We have now previewed both the divisions in the Specsavers County Championship ahead of the new season and now we have just enough time to get stuck into the season long player markets to give us further interest in the campaign ahead.
Unfortunately there is a scandalous lack of bookmakers offering any long-term markets so we are restricted to just two sets of odds in the main markets which means we can get them all into one post.
[the_ad id=”24218″]
Top Batsmen
Profile
As ever when we are going to bet on these lengthier markets we need to come up with a plan for who we are getting stuck into. Although everyone is likely to bat a similar amount of times over the course of the season I still prefer to be on the opening batsmen or those high up in the order, where we know every innings their team plays our man will bat. I’m also keen to be on batsmen who play on good wickets for batting on in their home matches. The other thing to try and avoid are players who might catch the radar of the England set up. Any missed matches are a major dent in our chances of winning.
Division One
There are a number of standout candidates in this division but they are all generally recognised by the two bookies offering odds so with that in mind I’m going to look deeper down the field for a couple of value bets.
Brett D’Oliviera is an extremely talented player and he has been hitting the ball nicely in pre-season. He went well in the North-South series out in the Caribbean and also got a start in the MCC match. He is due a real breakout season and I fancy it could come here. He has matured enough in his game now to have a really big campaign and at 40/1 I’ll pay to see what he comes up with.
Jimmy Adams is getting no younger but there might just be one last hurrah in the Hampshire opening batsman. He has been ploughing in the runs in the winter with a number of good knocks in the Caribbean 50 over competition and he filled his boots in no uncertain terms against the Cardiff University side last week. Adams has had an up and down couple of seasons but with no captaincy pressures on his shoulders this season he can just bat and at 50/1 he could be a big price to run hot.
Division Two
There is not a massive amount of value that I’m interested in over the course of this division either but I am expecting big things from this young Warwickshire middle order and the massive talent that is Sam Hain can be the leader of that particular pack. Hain goes into the season in decent form after his heroics for the England Lions in the winter. He then tucked in for the MCC against the champions Essex last month which bodes well and at 20/1 he looks a standout candidate to top score for the Bears in the division this season.
[the_ad id=”16647″]
Top Bowler
Profile
Once again we need to consider who it is that we are going after when betting on this market. I think the first thing we can safely say is that we can eradicate the spinners with the exception of those at Somerset. The weather and the scheduling does not suit spin over the course of 14 matches. In an ideal world we will find players who will take the new ball where it does a bit in their home matches. Those grounds renowned for swing and seam would be perfect.
Division One
As it is I happen to fancy a Somerset spinner in the top flight market. All eyes will be on Jack Leach but he could very easily be away with England or one of the feeder England sides over the course of the summer so it could be his spin twin Dom Bess who steps up and is counted.
Bess actually had a much better strike rate than his fellow spinner last season. Bess took a wicket every 44.3 balls to every 61.1 balls that Leach bowled so if they can bowl a similar amount of overs then there is nothing to suggest that Bess can’t better Leach at more than twice the price. Taunton is likely to be a dry haven again in terms of the wickets this year and that should play right into the hands of Leach and Bess. I’ll take Bess here.
[the_ad_group id=”3624″]
Division Two
In the second division one man stands out to me and that is Richard Gleeson. He only played in seven matches last season but took 40 wickets so if he had played the entire campaign and kept on at the same rate he would have bagged 80 scalps which would have been more than enough to land this market.
Gleeson is a rarity in English cricket at the minute in that he is a bowler with genuine pace and without being disrespectful, while he is at Northamptonshire he is unlikely to catch the eye of too many to do with England. If Gleeson can hit the ground running and stay fit he has every chance of delivering something useful at 16/1.
Betting
Back B.D’Oliviera Top Division One Batsman (e/w) for a 1/10 stake at 41.00 with BetVictor (1/4 1-4)
Back J.Adams Top Division One Batsman (e/w) for a 1/10 stake at 51.00 with BetVictor (1/4 1-4)
Back D.Bess Top Division One Bowler (e/w) for a 1.5/10 stake at 21.00 with BetVictor (1/4 1-4)
Back S.Hain Top Division Two Batsman (e/w) for a 2.5/10 stake at 21.00 with BetVictor (1/4 1-4)
Back R.Gleeson Top Division Two Bowler (e/w) for a 1.5/10 stake at 17.00 with BetVictor (1/4 1-4)
Back them all here:
Copyright secured by Digiprove © 2018
