With the wonderful World Cup success still in the memories of all English cricket fans, the county circuit will look to capitalise on that when the Vitality Blast begins on Thursday evening as a two month T20 marathon gets underway.
Worcestershire wowed many last season to run away with the title and they will be looking to defend their crown but with five different winners in the last six seasons this is one of the most open of all the T20 competitions.
Recent Winners
2018 – Worcestershire
2017 – Nottinghamshire
2016 – Northamptonshire
2015 – Lancashire
2014 – Birmingham Bears
2013 – Northamptonshire
2012 – Hampshire
2011 – Leicestershire
2010 – Hampshire
2009 – Sussex
The Format
We have an unchanged format for the competition this season. The 18 counties are split up into the two groups of nine – North Group and South Group with each team playing the other eight in their group once and then six of the sides for a second time to make up 14 regular season matches. At the end of that phase the top four from each group go into the quarter finals where the leaders of the group host the fourth placed side and the second placed team in each group host the third. The semi-finals and final all take place on the best day of cricket of the year – T20 Blast Finals Day, which this year is September 21 at Edgbaston.
North Group
The North Group have dominated this tournament in recent times with Worcestershire the sixth successive winner from this part of the country. They will attempt to defend their title with a decent enough squad with Martin Guptill coming in to join Callum Ferguson as an overseas player while the likes of Wayne Parnell, Pat Brown and Ed Barnard should light up the competition. They have every chance of going close despite not being likely to see much of Moeen Ali.
Nottinghamshire won the competition the year before but they look in a bit of a mess right now. The T20 might well come at the right time for them but you’d need to be crackers to back them at the prices on offer and while insanity is no doubt closing in on me, I’m not there yet. Lancashire will be expected to go strongly with Glenn Maxwell and Jimmy Faulkner in their ranks but the loss of Liam Livingstone to injury will hurt. Nicholas Pooran looks an exciting signing for Yorkshire but that’s all they have to look forward to, while Finals Day hosts Birmingham Bears will be dangerous if their top four go big. According to the odds, Durham, Derbyshire, Northamptonshire and Leicestershire are making up the numbers but the latter two have won five of the 16 T20 titles between them.
South Group
Hampshire were the last South Group winners of this competition back in 2012 and while this side isn’t as good as that one was, they might not be too far behind with Chris Morris coming in to join the likes of Kyle Abbott and Mason Crane who should star with the ball. James Vince, Sam Northeast and Rilee Rossouw go well in this competition so the Royal London finalists have every chance of going well although you’re not going to get massively rewarded for backing them.
Somerset beat Hampshire in that Royal London final and have leading batsman in this format Babar Azam in their ranks for this tournament but enthusiasm in them waned when Lewis Gregory appeared on England’s radar. Middlesex will get a lot of attention with AB de Villiers in their ranks for the first half of the competition, while Alex Carey and Rashid Khan could take Sussex deep into the event. Essex could be dangerous with effectively four overseas players in their set up with Cameron Delport and Simon Harmer joining official foreigners Mohammad Amir and Adam Zampa. Kent, Glamorgan and Gloucestershire are said to be making up the numbers while Surrey will be dangerous if Aaron Finch fires but Jason Roy’s impending Test debut leaves them short of a key man.
Outright Betting
A case can be made for plenty in this competition but many of those same sides have weaknesses about them as well. Sussex and Lancashire would have been my picks among the favourites but Sussex aren’t going to see much of Jofra Archer and relying on Tymal Mills and Reece Topley to stay fit all competition is like playing chicken with a fast speed train coming through – not to be advised. Injuries are already hurting Lancashire so I’ll go deeper down the market and chase the value.
Durham were second in the North Group last season and were unfortunate enough to run into Sussex in the quarter final but I see no reason why they won’t go well again this term. They had an encouraging Royal London campaign and the addition of D’Arcy Short at the top of the order should pretty significant. Although there is no Imran Tahir this year, he’s at Surrey, Durham do have Ben Raine available and that could be key. They are used to seeing little of Ben Stokes and Mark Wood but they go into the T20 in great form and look a good bet to outperform their price in a North Group which looks weaker than last year.
Gloucestershire were beaten by the eventual champions Worcestershire in the quarter final last year but they don’t look any weaker this time around and at 25/1 could offer up some value. Michael Klinger returns to captain the side while the likes of Miles Hammond, Ryan Higgins and Benny Howell all have the potential to be key players. Andrew Tye is a regular for them and he is back for more as well and he, along with Matt Taylor and David Payne offer up a good seam attack. Jack Taylor and Ian Cockbain provide power in the middle order and with plenty of tired wickets around the South that could play perfectly into Gloucestershire’s hands. I’ll take them at the price.
Top Batsman
There are some cracking batsmen on show in the competition this season but as ever we need to work out who is around for when before we bet. I tend to stick to Englishmen to be on the safe side but there is no doubt Alex Carey would have been appealing had it not been for this Australian Ashes battle match next week. I’ll take two others though.
We now know England have discarded James Vince and there are enough other options for him not to be called up during The Ashes so at 22/1 the Hampshire opener has to be worthy of consideration here. He was the third leading run scorer in the Royal London Cup despite being forced to miss the latter stages of the event with England call ups and he has a wonderful white ball record in all competitions for Hampshire. He can play spin well which I think is going to be a big thing this season and at 22/1 he almost has to go well. With few overseas players guaranteed to be around for the whole campaign I’ll take one of England’s best to deliver here.
Luke Wright might be coming towards the end of his career at Sussex but he showed in the One Day Cup that he can still smack a white ball miles and if this is his swansong then he can go out with a bang at a 40/1 price which is just plain daft. Only 12 men outscored him in the 50 over competition this season and six of them played three or four more matches than he did. Wright has been one of the better one day players in this country for a while and although there are doubts over their bowlers staying fit, it is hard to see Sussex not making the knockout stages. Wright’s runs can be key t that.
Top Bowler
I fancy spinners are going to be hard to stop in the competition this year, especially if we get another extended dry period and so I’ll chance my arm at a trio of tweakers this year. Matt Parkinson is often by default tactic in this market and we saw Old Trafford taking turn in the World Cup. That is only likely to increase with the cricket left to play so at 18/1 the England Lions man should be very dangerous.
Someone will benefit from teams struggling to get the Sussex attack away and Danny Briggs could be that person. Teams will have to go after someone with Rashid Khan unlikely to offer up many runs and the likes of Chris Jordan so devastating at the death. Briggs isn’t the easiest to get away but he might be the only option for sides so I’m expecting him to pick up a bunch of cheap wickets. That was the case last year when he nailed 18 scalps and I wouldn’t be surprised if on tired tracks he takes a few more here. He’s my second bet but I’ll throw some coins at Nathan Sowter who was second in the Royal London wicket taking and who is a daft price at 100/1.
Team Markets
Four bets stand out to be among the team markets being offered up by Bet365. Dawid Malan looks good value at 6/4 to lead the Middlesex scoring with AB de Villiers only around for seven matches and Eoin Morgan resting to begin with after the World Cup and likely to be batting too low when he does play. Malan has been a big scorer in this format for a while and it makes sense that he top scores for them this season.
Tom Banton came to life in the Royal London Cup and while Somerset have signed Babar Azam for their quest for glory I still can’t ignore the 4/1 on the clean hitting youngster. Banton looks perfectly set up for a big campaign for the 50 over winners and with the other power hitters all way down the order there might not be much other than Babar to beat. If it is a match I’m happy to be on the 4/1 here.
David Willey is probably Yorkshire’s best one-day player and given that Tom Kohler-Cadmore is captaining for the first time and potentially thinking about other things than just his batting I like Willey to lead Yorkshire’s scoring. If there is a man in England with a point to prove right now it will be Willey after his unfortunate omission from the World Cup squad. He hits a long ball and often goes big in this format when he’s in.
Kent have lacked a focal point to their attack in one day cricket this season and given that leading wicket taker last year Joe Denly is likely to be away with England for much of the remainder of the summer, the door is open for someone. Adam Milne is very good at the death and should be fresher than those who are regularly on the county grind. I’m not convinced the Kent top bowler market is going to take a whole lot of winning but Milne can be the man to do it.
Tips
Back Durham to win Vitality Blast (e/w) for a 1/10 stake at 26.00 with BetVictor (1/2 1-2)
Back J.Vince Top Tournament Batsman (e/w) for a 1/10 stake at 23.00 with BetVictor (1/4 1-4)
Back them here:
Back Gloucestershire to win Vitality Blast (e/w) for a 1/10 stake at 26.00 with Boylesports (1/2 1-2)
Back L.Wright Top Tournament Batsman for a 1/10 stake at 41.00 with Boylesports (1/4 1-4)
Back them here:
Back D.Briggs Top Tournament Bowler (e/w) for a 1/10 stake at 23.00 with Betway (1/4 1-4)
Back him here:
PLACED – Back M.Parkinson Top Tournament Bowler (e/w) for a 1.5/10 stake at 19.00 with Bet365 (1/4 1-4)
Back N.Sowter Top Tournament Bowler (e/w) for a 0.5/10 stake at 101.00 with Bet365 (1/4 1-4)
Back D.Malan Top Middlesex Batsman for a 3/10 stake at 2.50 with Bet365
Back T.Banton Top Somerset Batsman for a 2/10 stake at 5.00 with Bet365
Back D.Willey Top Yorkshire Batsman for a 2/10 stake at 5.00 with Bet365
Back A.Milne Top Kent Bowler for a 2/10 stake at 3.25 with Bet365
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