Cricket: County Championship 2008

[kevshat]

Northants bowled Glamorgan out right on stumps and still have a lead of 253. I'm sure they'll stick them in again in the morning and have a day to bowl Glamorgan out again to win. Every chance if they get a full day's play in.

[kevshat]

Northants bowled Glamorgan out by mid afternoon to give me +8 there and that makes it +12.45pts for the week which means I'm now +26.85pts for the season.

[kevshat]

Friday 30 May 2008	Home	Away	BPP
Hampshire v Kent (11:00BST)	2.00	2.00	100.00 %	Details »
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Surrey v Somerset (11:00BST)	1.80	2.25	100.00 %	Details »
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Sussex v Durham (11:00BST)	1.93	2.00	101.81 %	Details »
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Yorkshire v Lancashire (11:00BST)	1.83	2.20	100.00 %	Details »
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Friday 30 May 2008	Home	Away	BPP
Gloucestershire v Warwickshire (11:00BST)	1.90	2.20	97.84 %	Details »
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Leicestershire v Glamorgan (11:00BST)	1.58	2.65	101.03 %	Details »
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Middlesex v Derbyshire (11:00BST)	1.80	2.20	101.01 %	Details »
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Worcestershire v Essex (11:00BST)	2.00	1.90	102.38 %	Details »

I'm going for two this week. Hopefully they can get it done quickly because as it stands the weather looks a bit wet on Monday.

10pts Sussex to beat Durham 5/6 Stan James

Sussex come into this match in 2nd place in the table having won one and drawn four of their 5 matches. Durham haven't had such a good start and lie 2nd from bottom coming in here with a win, a draw and a defeat from their 3 matches although they did thrash Yorkshire last time out. Matt Prior and Phil Mustard will face each other on the day the England ODI squad is announced with it being widely tipped Prior will replace Mustard.

Sussex are at full strength ahead of this match. Mushtaq Ahmed is back and among the wickets while Luke Wright and Matt Prior are both available and will be hoping for good news from the England selectors during the match. Murray Goodwin is also available for the Sharks and Corey Collymore makes his home debut in the Championship.

Durham will be without Graham Onions who has a heel injury. Callum Thorp will continue to deputise for him. Will Smith comes in for Kyle Coetzer who has struggled so far this season. Steve Harmison is fit for Durham but Liam Plunkett is still coming back to full fitness. Paul Collingwood hasn't been giving permission to play.

Sussex are a decent 4 day side who are tough to beat at home. They line up well with a good attack and a superb spinner in Mushy. Durham come here without a decent spinner and that could be crucial. Sussex are the form team and I'll take them to win here.

10pts Essex to beat Worcestershire 10/11 Coral

Essex travel to New Road 3rd in the table with 2 wins and a draw from their 4 matches. They would've been unbeaten if they didn't fall foul of setting up a game against Derbyshire. Worcester have played 4 in the Championship and have drawn all 4 after their relegation from Division 1 last season.

Worcestershire are at full strength ahead of this game. Kabir Ali is fit again and is in the squad as is Simon Jones. Gareth Andrew could make way if Chris Whelan is selected. Graeme Hick is back with the bat which strengthens a batting lineup which is a tad inexperienced. Gareth Batty was a doubt but is expected to play.

Essex have added Maurice Chambers to their squad and he'll play if the conditions at New Road are seamer friendly. Danish Kaneria is in the Essex side and he is already among the wickets since his arrival. Ravi Bopara is in great touch with the bat and David Masters is bowling as well as ever. Alastair Cook hasn't been released by England.

Worcestershire have a good bowling unit but their batting is one quality batsman short for me. Essex bat a long way down and they will have lots of bowling options here too with Bopara and ten Doeschate playing. They're the better side and with Gallian the top run scorer in county cricket this season playing I'll take Essex to come away with the win here.

[mdivenuto]

10pts Sussex to beat Durham 5/6 Stan James

Would love a Durham win but I think your spot on tipping Sussex. We have a dreadful record v Mushtaq, the only time I can recall Durham beating Sussex was at the end of last season when Naved Rana did his shoulder in. Got a pasting at Horsham at the start of last year, and twice the season before that. Mushtaq will get 8 wickets in the match at least, probably at an average of about 15.

[kevshat]

Poor week this week. Both my bets lost inside 3 days so -20 for the week and back to +6.85pts for the season.

[kevshat]

Friday 6 June 2008	Home	Away	BPP
Durham v Hampshire (11:00BST)	1.57	2.62	101.73 %	Details »
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Kent v Sussex (11:00BST)	2.00	2.00	100.00 %	Details »
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Lancashire v Nottinghamshire (11:00BST)	1.90	2.10	100.00 %	Details »
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Somerset v Yorkshire (11:00BST)	1.74	2.30	100.95 %	Details »

Friday 6 June 2008	Home	Away	BPP
Derbyshire v Worcestershire (11:00BST)	2.20	1.80	101.01 %	Details »
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Glamorgan v Warwickshire (11:00BST)	2.62	1.61	100.00 %	Details »
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Middlesex v Essex (11:00BST)	2.05	1.85	102.83 %	Details »
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Northamptonshire v Gloucestershire (11:00BST)	1.78	2.20	101.63 %	Details »

Hoping for a better week than last week. I'm going for one in each division. Note that the Somerset match actually begins at 12pm not 11am as Somerset were given an extra hour to recover from their FP match earlier.

10pts Somerset to beat Yorkshire 8/11 Stan James

Somerset come into this match top of the table but will be a bit low after losing their FP Trophy quarter final yesterday. Yorkshire won their quarter final at Bristol on Wednesday but come here with only one win to their name in the 4 day competition and carrying a few injuries.

Somerset continue to be without Andy Caddick and Peter Trego is set to miss out as well but Somerset are still full of riches with their bowling. Charl Willoughby is bowling well as is Ben Phillips and Steffan Jones backs them up well. Ian Blackwell provides a spin option. Naturally though, at Taunton it's the batting which is in the spotlight and with Trescothick and Langer in excellent form as well as Blackwell, Somerset have all angles covered.

Yorkshire will be without their captain Darren Gough who aggravated a back problem at Bristol on Wednesday. Anthony McGrath will skipper the side. Yorkshire are also without Rana Naved and Deon Kruis but Matthew Hoggard is fit. Scott Patterson may join him and Bresnan in the seam attack. Adil Rashid offers a spin option. Yorkshire aren't the strongest with the bat though with Rashid coming in at 6 but they have a couple of all rounders in Bresnan and Pyrah who try to make up for that.

Somerset are the stronger side. If Yorkshire can't bowl out a weak Lancashire batting lineup at Headingley they're sure to struggle to bowl out Somerset at Taunton. Somerset are in good form while Yorkshire appear to be targetting the one day game in Gough's last season so I think Somerset will win here.

10pts Northamptonshire to beat Gloucestershire 5/6 Bet365

Northants come into this match fresh having not had an FP match in midweek and resting most of their players last weekend when they took on the Kiwis. Gloucestershire are the only side in the 2nd division yet to win a match in this competition and come into this having lost their FP quarter final on Wednesday.

Northants are back to full strength for this match. Nicky Boje skippers the side while Lance Klusener has recovered from injury to play. Fellow South African's Johann Louw, Andrew Hall and Johan van der Wath are all likely to play. David Sales will carry the batting although wicket keeper Niall O'Brien is in excellent form at the minute.

Gloucestershire have a doubt over their captain Jon Lewis. It seems likely he won't be risked with the twenty20 beginning next week. Alex Gidman will skipper the side in his absence. Carl Greenidge or Will Rudge will replace Lewis if he's not passed fit. Gloucestershire's batting is struggling a bit, especially up top and they need their lower middle order and tail to rescue them which will only happen so many times. Without Lewis they are much more toothless with the ball too.

This four day competition doesn't suit Gloucestershire while Northants seem to have a perfect blend. It's been very dry down here the last couple of days which should suit their spinners and Northants really should beat a struggling Gloucestershire on home ground.

[kevshat]

A good looking day turned into a massively frustrating one. Northants chased down 280 odd without much fuss and Somerset looked like they'd chased down 320 odd but stumbled and lost 2 wickets in 2 balls with 4 overs left to lose. -1.67 for the week and back to +5.18 for the competition. The Championship now takes a 3 week break for the twenty20.

[kevshat]

The twenty20 spell is over now and the Championship returns tomorrow and runs right through to the end of the season now. Full fixture list this week.

Sunday 29 June 2008	Home	Away	BPP
Hampshire v Nottinghamshire (11:00BST)	2.12	1.85	101.22 %	Details »
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Surrey v Kent (11:00BST)	1.90	2.05	101.16 %	Details »
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Sussex v Lancashire (11:00BST)	2.00	1.95	101.22 %	Details »
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Yorkshire v Durham (11:00BST)	2.05	1.90	101.16 %	Details »

Sunday 29 June 2008	Home	Away	BPP
Essex v Derbyshire (11:00BST)	1.61	2.50	101.90 %	Details »
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Leicestershire v Worcestershire (11:00BST)	1.85	2.10	101.67 %	Details »
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Middlesex v Northamptonshire (11:00BST)	1.85	2.10	101.67 %	Details »
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Warwickshire v Gloucestershire (11:00BST)	1.66	2.50	100.00 %	Details »

I'm going with 2 on the resumption.

10pts Hampshire to beat Nottinghamshire (DNB) 11/10 Ladbrokes

Both these sides come into this match having suffered disappointment on the last night of the twenty20 group stages. Both sides lost knockout matches meaning neither will be taking their place in the quarter final. 4 day cricket is now the focus. Nottinghamshire were going well before the break while Hampshire just struggled a bit but got a much needed win over Durham.

Hampshire will have John Crawley back for this match. Michael Brown and Michael Carberry will go back to opening the innings. James Adams will come into the side while Dimitri Mascarenhas will resume the captaincy of the side having left Nic Pothas is charge during the twenty20 while he was on international duty. Chris Tremlett also plays here and Nantie Hayward will make his 4 day debut for the Hawks. James Tomlinson is likely to replace Billy Taylor.

Notts will be without their England pace duo of Ryan Sidebottom and Stuart Broad after England refused them permission to play. Darren Pattinson and Charlie Shreck will lead an attack which will include Graeme Swann. The Outlaws' batting hasn't been up to much so far this season but Mark Wagh will come into the side again for the 4 day games while Adam Voges continues to fill in for David Hussey as overseas player.

Hampshire have played some decent cricket in the last few weeks and the main thing is they are scoring runs. Pitches at the Rose Bowl are pretty good these days which helps that. Hampshire's bowling attack matches up with most now and with Notts losing a few matches recently I'll take the home side to win here.

10pts Kent to beat Surrey (DNB) Evs Betfred

The bottom two sides meet at The Oval here although neither will be too concerned with their league position just yet with only 19pts separating top to bottom and still over half the season to play. Both sides had differing twenty20 periods, Kent made a meal of qualifying but eventually did so while Surrey were never in the qualifying mix.

Surrey will be without Mark Butcher who is still coming back from surgery. Chris Schofield may well play while Abdul Razzaq makes his 1st class debut for the Brown Caps. Mark Ramprakash - still looking for that elusive 100th 100 will captain the side. Pedro Collins, Chris Jordan and Jimmy Ormond are likely to return. James Benning may miss out again.

Kent will continue to be without Simon Cook for this match although he's not played too much four day cricket anyway. Robbie Joseph and Martin Saggers are pushing for recalls. Rob Key will captain the team with Joe Denly his opening partner. Kent will be at full strength other than the Cook injury.

I think this is the competition Surrey will do the best in. I still think they'll be in the title mix but they will miss Butcher. I'm still not sure about Mark Ramprakash as a captain. I like Key as a captain and as his side are settled and at full strength I think they'll go into their FP semi final next weekend with a win here.

[kevshat]

Sussex vs Lancashire is live on Sky this week and the usual live markets are up so I'll go with a 1st inns top bat in that match.

5pts ew M.Prior Top Sussex Batsman (1st Inns Only) 6/1 Boylesports (1/4 1,2,3)

Matthew Prior has been in top form with the bat for Sussex in the Championship this summer and with Tim Ambrose not being able to buy a run and making a few catching cockups recently all eyes will be on him to see if he can give the selectors a nudge going into the South Africa series. Prior has 616 runs in the Championship this season at an average of 68.44 and he has hit 4 half centuries and 3 centuries. Those knocks have come from just 10 innings so he's clearly in good form. He wasn't too bad in the twenty20 either where he kept his eye in and with the cameras on him this week I'd expect him to go well and given the stats, 6/1 looks an excellent ew bet.

[kevshat]

Strange 1st day for me really. Prior came 3rd so he placed which was good. Hampshire haven't posted a huge 1st innings score but it could still be enough to lead while on a decent deck at The Oval, Kent haven't let Surrey get away from them. I'm sure it will develop more on day 2 but I'm hopeful we'll end the week in profit.

[kevshat]

Kent beat Surrey and although it looked like the rain might save Hampshire, it didn't in the end so I've just got the Prior place to show for this week. +2.5pts for the week and +7.68 for the season.

[kevshat]

The Championship resumes from a week's break for the one day knockout stuff tomorrow with Worcestershire vs Northants. I'm not betting on that but I should have a couple for Friday's matches although the weather could win.

Friday 11 July 2008	Home	Away	BPP
Durham v Somerset (11:00BST)	1.66	2.50	100.00 %	Details »
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Hampshire v Lancashire (11:00BST)	2.50	1.64	100.98 %	Details »
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Kent v Yorkshire (11:00BST)	1.84	2.10	101.97 %	Details »
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Nottinghamshire v Surrey (11:00BST)	1.66	2.40	101.91 %	Details »

Thursday 10 July 2008	Home	Away	BPP
Worcestershire v Northamptonshire (11:00BST)	1.72	2.30	101.37 %	Details »
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Friday 11 July 2008	Home	Away	BPP
Derbyshire v Leicestershire (11:00BST)	2.10	1.90	100.25 %	Details »
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Glamorgan v Essex (11:00BST)	2.75	1.53	101.58 %	Details »

My gut feeling is Northants are a big price but Stephen Peters is injured while they've called David Wigley back from his loan spell and that's my optimism on the Steelbacks gone . It's the time of the season where I'm always out watching cricket so hopefully we can take off between now and the end of the season but we'll have to wait until Friday for bets this week!

[kevshat]

Knew I'd end up regretting not backing Northants. Anyway I'm going with 3 this week.

10pts Lancashire to beat Hampshire 8/13 Ladbrokes

Hampshire are really struggling this season. Our batting lineup isn't firing too well and we are really missing the quality spin of Shane Warne. We also come into this match without an overseas player after attempts to sign Sohail Tanvir were thwarted by the PCB. Nantie Hayward is injured for this one so Rory Kleinveldt makes his debut.

Lancashire are without Mal Loye but Andrew Flintoff does play what could be his last game of the season for Lancs if as expected he is called up by England next week. Iain Sutcliffe comes in for Loye. Gary Keedy is likely to come into this side after missing the twenty20 quarter final defeat on Tuesday. Neither team's batting is firing much at the minute but this is a seriously good Lancashire bowling attack at the minute and even though Hampshire have a pretty good one themselves, their young batting lineup could succumb to Lancashire and I'll take the visitors to leave the Rose Bowl with the win.

10pts Leicestershire to beat Derbyshire 5/6 Ladbrokes

Leicestershire were woeful against Worcestershire last time out but Derbyshire weren't much better against Essex. It was Leicester's batsmen who let them down but generally that doesn't happen too often. Batting is Derbyshire's problem in the fact they don't score many runs and while the likes of Charl Langeveldt and Graham Wagg are good with the ball, they always have too much to do.

Chris Rogers returns for the hosts here having been off for a few weeks resting. Leicestershire should have Dillon du Preez back from an ankle injury while on loan Tom Smith will also play. Leicestershire were going really well in this before the twenty20 break. They were poor last week but I think they can bounce back here.

10pts Middlesex to beat Gloucestershire 4/6 Ladbrokes

Middlesex have Owais Shah back in their side and they'll be buzzing with confidence after their twenty20 win over Lancashire on Tuesday. Star of the show that day, Dawid Malan could well open up for the Crusaders here. Steven Finn keeps his place in the bowling attack which won't have Shaun Udal after he injured his knee on Tuesday.

Gloucestershire are still struggling with injuries. They do have Alex Gidman fit again though as is Kadeer Ali. Craig Spearman is out injured and Steve Adshead is also out although I'm not certain that's through injury. Loan signings Andrew Harris and David Wigley both went back to their clubs earlier in the week which means Lewis, Kirby and Hardinges will lead a weak bowling attack. Middlesex are the stronger side here. They are batting well and now have the firepower to bowl sides out and I'll take the Londoners to win this.