07-05-2008, 09:36
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Join Date: May 2005
Posts: 65410
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Re: 10th May: County Championship
Our Championship double this week may not scream value but the big-hitters among you should be able to back Nottinghamshire and Somerset with some confidence.
Both are at home, neither has lost yet this season, but most significantly both will be facing severely weakened opponents.
Early Division One pacesetters Notts look a good thing at home to Kent.
The midlands outfit have already beaten these opponents this season - crushing them by 10 wickets in the opening round of fixtures - and they have quickly put aside any worries about the departure of last year's skipper Stephen Fleming.
Wicketkeeper Chris Read has taken the reins but that doesn't seem to have adversely affected his game - he made 142 against Yorkshire last week in a game the Outlaws would probably have won had it not been for the Leeds rain.
That innings is one of three individual hundreds Notts have managed in two games to date - Mark Wagh and Mark Ealham have the others - while on the bowling front things have been going so well it's been a tough choice who to leave out.
England Test stars Chris Broad and Ryan Sidebottom both impressed at Headingley and play again here, while Charlie Shreck has again been among the wickets.
That means no place for young Darren Pattinson, who took eight wickets in the reverse fixture.
The only negative for Notts is that spinner Graeme Swann has been called up by England Lions, but that is more than levelled out when you look at the selection problems Kent face.
Like Swann, captain Robert Key is away on Lions duty, while all-rounder Azhar Mahmood has a finger injury and his contributions are sure to be missed.
Justin Kemp is finally available after his protracted eligibility wrangle with the ECB, but we feel it will take more than the South African to stop the Notts bandwagon rolling on.
Moving on to Somerset; they opened with a rain-ruined draw against Lancashire and will now look to start their home campaign with a victory over Hampshire.
Taunton was something of a fortress for Somerset last year as they stormed to the Division Two title and another win beckons here.
Marcus Trescothick, Justin Langer and Ian Blackwell all got runs under their belts at Old Trafford, while as in 2007, all the bowlers contributed meaning the injured Andy Caddick wasn't unduly missed.
Hampshire - a weather-affected draw v Sussex and an innings loss to Yorkshire so far - look very weak on the bowling front for their trip west.
Overseas star Shane Bond took nine wickets in his first two games but the injury-prone Kiwi now has a calf problem, Chris Tremlett is away with the Lions and skipper Dimi Mascarenhas is still in India playing Twenty20 and collecting his cash.
Leading batsman Michael Carberry is also on international duty, so the only real plus for Hants is that Kevin Pietersen will make a rare Championship appearance.
If the Taunton track is back to its flat ways, Pietersen could make hay.
But Langer has demanded a more bowler-friendly strip over the past 12 months and even if Pietersen does make a big score, we just don't see how the visitors are going to take 20 Somerset wickets.
The double with Notts pays around 11/8.
In Division Two, Essex and Derbsyhire have both started the season well, but they come up against England stars this week and that could be their undoing.
Essex host a Middlesex side bolstered by Andrew Strauss and the Chelmsford outfit will be without their own star in Ravi Bopara (Lions duty). Given his superb start to the year, that has to be a worry.
Derby face a Warwickshire line-up which includes Tim Ambrose, who hit 156 not out against Leicestershire recently, and Ian Bell.
Themselves without Graham Wagg and Greg Smith, the 6/5 about the hosts is probably best left alone.
Bettingzone
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