We are heading towards the start of the Vitality Blast but before we get there we have two rounds of matches in the LV County Championship to enjoy, the first of which begins on Thursday where some eye catching fixtures take place.
This is a week where all 18 counties are in action so there is likely to be plenty of movement in the two tables over the course of the four days. We have a televised match this week as well and the other eight will all be available on the live county streams.
Division One
The televised offering comes from The Oval where the champions Surrey host Middlesex in the first London derby of the campaign. These two teams will meet a few more times in the various competitions this term so this is a chance for the leaders to lay a marker down. Middlesex will be out to knock off their rivals. The big match of the week might come from Edgbaston where second placed Warwickshire take on third placed Essex. Elsewhere, Lancashire will look to break a start which has seen them draw all four matches when they host Somerset at Old Trafford while Hampshire will look to bounce back from their mauling by Warwickshire last week when they travel to Canterbury to face Kent. Northamptonshire host Nottinghamshire in a big match for both sides.
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Division Two
Durham are the pacesetters in Division Two after four rounds of matches and they will look to extend their lead at the top of the table when they host Yorkshire at the Riverside. Second and third meet in this division as well when Leicestershire host a Sussex side which will contain Steve Smith once again. Glamorgan have drawn all of their matches this season and they will look to come out of that rut when they host Worcestershire in Cardiff. The bottom two meet in Derby when Derbyshire take on Gloucestershire whose start to the season has been heavily impacted by the weather.
Betting
Warwickshire were my pick for the title this season and they have made an encouraging start to the campaign, one which I think they can continue at Edgbaston when they take on an Essex side who might be slightly higher up in the table than they deserve to be. The reason why I say that is because they only have one win on their ledger this term and that came against a Middlesex side who were shot to pieces in the opening couple of overs.
I think Warwickshire will put up a lot more resistance than that. They have only lost to Surrey this season and there is nothing wrong with that but they have a pair of wins to their name including a dominant and extremely impressive win over Hampshire last week. Warwickshire also have the luxury of rotating their bowling resources with Hassan Ali coming back into the team this week. I like the Warwickshire top seven and if the buckets of rain that has been around dampen the impact that Simon Harmer can have, the Bears look good to me in this one.
Tips
Back Warwickshire to beat Essex for a 3/10 stake at 1.91 with Coral
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