Warwickshire are 128/4 after day 1 at Edgbaston. Leicestershire are only 1 wicket from the lower order but rain might have the final say there. Will take 2 more on Wednesday. Again though rain could be the winner.
10pts Surrey to beat Sussex 11/10 Boylesports
Surrey come into this match with a pair of draws to their name this season while Sussex come into it with the same record however their seasons have been totally different. Surrey were on top in both of their matches while Sussex were hanging on in theirs. Sussex lost to Essex in the FP Trophy ono Sunday so it's fair to say their season hasn't got going yet.
The defending champions will have Luke Wright and Matt Prior available here but their batting hasn't really fired yet although Murray Goodwin is a class act and will surely start firing soon. Jason Lewry comes back into the squad for this match in place of Chris Liddle. James Kirtley may get a game while all eyes will be on Mushtaq Ahmed after his good start to the season.
Surrey have hit their straps straight away, particularly with the ball. They bowled Durham out for 224 and had them 228/9 last week which is a decent effort. Matt Nicholson leads their attack with all rounder Chris Jordan getting better by the match. Their batting centres around Ramprakash and Butcher with Afzaal, Batty and Newman playing the support acts. Chris Schofield could play if the pitch is to take spin while Saqlain returns to Hove for the 1st time since leaving Sussex in the winter.
If the weather stays away this could be a cracking match between the two best sides in the division IMO. Surrey's bowling attack is in great form at the minute and with Butcher and Ramprakash in the team runs are guaranteed so Surrey is the call here.
10pts Worcestershire to beat Northamptonshire 5/6 Blue Square
Worcestershire are another side with 2 draws from 2 matches but Northants have picked up two losses from their 2 openers with the latest loss being extra bad as Warwickshire chased down 382 on the final day to win. Worcester had Warwickshire all but beaten before rain on the 4th day denied them a chance of victory.
Northants were in a way a tad unlucky last week but allowing Warwickshire to chase down such a huge score on a 4th day shows how brittle their bowling attack is. In the last innings of that match Northants bowled 82.5 overs of which 54.5 were bowled by Boje and Panesar which indicates how Boje has a lack of confidence in his seamers. That may change here with Johann Louw making his 2nd debut. He'll replace Steven Crook. David Sales hasn't got going with the bat yet and it could well be left to Klusener and Boje to rescue innings again.
Worcestershire will be without Graeme Hick's services as he's about a week away from a return to action. Simon Jones does begin the match though and the Royals will hope he finishes it this time too. Darryl Mitchell and Stephen Moore will open the innings with Solanki and Smith 3 and 4. Kabir Ali and Gareth Andrew have added good lower order runs as Worcester continue to bat a long way down. Kabir's probably the best bowler in this division and should cause problems as will Jones. Gareth Batty will relish this Wantage Rd pitch to bowl his off spin on.
In truth these sides are fairly evenly matched. Neither have a great deal of batting strength although Worcestershire do have runs in them. It's the Worcester bowling attack which impresses me though and it's that side of their team which I think can win this game for them.