There is one match left in the county cricket season and it begins at Lord’s on Tuesday when the County Championship winners Warwickshire face the runners up Lancashire for the Bob Willis Trophy.
There are many varying opinions on whether this match is necessary or not. I’d prefer it to be the Championship winners against the 50 over winners but that isn’t the case. What it does mean is we see the two most consistent teams in the country meeting over what is a five day match with the intention of avoiding a draw.
Where to watch
The good news for followers of county cricket is this match will be televised in full for the whole five days or however long the match lasts. It can be viewed on the Sky Sports Cricket channel throughout.
Warwickshire
Warwickshire have already been celebrating a County Championship title which was won in incredible fashion on the final day of the season but now they have an immediate chance to put a second trophy in the cabinet in as many weeks. There is a lot of conjecture about motivation for a match such as this and I understand why, but given that the trophy carries the name of the Bears great Bob Willis, you’d be disappointed if this match didn’t mean something to this club.
Warwickshire have a very nice blend. They are solid at the top of the order with the bat, have a middle order that can build on any foundation but also rebuild a failing innings, bat deep and have a good mix of bowling options with a couple of stars throughout the team. While they win Championships on consistency, they are very much suited to the longer format of the game and will be looking to prove that once again here.
Lancashire
It was an emotional week for Lancashire last week. They won an incredible match against Hampshire to give them a chance of winning the County Championship title and probably went into the final day of the season as the favourites to be crowned champions. They then had to watch on as Warwickshire overpowered Somerset to deny them a huge title and worse still, they now have to get themselves up off the floor to face that team here.
I guess the motivation for Lancashire will be to add a trophy to the cabinet by winning this match. If they are going to do that then you suspect they are going to need to bat much better than they have for much of the season. They are certainly going to have to think clearer in the tight moments because they almost threw their chance of the title away against Hampshire last week. The other thing they will need is their change bowlers to back-up the main ones.
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Team News
Warwickshire will be forced into a change for this match with Chris Woakes not eligible to feature as England want him to rest ahead of the winter exertions. Ryan Sidebottom is the favourite to replace him with Chemar Holder out injured.
Lancashire will be without a host of players for this match with Liam Livingstone away at the IPL and Jimmy Anderson and Jos Buttler not being allowed to play by England. Keaton Jennings and Saqib Mahmood are both out injured.
Betting
I’ll take a couple of bets in this match with the first of them on Warwickshire to win the match. I think Warwickshire have the better balance in their side. Lancashire are just missing a big player too many for my liking. I really like the Warwickshire batting and I don’t think there is much between the two bowling attacks. If Warwickshire have everyone in their squad available then they probably have the overall edge, even if Tom Bailey might be the best bowler on show in the forecasted conditions. Warwickshire are champions and they’ll be eager to win the trophy which carries the name of one of their greatest players. I expect them to get it done.
With Saqib Mahmood out of the equation and Jimmy Anderson now released by England for the match I would be very surprised if Tom Bailey doesn’t take the most first innings wickets for Lancashire in this match. He comes into this match off the back of 7/37 in the second innings against Hampshire last week and is head and shoulders the leading wicket taker for the Red Rose outfit this season. His 50 wickets is 14 more than anyone else and if Matt Parkinson is ineffective in these conditions, which in the first innings in particular he is likely to be, then Bailey is 27 wickets ahead of anyone else on show. He looks a solid punt for the top Lancashire first innings bowler.
Tips
Back Warwickshire to beat Lancashire (DNB) for a 3/10 stake at 2.00 with William Hill
Back them here:
Back T.Bailey Top Lancashire first innings bowler for a 2/10 stake at 3.50 with Coral
Back him here:
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