The Vitality Blast takes a break for a round of LV County Championship fixtures which begin on Sunday as the four-day competition returns with a number of sides reaching the halfway mark in their campaign.
The World Test Championship and build-up to The Ashes gets the TV attention this week so we are reduced to the county live streams to watch these matches but with a heatwave across the UK there should be some great cricket to enjoy.
Division One
Surrey went into the T20 break on top of the table and they are unlikely to have lost any confidence during the Blast where they have been on good form. That is ominous for Kent who host the defending champions at Canterbury this week. Warwickshire are the closest challengers to Surrey beginning the week and they make the short trip to Trent Bridge to face fourth placed Nottinghamshire while Hampshire in third place make the long journey to Southport to take on a Lancashire side who drew all five matches in the opening phase of the competition. The other match sees the two mid-table teams facing each other when Essex host Somerset at Chelmsford.
Special Offer
Sign up for a Boylesports account and bet £10 to get up to £20 in free bets! Perfect offer for this series! Click the image below for this great offer! New accounts only. 18+ T&Cs apply. Gamble Aware.
Division Two
Durham head the way in the second division after the first part of the campaign and they will look to continue to blaze a trail when they host an unbeaten Glamorgan side who will now have to cope without Marnus Labuschagne who has left to join up with the Australian team. The two sides immediately behind Durham in the table meet at Hove when unbeaten Sussex host Worcestershire with the home side without Steve Smith and Cheteshwar Pujara. Leicestershire and Gloucestershire had mixed starts to the season and they will look to pick up a win when they meet at Grace Road and there is also a battle between the bottom two at Chesterfield when Derbyshire take on Yorkshire.
Betting
I’m not going to go too mad in these matches because the schedule dictates that there hasn’t been much time for practicing red ball cricket and as a result of that you often get surprise results. There is one bet I like though and that comes in the form of Essex to beat Somerset. Both these teams have built up some confidence with a good start in the Vitality Blast and they have begun the Championship campaign in decent order too.
The issue I have with Somerset in this match is the injury to Peter Siddle which is going to impact their bowling plans. They still have Matt Henry and Craig Overton but I’m not massively convinced either are going to profit too much at Chelmsford given the weather in the lead up to this match and forecast during it. You would imagine spin is going to play a key part and there are no better spinners in the competition than Simon Harmer. On top of that, with little to no preparation for those involved in the T20 competition, Essex have Alastair Cook, Nick Browne and Doug Bracewell who weren’t a part of the squad for that so they should have been able to hone their red ball skills which gives the home side even more of an advantage. I’ll take them to come out on top in this one.
Tips
Back Essex to beat Somerset for a 3/10 stake at 1.83 with Boylesports
Back them here:
Copyright secured by Digiprove © 2023
