IPL. Some of the decions involving overseas players is mind boggling.

I never got the non inclusion of Shah today or the picking of Mitch Marsh ahead of Luke Wright/Finch for Pune. Marsh came in down the order and didn't even ball. The stick an explosive Wright or Finch will deffo help with the balance of the team.

Lets hope Azhar Mahmood doesn't go banzai tomorrow.

Mumbai won today, as underdogs, against Chennai

In the first game, chasing a big total against Bangalore, they kept Pollard one of the biggest hitters in the game back and he eventually came in with 5 balls to go, 10 wanted

They lost off the last ball after Pollard hit two balls for 5

Utterly baffling stuff.

I think the captains/coaches are under incredible pressure from their owners to give exposure to all their Indian players. The owners are like Abramovic on heat. They get more TV time than most of the players which isn't a bad thing when it's Rajasthan and you get Shilpa Shetty on the box every couple of mins. Ponting is as experienced as it gets, there's no way he'd send in a guy like Rayudu over Pollard with 6 overs left unless he felt like had absolutely had to.

Did anyone see the Rahane catch in the Royals/Daredevils game today? Incredible! Sadly I can't find a video or picture though.

No, he was surprisingly left out. The Royals won but I would be shocked if he doesn't get picked in the next game as they almost cost themselves the game due to a lack of batting depth.

As if by magic...

IPL Day 3 update:

Yesterday was a fairly disappointing day for Fred's bets as tipped Pune put in an abject batting performance against the ridiculously monikored new boys Sunriders Hydrabad. The performance was summed up by our top batsman interest - Marlon Samuels - who used his time in the middle to give the oppo some slip catching practise. On the plus side, Pune left out Luke Wright which was a positive for our top Englishman bet, though he may well get a look in Pune's next game if they look to shake things up.

Today we have two games to look forward to, both with Fred bet connotations. The first game should see Owais Shah get his tournament underway as his Rajasthan Royals take on the Delhi Daredevils. The Royals are the outsiders here but are vastly experienced and I think I'd rather be with them at 13/10 than an under-strength Daredevils at 4/6. The second game sees our headline tip Mumbai Indians take on tournament favourite Chennai. We lost the first game and could very well lose here but I still wouldn't be disheartened. Chennai and Bangalore are two of the strongest teams in the competition and after this the Indians have a run of easier matches. I'd rather start slow and gain momentum than vice versa.

Great write up! As a Sussex season ticket holder I agree whole heartedly with your assessment of the team. The recent ground upgrades at Hove smack of a team aiming to maximise one day revenue and the team looks to have been put together accordingly. I haven't had a look at the market for the 40over competition but if we are not in the top 3 in the betting I would be shocked. If we are 10/1 or bigger I think we'd be value.

The 2.10 at Sedgefield looks to be a decent ew race. 9 runners, very short fav, couple of triple digit runners. Any of you horsey types got any thoughts?

Day 2 IPL update.

The only game yesterday saw our Mumbai Indians lose a thriller to the Bangalore Royal Challengers. We needed 10 off the final over, a position I'd usually expect to be converted, but we fell two runs short after losing two wickets in the first three balls. Though it was a loss, there were plenty of positives and it was only another match winning performance from the world's best T20 batsman which swung the game their way.

The afore mentioned 92 not out from Chris Gayle is not great news for the Marlon Samuels top batsmen bet but he gets his first chance to reply later today when the Pune Warriors get underway again Sunrisers Hydrabad. A big performance would br nice as I believe Fred has also backed Pune at 10s. The game could also feature Luke Wright which has implications for our top Englishman bet.

I'm not completely sure if we have got anything else on at the IPL but let me know and I'll ensure it's covered in future updates.

Ignore the bit about Pune playing today. Read the fixtures wrong!