The Trent Rockets were deserved winners of the second instalment of The Hundred a year ago and they will look to be the first time in the short history of the tournament to make a successful defence of the crown. With title defences come expectation but the Rockets look to be an even stronger force in terms of the additions to their ranks so if those who were involved at Trent Bridge last season can revive their form of a year ago the Trent outfit will be tough to beat.
Stats
Last Season: 1st
Captain: Lewis Gregory
Key Players: Dawid Malan & Daniel Sams
Best Odds: 9/2 General
Fixtures:
August 1: Southern Brave (h)
August 5: Birmingham Phoenix (a)
August 9: Northern Superchargers (h)
August 12: London Spirit (a)
August 14: Welsh Fire (a)
August 17: Manchester Originals (h)
August 19: Birmingham Phoenix (h)
August 21: Oval Invincibles (a)
Squad
Joe Root, Tom Kohler-Cadmore, Rashid Khan (Ish Sodhi from August 10), Dawid Malan, Alex Hales, Lewis Gregory, Luke Wood, Colin Munro, Sam Cook, Daniel Sams, Samit Patel, Sam Hain, Brad Wheal, Matt Carter, Tom Moores, John Turner
Preview
The Trent Rockets were excellent last season and they haven’t really lost anyone of significance ahead of this term. The question mark was going to be how they would fare when Rashid Khan leaves after three matches but he went after two last year and they coped. Rather than Tabraiz Shamsi replacing him it will be Ish Sodhi this time around which is more than adequate and in John Turner they might have the best young bowler in England picked up in the T20 Blast wildcard draft.
The concern over the Rockets is whether their Nottinghamshire contingent such as Alex Hales, Samit Patel and Matthew Carter can find their best form because none of them had Blast campaigns that you would expect but with Sam Hain added to the squad and Joe Root having no England clashes this term there is no reason to think that the Rockets will be any weaker overall. It is hard to pick a hole in the Trent Rockets.
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Betting
When you look at the Trent Rockets batting unit it is hard to know where to start with betting on their top batter. Their batting is so strong that there is no guarantee that one of the best players on the county circuit this season in Sam Hain doesn’t actually get a gig from the start which is incredible when you consider the numbers he is putting up. As he opens I would probably go with Dawid Malan if I was picking but when you have the likes of Tom Kohler-Cadmore, Colin Munro and Joe Root in behind him and Alex Hales alongside him there isn’t really much value anywhere.
The bowling doesn’t look any less easy because there are plenty of options there as well but Luke Wood and Daniel Sams offer largely the same thing and batters might get used to facing them so I wonder if the value lies elsewhere. John Turner is not guaranteed to start the tournament given how young he is and the quality on offer for the Trent Rockets but he is very quick in the Marchant de Lange mould who was so good for this franchise in the first season of the competition. He took 21 wickets in 11 matches for Hampshire in the T20 Blast and if he is included from the start the 7/1 on him could end up looking quite big.
Tips
Back J.Turner Top Trent Rockets Bowler for a 1/10 stake at 8.00 with Betway
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