The second week of the LV= County Championship begins on Thursday when 16 of the 18 counties take to the field again looking for points to have them positioned nicely in the respective table as they begin to take shape.
Last week we had a TV match to enjoy but there is no TV coverage this week so if you want to keep up with the action and watch it live without going to the ground you will need to fire up the respective live stream that the counties offer.
Division One
The defending champions Surrey got their title defence off to a tame drawing start last week when they were held by Lancashire at Old Trafford. Having faced second in the league last season in their opening match, Surrey host the team that finished third last term this week when Hampshire are the visitors to the Kia Oval, looking to back up their fine opening win over Nottinghamshire last week. The aforementioned Nottinghamshire play host to Somerset who draw their opening match. Northamptonshire went down on the final day last week and they host Middlesex, who also lost last week, in what already feels like a big week at the bottom of the table. Kent and Essex were the other winners in the opening week of the season. The former head to Edgbaston to take on Warwickshire while the latter play host to Lancashire.
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Division Two
Just six of the eight sides are in action this week and the pick of the three matches comes from Bristol where the two relegated sides meet in an early big game of the campaign. That sees Gloucestershire, who could only draw their opening match last week, hosting a Yorkshire side who were shocked by Leicestershire a week ago. Leicestershire will look to back up that fine win at Headingley when they host Derbyshire at Grace Road. The other match comes from up at the Riverside where Durham welcome Worcestershire with the visitors the early pacesetters after a surprisingly comfortable win over Derbyshire last week.
Betting
Durham made no secret of the fact that they are going to play their own brand of ‘Bazball’ and with the England captain among their ranks when he is in county cricket they probably don’t have a choice but to do that, however we saw in their defeat at Hove the risks that come with that. Admittedly, Durham will have Scott Borthwick in their side for this one after he missed that loss to Sussex, but on the flip side of that they will be without Brydon Carse, who is under the control of the ECB. As I said at the beginning of the season, when England have asked for fast and flat pitches it makes no sense to me that one of the Durham overseas players is an Australian finger spinner.
In Worcestershire, Durham face a side who have a few batters who can live with them in the ‘Bazball’ stakes in Ed Pollock, Jack Haynes and even Jake Libby when he gets going. Where I think Worcestershire could edge this one is the quality of their bowling attack. Dillon Pennington, their leading wicket taker last season, is back for this one and with the likes of Matthew Waite, Joe Leach, Adam Finch and Josh Tongue, Worcestershire have incredible depth in the seam department. There was a controlled way that Worcestershire went about their business last week and teams who have batting depth go best in county cricket and Worcestershire had a centurion at eight and Joe Leach who has two First-class tons and 22 50s and averages a shade under 25 at nine. That is real depth and that can lead to a Worcestershire win here.
Tips
Back Worcestershire to beat Durham for a 3/10 stake at 1.83 with Betway
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