No doubt inspired by that amazing Cricket World Cup final, there is one match in the Specsavers County Championship on Monday as the Cheltenham Festival begins with Gloucestershire taking on Leicestershire in Division Two.
These two teams head into this match as the bottom two sides in the competition but the second division table is so congested that if either team can win this and back it up after the T20 break they could yet be in the promotion mix.
Gloucestershire
Although they were struggling for wins, Gloucestershire were going along quite nicely until recently but they head into this match off the back of successive defeats where in truth their batting has let them down and all of a sudden they have fallen right away. They have played less matches than most sides in the division so their position is not unrepairable but they do need to rediscover the winning touch pretty quickly.
Gloucestershire are generally bowling well enough despite injuries and a lack of depth to their attack potentially holding them back so if their batsmen can start supporting them there is no reason why they can’t launch a last gasp tilt at promotion. If there is a thing that could hold them back it might be the lack of a top class spinner, as with the amount of cricket played on the squares this summer you would think the last month of the campaign will be played on dustbowls.
Leicestershire
It has been a season of struggle for the Leicestershire outfit at the present time but their main part of the campaign is about to begin with the T20 coming along. That is a competition they tend to find their best form in and a win here to go into that would be very handy. It isn’t as though Leicestershire haven’t been in matches or anything. They have been right in most of them at the halfway mark in recent times but one bad innings in the four has cost them dearly.
Leicestershire just need to get back into the swing of scoring big runs again. They have the runs in their side but they need to produce it in both batting innings. In the main they haven’t gone too badly with the ball. If they can offer more with the bat in the matches to come then they can make their campaign look respectable even if they can’t press on and compete for promotion.
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Team News
Gloucestershire will be without batsman James Bracey for this match as he has been called up for the England Lions. Ryan Higgins is expected to be back in the squad despite being named as the 12th man for that match.
Leicestershire have Ben Mike back from his loan spell at Warwickshire and he will go straight into the squad for this one. Mohammad Abbas is in the squad and will be looking to cause mayhem on what is basically a club ground.
Betting
I think Leicestershire could be worth a chance here. Gloucestershire have been forced into changes and in a key position as well and Leicestershire have the bowlers to take advantage of that. We are taking a bit of a chance that the visitors put four good innings together but I really do believe they are not far away from delivering something good and it could be that an outground and a tight match does that.
If a couple of the senior players can step up and be counted for Leicestershire in this match with the bat then I certainly think they have it in them with the ball to get the job done. I was tempted to take Leicestershire for a first innings lead but I’m comfortable that a win isn’t too far away for them. Gloucestershire might have an eye on the T20 where they’ve gone well in recent times. This feels like it could be Leicestershire’s week.
Tips
Back Leicestershire to beat Gloucestershire for a 4/10 stake at 2.38 with William Hill
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