Birmingham Phoenix have been one of the leading teams in the opening two seasons of The Hundred as far as statistics are concerned but the Edgbaston based outfit are yet to convert their good play into silverware. They look to have another powerful squad as they go about getting their hands on this trophy for the first time in their history.
Stats
Last Season: 4th
Captain: Moeen Ali
Key Players: Will Smeed & Adam Milne
Best Odds: 11/2 General
Fixtures
August 3: Northern Superchargers (a)
August 5: Trent Rockets (h)
August 7: Manchester Originals (a)
August 10: Welsh Fire (h)
August 13: Oval Invincibles (h)
August 16: Southern Brave (a)
August 19: Trent Rockets (a)
August 24: London Spirit (h)
Squad
Chris Woakes, Ben Duckett, Liam Livingstone, Moeen Ali, Shadab Khan (Tanveer Sangha from August 14), Adam Milne, Benny Howell, Will Smeed, Kane Richardson, Jamie Smith, Tom Helm, Miles Hammond, Chris Benjamin, Dan Mousley, Henry Brookes, Jacob Bethell
Preview
The Birmingham Phoenix possess some of the most powerful batters in the entire competition with Moeen Ali, Will Smeed, Liam Livingstone and Chris Benjamin in their ranks and they have bolstered their middle order with the addition of Ben Duckett as well. They also have a couple of younger Warwickshire players in Jacob Bethell and Dan Mousley who will know how their home pitch plays which could be significant.
Unlike some teams in the competition, Birmingham have gone down the route of largely home batters which has left them able to stockpile overseas players in their bowling attack. Adam Milne was the standout bowler in season one while Kane Richardson, Shadab Khan and Tanveer Sangha are solid options. With Benny Howell the x-factor to any attack and Chris Woakes being fit and around for the season, Birmingham don’t lack for top class bowling options.
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Betting
The outlook for Moeen Ali looks a little bit better with him bowling in the final innings of the Test match but even then you would imagine he will continue to bat at three this season and Ben Duckett will replace Miles Hammond as an opener. Duckett is in decent form and should really enjoy himself in this Birmingham side. He’ll have Will Smeed going at it from ball one at the other end so he can play himself in a touch and then look to go big. Duckett was the sixth highest scorer in this competition for a truly pitiful Welsh Fire side last season with 220 runs, 41 more than any Birmingham player managed. You have to respect Moeen Ali but that injury could flare up at any time, while Liam Livingstone bats too low for comfort over eight matches. I think Duckett is a great bet to top score for the Phoenix this season.
Moving towards the Birmingham bowling and it isn’t necessarily easy to pick a standout challenger out. If the 2021 version of Adam Milne shows up then we could look back at his price at the end of the season and think it is huge but one of the reasons why the price is so big is because Kane Richardson is considered one of the best death bowlers going around. He wasn’t brilliant at Kent though in the T20 Blast and that would put me off him. The value here might be Benny Howell at 7/1. His change ups and mystery have got plenty of batters out over the last few years but it remains to be seen how he’ll be used in this Birmingham side. I think he’s a fair price but I’m put off by the fact that he won’t bowl up front or at the death so someone could get some cheap wickets and nail him on the line.
Tips
Back B.Duckett Top Birmingham Phoenix Batter for a 2/10 stake at 4.00 with William Hill
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