[kevshat]

The final of the FP Trophy is tomorrow. It's Essex vs Kent at Lords.

	Kent	1.66	365" onclick="a(0,288760603,4,6,0,15); return false;" onmouseout=cellExit(this);>1.66	1.72	1.78	1.72	1.66	1.72	1.66	1.72	1.72	1.72	1.75	1.72	1.72	1.72	1.8	1.8	1.85
	Essex	2.1	365" onclick="a(0,288760605,11,10,0,15); return false;" onmouseout=cellExit(this);>2.1	2	2.17	2	2.1	2.1	2.1	2	2	2	2.1	2	2	2	1.9	2.2	2.1

I'm going to go with 3 here.

10pts Essex to beat Kent 11/10 Bet365

Both these sides have had their problems in the lead up to this final but we are finally here and it promises to be a cracking final between probably the two best one day sides in the country right now. Neither have been to Lords for a final recently so it's a day all will relish. The two sides know each other pretty well however. This is their 6th one day meeting this season. In winning the twenty20 semi final, Kent took the lead 3-2 in their series with this match and a Pro40 meeting to come. Both sides have injury problems coming into this match.

Essex's main concern was over their captain Mark Pettini. He had to see a specialist in Birmingham for blurred vision but he's been given the all clear to play. James Foster was suffering from a virus and was on a drip in Birmingham but he'll play here too. As will Alastair Cook and Ravi Bopara who have both been released from England duty. With the ball, Maurice Chambers is out. Essex might prefer that as his dropped catch in the twenty20 semi final cost his side a spot in the final and the riches which came with it. All eyes once again will be on Graham Napier while Danish Kaneria is a real matchwinner.

Kent have injury concerns over Darren Stevens, Justin Kemp, Azhar Mahmood and Yasir Arafat. The word is Stevens and Kemp will be fine, Mahmood is more likely to play than not but I don't think Arafat will be around. However many of those play, it's open to debate just how fit they'll be. Kent will once again be led by Robert Key who has given up Lions duty to play here. Joe Denly will open the batting with him. Ryan McLaren could be a key man with the ball, especially if Mahmood and Arafat don't play while Tredwell's spell turned the twenty20 match on it's head.

You can pretty much toss a coin to pick a winner between these two. They are both great sides and are sure to give us a great final but I just think Essex have one or two real matchwinners more in their side. They come into the match a bit more settled than Kent. Essex's Championship match was called off pretty early on the final day so that potential problem was avoided and still smarting from losing to the Spitfires on finals day, I think Pettini's Eagles can get some kind of revenge by winning the FP Trophy at HQ.

10pts R.Key's Match runs 41 and over 11/8 Blue Square

I really like Rob Key's approach to one day cricket. I think he's a fine player and he comes into this final in good form. He looked solid as a rock while his teammates came and went around him against Leicester on Tuesday night and then hit a measured half century for the England Lions against South Africa on Thursday. What I really like about Key is his laidback approach but at the same time how he leads from the front. He and Joe Denly have a perfect understanding and on the real big occasion I expect the Kent skipper to go well. It's usually a good pitch at Lords and even though it will do a bit in the cloudy conditions, Keysy's seen it all and played it a thousand times over. He's a real class act, there's no doubt about that and I'll take him to get his team going and to go past 40 in his innings.

5pts R.Bopara Man of the Match 11/1 Blue Square

For me, Ravi Bopara has been the best player in county cricket this season. And in this tournament he's been different class. His unbeaten 201 in the quarter final against Leicestershire was one of the best innings of all time. As well as that knock, he's also hit 3 half centuries in the competition, one of which was a 99 which came against Kent. He averages 82 in the tournament this season. If that's not enough he's picked up 9 wickets too. 3 of which came against Kent. In the 3 matches he's played against Kent this summer he has a quicker than run a ball 99 with the bat, 7 wickets and he looked in top form in the twenty20 semi final with the bat before a leading edge off the spinner got him. He comes into the match in good form having bashed Derby all around the Midlands a week or two ago and I expect him to be a real major player in this final. He'll contribute with bat and ball and at 11/1 he's a top bet for the man of the match award.