The similarities between football and cricket - according to the bookies
I'M not a betting man myself - not since I lost all my money on gambling - but I do check the odds from time to time.
Not the horse racing odds - I'd rather watch paint dry than the 3.50 at Thirsk - but those relating to football, in particular, and sometimes cricket.
This week, while killing an hour waiting to be served at the local supermarket, as idle staff twiddled their thumbs beside unmanned checkouts, I scrolled through Lincoln City's odds next season in the Sky Bet Championship. It was an eye-opener to say the least.
My hometown club, having won promotion to the second tier following a 65-year absence, was the 150-1 outsider to win the title.
That despite having won League One with a whopping 103 points, finished 26 points clear of third place and ended the campaign with a 29-match unbeaten run.
If ever you needed an illustration of the gulf in class between the divisions, there it was.
It got me thinking.
How did that compare to the other title winners in the Football League last season, and how does it compare to the situation in county cricket?
In terms of football, Bromley, who won League Two, are identically priced to Lincoln - 150-1 outsiders to win next season’s League One.
Coventry City, who won the Championship, are 1,000-1 to win next season’s Premier League – the joint-least fancied along with fellow promoted clubs Ipswich Town and Hull City.
Why, it’s unbelievable, Jeff, only it isn’t when you think of how money has disfigured the beautiful game, separating the haves from the have-nots.
They say that cricket is increasingly like football, so maybe it was no surprise to discover that the betting situation was broadly the same going into this year’s County Championship.
Before a ball had been bowled, Leicestershire, who won Division Two last year, were the second least-fancied winners of Division One at 18-1 – above only Glamorgan (28-1), who went up with them.
As it stands, Leicestershire are living up to expectations after the opening block of six games, which has brought them four defeats and two draws and a second-bottom placing, just six points above Hampshire.
Glamorgan, however, are upsetting the odds, sitting third in the table - just eight points behind leaders Nottinghamshire - after two wins, three draws and a solitary defeat.
The gulf in odds is clearly much wider in the monied world of football, where a club can win the Championship as convincingly as Coventry and yet still find itself 1,000-1 to win the Premier League, but the gap in county cricket is also now pronounced.
Last year, after winning promotion, Yorkshire were unanimously favoured by the bookmakers to be in a relegation fight, the club eventually finishing seventh - just 24 points above Durham in the second and final relegation place.
The White Rose had entered the season confident of a positive showing but made no bones about how difficult they found the top-flight.
This year, Yorkshire are eighth after that first block of games - just 25 points above Leicestershire, but also just 20 points behind leaders Nottinghamshire, the challenge having proved difficult once more.
So, there you have it.
It remains only to raid the piggy bank, withdraw the £3.65 still left in it and lump it on, er, Lincoln to win next season’s Championship.