[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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[Colbro]

Saqlain Mushtaq played for Sussex last night as his passport came through the day before.

Hodd was the WK and kept well.

[Swooperman]

Yep, Saqi also played vs the Indians in his first game for god knows how long. Sussex beat Durham inside 3 days, Mushy taking 4 wickets. They now sit top & Betfair have them favourites at 3.65. Still a long way to go but the crucial game could be against Yorkshire at Hove in september

[Colbro]

Twenty 20 finals day tommorrow and Lancashire are favourites to win at 2.75 on Paddy Power and it is difficult to oppose them. They look very strong with the likely 11 to be Loye,Law,Hodge,Flintoff,Croft,Cross,Chilton,Cork,A nderson,Keedy and Muralitheran. Plenty of international experience there and players like Keedy and Cork have some of the most economical figures in the short history of the competition. What is also attractive is that Croft and Cross who are two of the lesser names where the key figures in the quarter final win against Warwickshire. They add not just strength in depth but match winning experience as well.
They are likely to have the largest and most vocal support on the day and the prescence of Flintoff will probably ensure that most of the neutrals will adopt them as their team as well.
Their semi is against Gloucester who look much weaker on paper. In addition Gloucester's current CC game went to all four days meaning an evening/late night journey from Bristol. Lancs game ended a day early after defeat to Sussex meaning a day off and an easier journey.

The other semi has Kent against Sussex. Sussex are favourites here and also have a strong line up as well as probably the best captain of the four temas in Chris Adams. Kent have had the week off while Sussex where playing Lancs in Liverpool - a game they won. Had the Sussex game gone to all four days it might have given Kent a large boost. Some this is now gone but Kent are a still a useful team who could cause an upset.

I am going therefore for a Lancs Kent final with Lancs eventual winners.


Another interesting side bet may be on Gareth Cross being the top scorer a 34.00 on Stan James. He has had a good 20/20 season after being picked ahead of Luke Sutton for his explosive batting. He turned the quarter as mentioned before and is better value then the other "big" name Lancs players.

[Hippy Dave]

Winner of Kent v Sussex will win IMO, probably Sussex - their bowling attack is the best in the competition bar none, and Kent's is useful. Bowlers win Twenty20 IMO, not batsmen.

Martin-Jenkins is the weak link, but still very useful. Then they have probably the 2 best "death" bowlers in county cricket in Rana Naved and James Kirtley + Mushtaq and Saqlain to sqeeze the runs in the middle overs.

Lancashire look strong on paper, but their batting can quite easily fold under pressure.


Anyway, one bet for Lancashire v Gloucestershire

Hamish Marshall to beat Craig Spearman @ 1.72 (bet365)
Marshall has outscored Spearman all 5 times that these 2 have played in the same team this season.

[Hippy Dave]

Originally Posted by Hippy Dave

Winner of Kent v Sussex will win IMO,
Lancashire look strong on paper, but their batting can quite easily fold under pressure.

There you go Ok, so I did tip Sussex, but I was still right.

[Tricky]

Originally Posted by Hippy Dave

There you go Ok, so I did tip Sussex, but I was still right.

But we would have need to of bet on Kent, as well as Sussex to make any profit.


I tipped up kent at 22/1, but sadly only on the betfair forum.

I apologise for my lack of selections on here through the season. I did start the season thread off, with good intentions!


To make up for it, I will have a look at todays matches, and give out a selection or two. I am not saying it will be a winning one mind!

[Tricky]

Only 3 games today, so has just had a wee lay of my team notts at 1.86 on betfair.

Notts are missing their 2 best paced bowlers + shreck who is their fastest quickie! Worcs have the likes of Jacques, Solanki, Hick; who are all very lethal once they get going!

[Colbro]

Nice going Tricky

[kompressaur]

The title race in the top flight of the County Championship is building up into a thrilling battle, but top two Yorkshire and Sussex sit out the action this week.

That gives third-placed Hampshire the perfect opportunity to put themselves right in the shake up, especially as they have two games in hand on the Tykes and one on bitter rivals and reigning champions Sussex.

And it's Hampshire's game with Surrey, which starts on Thursday, which is the focus of our attention.

Given that they've got home advantage, have lost just once this season and won the reverse fixture at the Oval back in April it's a real surprise to see Hampshire on offer at as big as 8/11 in places.

The chief reason for that 'generosity' is the fractured rib suffered by Shane Warne last time out against Lancashire which looks set to rule their inspirational skipper out for the rest of the season.

And while that's clearly a massive blow, it's still hard to believe that it closes the gap between this pair as much as the prices suggest.

For while Hampshire are closing in on top spot - their one and only defeat came back in June - Surrey are battling to avoid the drop.

They've won just two games all season and they were comprehensively outplayed when the two sides met earlier in the campaign.

Hampshire's winning margin of just 35 runs seriously flatters Surrey - they were 278 runs in arrears in the first innings and Hampshire declared on 224-1 when they batted a second time.

Psychologically that win should also be important for the south-coast side because their record against Surrey in recent years had been awful.

Dropping down to Division Two and there's a case to be made for siding with Middlesex in their match with promotion-chasing Notts at Lord's.

It's must-win territory for Ed Smith's side who start the game in fourth place but with a match in hand on the leading trio.

And now isn't a bad time to be playing Notts who have really struggled in recent weeks.

They did at least get back to winning ways last time against Northants but that was a real scrambled effort and no wonder because their bowling has been decimated by injuries.

They've been forced into three loan signings already to try and plug the gaps and one of those, Durham's Mark Davies, played a starring role last week with 7-59 in the first innings.

However he's since been recalled by his county while Mark Ealham (hamstring) and AJ Harris (back strain) are the latest men on the treatment table.

The biggest loss though is Ryan Sidebottom whose absence on international duty has coincided with their dip in fortunes.

All of which means that Middlesex, who have been in decent nick themselves recently, might just be worth support at 5/4 with BetFred and Blue Square.

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[Colbro]

Sussex win the title today.