Ahead of the second division of the Specsavers County Championship beginning on Sunday there is still a quick chance to look at the player markets in the division.
As with Division One there isn’t a huge amount in the way of value around in this division especially with so few bookies pricing markets up but there is a little more for us to get stuck into.
Top Batsman
I always like this market in this division because there are usually so many potential improvers in the field and that is certainly the case this year. Ashwell Prince top scored in the division last season but he isn’t around anymore. The next person in the list, Sam Northeast, scored just 1168 runs last year so we’re not after someone to go ballistic here.
Luke Wright is the favourite with the firms who have priced up. He went well in Division One last season but he has the captaincy on his shoulders this time around so whether that clams him up a bit and restricts him from his usual swashbuckling style remains to be seen.
Northeast comes next in the betting but he is another with captaincy issues and with just one place up for grabs promotion wise this season work in the field is going to take a bit out of the skippers. That rules Daryl Mitchell out of my thinking too.
Colin Ingram didn’t really deliver his promise for Glamorgan last season and as a result I’ll leave him at a much shorter price than the one I took him at last season. Michael Klinger misses the beginning of the season so I’m not interested in him. If not having the captaincy pressures free Wayne Madsen up he could be decent value but I’m going for three at large prices here.
Daniel Bell-Drummond has already been in the runs in one of Kent’s University warm up matches and I truly believe this talented batsmen will break out this season. We saw glimpses of what he could offer in the one day formats last season and that can give him the confidence to express himself in four day cricket this year.
DBD was being talked about as one of our finest ever talents as a junior and there is no reason why that talent can’t really flourish in a young, dynamic Kent side this season. He’s definitely the first in this list that is overpriced.
Another young talent who is a huge price is the Worcestershire batsman Joe Clarke. Such has been his rise recently that the England Lions couldn’t wait to get him on a tour in the winter. That of course is a slight issue here hence the smaller stake but with Moeen away a lot of the time and Tom Fell off recovering from treatment Clarke will have plenty of opportunity this season.
I’m a big fan of this lad and if England leave him alone enough I truly believe he will go close to a 1000 run season and from there not much more is needed to scoop the loot from our point of view.
Finally I’m going with my regular pick of Gareth Roderick. I’m absolutely certain there is a top class batsman in the Gloucestershire wicketkeeper and at 66/1 I can keep paying to find out if it is going to come to fruition this season.
He is now Gloucestershire’s captain which isn’t ideal but for the early part of the season at least he won’t be keeping wicket which should ensure he stays injury free as much as possible which is a major boost after he’s been hampered with the usual keeping injuries in the last two seasons.
Roderick averages over 40 in first-class cricket and now that he has moved up to three in the batting line up he is in position to really dominate with the bat this season. He is definitely a massive price.
Top Bowler
As with the other markets we’ve previewed value is pretty thin on the ground in this market so I’m just going to go with a player I think will win and one who could give us a run for our money.
Before then we need to go through the market leaders with Steve Magoffin the obvious favourite. He has been churning out Championship wickets at a fantastic rate in Division One for a few seasons now but he’s getting no younger and that’s my only concern. At 36 can he really do a full county season without injuries? I’m not so sure.
Matt Coles and Michael Hogan are bowlers who should be in the division above but both are injury prone at the same time so they look a little short, as most bowlers do in fairness.
One bowler who certainly isn’t too short is Joe Leach. The Worcestershire seamer burst onto the scene last year when he came sixth in the bowling charts in the top flight and that in theory should see him in a good position for this market with only Steve Magoffin ahead of him from last season.
There is no Saeed Ajmal again for Worcestershire so more wickets will be on offer and while batsmen try and keep out the likes of Jack Shantry, Matt Henry and Kyle Abbott they might forget about Leach again and at 28/1 he looks a really good price to go well this season.
The other one I’m going to chance is David Payne at Gloucestershire. Payne was seen as a one day specialist earlier on in his career but in just nine matches in the Championship last season he took 31 wickets which equates to being on course for a 60 wicket campaign in a full 16 match term.
If he can build on last season and get the ball swinging this season he could be a danger in a side who are looking for an attack leader. Left armers always go well in county cricket so Payne has that advantage and at 50/1 there’s enough in the price for us to pay to see how well he goes.
Top Team Batsman/Bowler
Only two standout in these markets in this division. Sadly nothing jumps out at us in the bowler markets but there are a couple in the team batsmen ones for us which is good.
We’ll go to Sussex for the first one where Ed Joyce has to be a massive price to top score for them. Joyce might not be the player of a year or two ago but he is a class act in his own right and in Division Two he should feast on the bowling.
He has no captaincy burdens anymore which is definitely a positive and someone as classy as him just looks huge at 9/2. I can’t ignore that price even allowing for the likes of Luke Wright being up against us.
I’ll also have a point on Roderick top scoring for Gloucestershire. I’ve said all I need to about him above but for some reason bookmakers have Michael Klinger in the betting for this market. He’s good but he isn’t that good that he’s going to top score having missed the first two months of the season unless Gloucestershire begin the season awfully.
With Klinger out of the running the likes of Chris Dent and Will Tavare could be Roderick’s only opposition should he stay fit. At 8/1 he’s well worth chancing to go well and beat all opposition in that market.
Tips
Back D.Bell-Drummond Top Division 2 Batsman (e/w) for a 1/10 stake at 41.00 with Stan James (1/4 1-4)
Back J.Clarke Top Division 2 Batsman (e/w) for a 0.5/10 stake at 51.00 with Stan James (1/4 1-4)
Back G.Roderick Top Division 2 Batsman (e/w) for a 1/10 stake at 67.00 with Betway (1/4 1-4)
WON – Back J.Leach Top Division 2 Bowler (e/w) for a 1/10 stake at 29.00 with Stan James (1/4 1-4)
Back D.Payne Top Division 2 Bowler (e/w) for a 0.5/10 stake at 51.00 with Bet365 (1/4 1-4)
Back E.Joyce Top Sussex Batsman for a 2/10 stake at 5.50 with Bet365
Back G.Roderick Top Gloucestershire Batsman for a 1/10 stake at 9.00 with Bet365
Back them here:
