The Royal London One Day Cup takes a few days off now for the return of the County Championship and six matches across the two divisions begin on Friday.
In Division One Hampshire host Warwickshire at the Ageas Bowl, Middlesex take on Sussex at Lord’s, Worcestershire face Nottinghamshire at New Road and at Scarborough the champions Yorkshire take on Durham.
In Division Two matches on Friday begin at Grace Road as Leicestershire go up against Derbyshire and at Colchester where Essex take on Surrey. Surrey are Lancashire’s closest challengers at the top of the second division table so this is a big match for them.
Yorkshire go into their match with Durham with a 38pt lead and with a game in hand so if they win they will pretty much eliminate Durham from title contention so that is a huge match for the visitors. Scarborough doesn’t yield too many results though so I’m happy to leave that match alone.
I’m not touching the Middlesex vs Sussex game either. Sussex need the points to pull away from the relegation zone while Middlesex need points to push on in their quest to finish as high as possible in the Championship. Sussex have injuries while Middlesex have a couple of players missing themselves so I can’t really call that one.
Hampshire go into their clash with Warwickshire bottom of the table and needing wins to stay in the division but the Bears are one of the better sides in the division and with Hampshire’s batting really beginning to struggle I don’t think they will get much joy out of a solid all round Warwickshire side. Warwickshire have depth with the bat and real quality with the ball and I would expect them to win that game.
Worcestershire are another side who are struggling and if Daryl Mitchell isn’t passed fit to play then that will be another blow to them. You would think with a T20 quarter final next week if there is any doubt then he won’t play and with Moeen Ali with England that’s a lot of runs Worcestershire will have to do without.
Nottinghamshire haven’t been the best they’ve ever been in the Championship this season but they have built some form up in the One Day Cup and I wouldn’t be surprised if they finish the season strongly, especially having secured the signature of Imran Tahir who will make his four day debut for them here. I expect them to win this one.
Moving into Division Two and Leicestershire continue to be abject in the longer format of the game so hosting Derbyshire isn’t ideal for them this week. Derbyshire will have Mark Footitt back from England duty and with Dilshan back in the ranks too they have some solid batting options as well as extra bowling options. It would be a major surprise if they don’t win.
My only single this week is going to come in the form of Surrey. Initially I wasn’t going to take them but I read that Essex are without four huge players in Ryan ten Doeschate, David Masters, Jesse Ryder and Graham Napier. With Essex needing a near miracle to get among the promotion mix it might just be that they concentrate their minds towards their T20 quarter final next week and don’t give it all here.
Surrey are without Kumar Sangakkara this week which isn’t ideal but Dominic Sibley has scored runs whenever he has been given the chance in this Surrey side so although he’s a downgrade on Sangakkara he isn’t a drastically bad replacement. They’re another side who’ve built real confidence in the One Day Cup and given Essex’s injuries I expect Surrey to win here.
As well as taking Surrey I don’t see Nottinghamshire or Derbyshire losing their matches and I’m going to take them all in a double and as another bet I’m going to add Warwickshire to those two for a slightly riskier treble.
Back Surrey to beat Essex for a 4/10 stake at 1.80 with Betway
Back Nottinghamshire to beat Worcestershire x Derbyshire to beat Leicestershire for a 4/10 stake at 2.63 with Coral
Back Nottinghamshire, Derbyshire and Warwickshire to win for a 2/10 stake at 3.93 with Coral
*All matches are DNB
Blog cricket YTD: +2.3pts
