[kompressaur]

sorry if this is in the wrong thread.

We set out our stall early on the Twenty20 Cup by flagging up Durham at 33/1 and, as we suspected, that price has now disappeared.

However there's still some 20/1 available and we wouldn't put anyone off taking an interest in the revised odds.

That's because there's a strong argument to be made for them being the best one-day side around right now.

They ran away with the northern section of the Friends Provident Trophy before booking their place in the final and have also been boosted by the arrival of New Zealander Scott Styris.

The real question mark against them is their lack of recent form in the Twenty20 Cup but they are making giant strides in all formats of the game and simply looked overpriced - especially at the 33s.

Looking at past form for our other picks would immediately flag up Leicestershire because no side has thrived like the unheralded Foxes in the Twenty20.

Paul Nixon virtually booked his place at the World Cup thanks to his Twenty20 heroics and the Midlands outfit have embraced the shortened format better than anyone.

However, they just fail to make our staking plan as they don't look quite as strong this time around.

For they've lost Darren Maddy, whose unbeaten 86 led them to victory in the final last season, to Warwickshire while Stuart Broad's heroics with the ball in 2006 - both in terms of wickets taken and his economy rate - has catapulted him into England's one-day reckoning.

So we're instead going to supplement the ante-post advice on Durham with an interest in the side Leicestershire beat in the final, Nottinghamshire.

They've reacted superbly to last season's shock relegation in the County Championship by putting themselves on track for an immediate return to the top flight.

And they haven't done too much wrong on the one-day front either, agonisingly missing out on the FP Trophy semi-finals by a single point.

In skipper Stephen Fleming they have one of the shrewdest captains around and he's been sweet on their Twenty20 chances in the press in the last couple of weeks.

And no wonder because while they'll probably have to do without Ryan Sidebottom after his England displays, they've got plenty of back up.

Indeed one of the hardest things for Fleming this season has been keeping everyone happy - Will Jefferson for example has hardly featured since his move from Essex but could get his chance now.

Given our selections it will come as no surprise that we're also keen on the chances of the winner coming from the 'northern' section.

Durham and Notts both come into that category and we've also got plenty of back up to that pair.

Lancashire are disputing favouritism and it's hard to argue too strongly with that assessment now they've snapped up Sanath Jayasuriya for the group stages.

Yorkshire also feature and they've had a great season so far, leading the way in the County Championship.

And, as we've already mentioned, Twenty20 is the form of cricket where Leicestershire have excelled so it's a bonus to also have them running for us.

Derbyshire make up the sextet and while we'd be surprised if they go all the way, we do believe that the northern group holds by far the strongest claims and is worth an interest at 13/8.

A final piece of encouragement for that view comes if we look at the FP Trophy - no side in the southern section managed more than six wins and former powerhouses such as Surrey seem to be priced on reputation alone

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