The final competition of the English domestic season begins on Saturday when the Royal London One Day Cup gets underway. This tournament sees the 18 English counties battling it out in 50 over gameplay for the right to compete in a Lord’s final for the silverware.
To prepare English players for the playing conditions they will encounter should they make it to ODI level the competition is played using the same rules as One Day Internationals which means powerplays, fielding restrictions and new balls from each end are all in play.
The format of the competition is very much the same as the ongoing T20 Blast with the 18 counties split into two groups of nine but unlike in that tournament the groups aren’t regionalised and each county plays the others in their group only once. The top four in each group progress to the quarter final where the competition turns into a knockout event.
This is the second year in a row that this competition has been played towards the end of the summer and a theme of the event last year, and indeed the second half of the Yorkshire Bank 40 that proceeded it, was that sides who are competing heavily in the Championship be it for the title, promotion or relegation, tend to save their best players for that competition and play the youngsters in this.
England have an ODI series with Australia towards the end of the tournament so we need to be wary of sides who could lose a number of players to England duty. On the flip side those who are without Test players will get them back so sides who sneak through and get stronger could go well.
Group A looks to be the easier of the two groups although it does have the defending champions Durham in it. They’re probably not playing for too much now so they could give this a good go. Yorkshire are in this group but they are losing players to England all the time and defending their Championship title would surely be their main focus for the rest of the season.
Somerset, Surrey and Gloucestershire can repair poor seasons with good runs in this tournament so we shouldn’t necessarily rule them out and I wouldn’t actually be surprised if the latter go deep but the side I like to go best out of those in this group is Worcestershire.
I don’t think Worcestershire are going to stay up in the Championship but they have gone well in the T20 and have a settled enough side to go well in this format too. Saeed Ajmal will give them banker overs with the ball while Jack Shantry is hard to get away and a talented young batting line up can score the runs they need. They’re a big price given how well they’ve gone in the T20.
The other group is packed with some good one day sides. They include Hampshire, Nottinghamshire, Sussex, Warwickshire, Essex and Lancashire but there is a side who could be forgotten again given how well they have gone in the T20 and that is Kent.
Kent have eased to the top of the South Group and were without Sam Billings for some of that event so when he leaves for England duty again they know how to play without him. Rob Key hasn’t played much part in the T20 but he can come into the side for this tournament while with the ball the likes of Darren Stevens and James Tredwell are both very reliable. Kent are likely to see Tredwell throughout which is a bonus and they are a big price.
Nottinghamshire are likely to lose some important players when the ODIs start while Hampshire’s batting doesn’t look strong enough. Lancashire, Essex and Warwickshire all have four day cricket on their minds and Sussex are lacking bowlers so I fancy Kent to qualify and if they do that last season’s semi-finalists can go well again this year.
Back Worcestershire to win Royal London One Day Cup (e/w) for a 1/10 stake at 26.00 with Bet365 (1/2 1-2)
Back Kent to win Royal London One Day Cup (e/w) for a 1/10 stake at 21.00 with Coral (1/2 1-2)
