The long slog that is the County Championship season comes to a close this week when the final set of matches take place from Monday. The title might be decided but we don’t know who will be relegated from Division One and we are yet to find out who will replace those who do drop down so there is everything to play for in the last week of the campaign.
There isn’t any TV coverage of these matches so we are restricted to the live feeds that the counties themselves produce and the other coverage that sites offer.
Division One
The big match of the four in the top flight on Monday comes from Taunton where Somerset have to beat Middlesex to survive. If they do that Middlesex could go down if Hampshire better their result. Hampshire head to Edgbaston to take on already relegated Warwickshire. Champions Essex will look to complete an unbeaten season when they take on Yorkshire at Chelmsford and the other match sees Surrey heading to Old Trafford to take on Lancashire.
Division Two
Three sides can still occupy the two promotion places. Worcestershire are in pole position with a six point lead over Nottinghamshire in second and a 19pt lead over Northamptonshire who are in third. If Worcestershire beat Durham they will be promoted as champions. Nottinghamshire will also be promoted if they secure a high scoring draw at Sussex while Northamptonshire will be promoted if they win and Nottinghamshire lost. Northants head to Leicestershire. Gloucestershire host Derbyshire and Kent play Glamorgan in the matches with nothing on them.
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Betting
The three sides chasing promotion in the second division are all pretty short. I’m not convinced they all win but it is hard to get involved because the league table will affect the motivation of the sides involved. Hopefully we get to play those matches in play this week in which case some juicy bets should materialise.
For now though I’ll focus on the main match in Division One where one thing I think we can guarantee is that unless the weather gets involved there will be a result at Taunton when Somerset host Middlesex. Somerset produce result wickets these days and I wouldn’t be expected much in the way of grass either.
Somerset will set the match up for their spinners to win it for them knowing full well if they are successful they will remain in the division if they can match Middlesex’s bonus points. Jack Leach, Dom Bess and Roelof van der Merwe offer an excellent spin trio and I think they can be too much for Middlesex in this one.
Tips
WON – Back Somerset to beat Middlesex for a 4/10 stake at 1.80 with LeoVegas
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