The latest round of County Championship fixtures kick off on Sunday with four matches in each division in the last but one set of matches before the attention turns to the NatWest T20 Blast.
There has been a lack of wins so far this season but as the weather improves the amount of cricket should too and with that we should start to get more wins and hopefully more chances to make some profit.
Division One
With the exception of Durham all the sides are in action in the division this week with Middlesex hosting Nottinghamshire, Hampshire heading to Old Trafford to face Lancashire, Yorkshire playing Surrey and Somerset heading up the M6 to take on Warwickshire.
Both Yorkshire and Warwickshire are pretty short this week and that is understandable based on what we’ve seen in the season so far although Yorkshire nearly came a cropper in that high quality game with Nottinghamshire last week so if Surrey can get into them early you never know. Neither match interests me from a betting point of view.
I’m tempted by Lancashire against Hampshire. Jimmy Anderson is still around for the home side but Hampshire have shown some grit and heart this season and that is enough to put me off Lancashire before the game at least.
I will bet on the other match though as both Middlesex and Nottinghamshire have been priced up at even money to win with different bookies. I don’t have this as a 50/50 match. In fairness I would have done had Middlesex not been missing their captain Adam Voges but they do and I believe that will be significant.
Voges is a top quality batsman who can handle the best attacks in the world and we saw last week just how good this Nottinghamshire attack is. Jake Ball and Harry Gurney bowled very well in that match with Yorkshire and you won’t keep Stuart Broad and Jackson Bird down for long.
We know Nottinghamshire go well with the bat. They displayed their depth strongly last week and I expect to see it again this week so at even money I’m with the visitors in that match against a weaker looking Middlesex side than they will be at other stages this season.
Division Two
All the sides apart from Essex are in action in this division this week. Essex will be facing off against the Sri Lankan tourists which leaves the chance for the chasing pack to close in on them a little bit after the Eagles have got off to a blistering start.
Sussex will be the team most expected to capitalise on Essex not playing when they head to Derbyshire. That is a match they should win but they’ve not really impressed me with the ball yet this season and Derbyshire can bat so odds on just seems too short on Sussex.
Glamorgan have started the season quite poorly which will give encouragement to Worcestershire should they need it ahead of their match but they are another side who are pretty short even allowing for Glamorgan’s poor start. Another match which is easy to leave alone.
Kent and Gloucestershire are two good young sides and they meet this week with Kent pretty short looking to win. Kent go into this match without Matt Coles who is suspended after an incident last week and that significantly weakens their bowling attack.
With him out of the attack only Darren Stevens and Mitch Claydon have more than three wickets this season which isn’t ideal and while Matt Hunn is an able replacement he’s no Coles that’s for sure.
Gloucestershire have found some real form with the bat helped mostly by the excellent form of Chris Dent and if their seamers can get stuck into this Kent line up this is a match the Bristol side can come out on top in.
The other match in the division sees Leicestershire hosting Northamptonshire. I’ve bigged up Leicestershire this season but there isn’t much value in them at 4/5 but I wouldn’t want to take them on either so I’ll leave this match alone.
Tips
PUSH – Back Nottinghamshire to beat Middlesex for a 4/10 stake at 2.00 with Ladbrokes
Back them here:
PUSH – Back Gloucestershire to beat Kent for a 4/10 stake at 2.38 with Titanbet
Back them here:
