fishy25
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Re: Wimbledon 2012 Livescore Thread Serena will absolutely crush her in the final. She'll actually do well to win 3/4 games. :\
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Re: Wimbledon 2012 Yesterday should have been fill your boots day but I missed out badly in truth by not backing Federer. Still a bit annoyed at that but fortunately Ferrer and Tsonga did the business whilst Mayer just fell short of the handicap. Looks like a good day for everyone though, and yesterday takes me to +27.10 for the tournament. Taking a few today, including some interest in the doubles which I like to get involved in around about now in the slams. Will start with the women's matches first though... Angelique Kerber vs Agnieszka Radwanska- Over 22.5 games- Evens Ladbrokes- (4/10) Surprised to see such high odds for the overs between these two given the fact that the all 4 matches have gone the distance to 3 sets which shows how close the matches between these two girls are. This match gives both players a chance to reach their maiden grand slam final so although both will be up for this match, I'd expect nerves to play a part in this match at some point which should mean this one is pretty close. Kerber showed signs of choking again against Lisicki but managed to pull through just about which will have given her confidence whilst Radwanska will have been glad to cope with a hard hitting Kirilenko which prepares her well for this one. The thing with the Pole is that despite not possessing any real weapons, she is a brick wall from the back of the court, and the only way you are going to beat her is to hit through her. Now Kerber can certainly do that, but I'm still not convinced that she can sustain hitting winner after winner for a prolonged period. She may well win this in the end although I'd personally say this is a 50/50 match but with nerves likely to be evident on both sides of the net, I fancy this one to be really tight so the overs for me here. Serena Williams vs Victoria Azarenka- Over 20.5 games- 8/11 Ladbrokes- (4/10) Taking the slightly lower game market in this one at the sacrifice of a lower price. Originally, I was always going to look to back Williams with the handicap but the fact the played an epic doubles match yesterday that went deep into the third and then another doubles match later that evening has put me off that a bit. Looking at the H2H, it's hard to see Azarenka troubling the American but she's played some really good stuff over the past couple of weeks and is finding her length perfectly on her ground strokes which she'll need to do today as Williams will punish any short balls. Serena still hasn't looked anywhere near her best to me and despite seeing off Kvitova comfortably enough, Azarenka's length on her strokes will cause Williams more problems and she should be able to move the American around more. Azarenka has managed to push her at the Australian Open before and with Williams perhaps feeling the doubles match yesterday, she may not be at 100% here and I think Azarenka is playing well enough to keep this close and cover the overs. Ivan Dodig/Marcelo Melo to beat Jurgen Melzer/Philipp Petzschner- 6/4 Bet365- (3/10) I can't be having these odds considering what happened yesterday. If anyone doesn't know, Melzer and Petzschner played a marathon 5 set match which they just about came through but the fact the match lasted over 4 hours tells its own story so I can't imagine fatigue won't be a problem for them today. We only have to think about the state Cilic was in a couple of days ago against Murray to show how hard it is to play another 5 set match just days after an epic match. Now of course the difference is that this is doubles and it's not quite as physical but Cilic had a day off whereas these guys don't which I see as a huge problem. The thing you have to do in men's doubles is hold serve and with all the serving and bending down at the net which Melzer and Petzschner had to do yesterday, their backs cannot be in the best of shapes and that will be a problem when they serve. The Dodig/Melo pairing have done really well this year. They've already made the final in Memphis, narrowly losing to Nestor/Mirnyi and the quarters at the French just a few weeks back and they come into this one off the back of a superb win against Paes/Stepanek as well as a day off so they will be full of confidence and far the fresher team. I just don't get how they can be such a big price given the efforts of their opponents yesterday and I'm more than happy to back them here. Mikhail Kukushkin/Yaroslava Shvedova to beat Paul Hanley/Alla Kudryavtseva- 5/6 Bet365- (3/10) Personally I'd have the Kukushkin team as favourites here as in my eyes they are the better doubles team. The thing to look for with mixed doubles is the two women involved really. The men won't be broken very often, if ever as they will always be able to get out of trouble by serving to the opposing woman so what you want to look for is the serving capabilities of the women and Shvedova's serve is far better than Kudryavtseva's (takes me 5 minutes just to spell that name correctly) Shvedova is just generally the better player and has already had success in the doubles in SW19 in winning the women's doubles with Vania King before so she certainly knows how to play doubles as well as singles where she wasn't far from beating Serena. Both teams defeated some good doubles teams in the previous round but given that the more talented woman lies with Kukushkin, I'll back them to win this one. Raquel Kops-Jones/Abigail Spears to beat Serena/Venus Williams- 4/1 Bet365- (2/10) You've got to be sh*tting me with these odds and I really can't let them slide past me. The Williams sisters are extremely lucky to still be in the draw after they were in serious trouble against Kirilenko/Petrova yesterday but they just about managed to fight back with some big serving. What I can't ignore is Serena's fitness here though. Basically, she played over 2 and a half hours in that match against Kirilenko/Petrova, then the Williams sisters had to play another doubles match last night just to catch up with the draw and she'll have to play this doubles match after she's faced Azarenka in the semis of the singles. Now even for the fittest player on the tour, that's a tough ask, let alone Serena who's fitness is always a concern. I'm not convinced she'll be 100% fit for the singles match, but given there's a chance she'll have to play a possible 3 sets today before maybe an hours rest ahead of the doubles seriously rings alarm bells for me. Add to that, it's not as though the sisters are up against a really poor doubles team. The pairing of Kops-Jones/Spears have already made the final in Doha this year, as well as Brisbane and prepared well for Wimbledon by reaching the semis on grass in Birmingham ahead of the slam so they can clearly play. This price just looks way too heavily based on reputation alone and not taking into consideration the time Serena is going to be spending on court at at these odds, they are just too good for me to turn down a small punt at them.
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Re: Wimbledon 2012 Livescore Thread Blatantly got a crush on him...:lol
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Re: Wimbledon 2012 Livescore Thread Secretly don't want Tsonga making it to the final though. On any other occasion I'd be rooting for him but if he made the final this year, I'd just be regretting turning down the 40/1 price on him at the start which I was close to taking. :lol
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Re: Wimbledon 2012 Livescore Thread Yeah should have been 2 up but that's always the worry with Ferrer. His serve can be broken in any game as he won't get many cheap points. Tbh, I think Murray will cope with Tsonga pretty comfortably. Ferrer would as well but the Frenchman from what I've seen hasn't been playing particularly well. Wasn't great behind the baseline today from the parts I saw and his serve has been a tad more vulnerable against Fish and Kolhi than it usually is. Djokovic will hammer Federer though.
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Re: Wimbledon 2012 Livescore Thread Have to love Ferrer. Almost impossible not to admire his playing style. Would love to see him do Murray here but can't honestly see it happening. Whatever happens, Djokovic is a few levels above anyone right now.
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Re: Wimbledon 2012 Livescore Thread Huge sarcastic round of applause in my corner please. Why I didn't back Federer I will never know. Was always the match to look to with heavy stakes. Mayer should have been serving for the first set until he didn't put a volley away and will fall a game short of the handicap now due to tons of missed break points. Can't remember being this annoyed for a while. Don't actually know how I win any bets with my kind of logic. Well done to everyone else on Fed and Novak though. But staying away from Roger because 'something is telling me to'. Yeah the 13-0 H2H is telling you not to. People just like me keep the bookies in business. :wall :wall
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Re: Wimbledon 2012 Quarter finals day then and I'm going to be a little brave, well rebellious again against most of the guys on here. Only match I'm leaving alone is the Federer match and normally I'd be all over him like a rash, but I'm still not sure about him and something is really telling me to stay away from that one. He'll probably get the job done comfortably though. 3 for me elsewhere though... Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (-3.5 games) to beat Philipp Kohlschreiber- 8/11 Stan James- (4/10) I am with everyone else who is backing Tsonga today though. Watched bits of both guys in the previous round and although Tsonga wasn't at his best, the rain delays hardly helped him with his momentum but he still managed to come through comfortably in the end and his forehand started to work really well in the latter parts of the match, whilst his serve has been superb all tournament. Kohlschreiber hasn't dropped a set since the first round and must be delighted to have made the quarters here. What gives Tsonga the edge is that he should be doing far more on return. In yesterday's match against Brian Baker, the German was down in his service games regularly but managed to get out of trouble which shows that inroads can be made there and I expect Tsonga to take the chances he creates. As has been mentioned, he dominates the H2H and even if he drops a set, I think he'll be good enough to cover the handicap en route to the semis here. David Ferrer (+4.5 games) to beat Andy Murray- 5/6 Stan James- (4/10) I think I'll back my favourite player on the tour here. Now I do think Murray will come through in the end but to me, it's almost impossible to ignore just what he's achieved in the past month or so. Hammering Del Potro in the way he did deserves serious respect and despite the Argentinian not playing his best stuff on the grass, he is still a tricky player on the grass as Rafa has found in the past but Ferrer was all over him after that first dodgy game. The thing with Murray is, despite looking superb yesterday, on serve especially, there are no guarantees that he will sustain that level today, especially throughout the match for prolonged periods. On one day, Murray can serve like a beast and then the next his first serve percentage can drop and with the pressure off him more in terms of the rain and time, I'm not so sure how easily he'll dispatch of Ferrer. You have to remember that Cilic was absolutely exhausted after his efforts against Querrey as well so it's not as though the Scot hammered a fully fresh Cilic playing his best stuff. The thing today is that Ferrer is playing his best stuff on grass that he has ever played and will be full of confidence. He'll make Murray work incredibly hard for everything as his returns have got better and better as the tournament has gone on. Ferrer has also had the experience of beating Murray on the quicker courts, winning in London last season so he'll remember that and know he can cause Murray a ton of problems. I wouldn't be surprised if this went the distance to be honest, although I do think Murray may do the job in 4. Ferrer though is more than capable of keeping all of the sets tight, and if he pinches one by a break of serve, he could well cover the handicap and I can't go against the gladiator (as I like to call him) given just how hard he will work today and hopefully frustrate Murray to death. Florian Mayer (+8.5 games) to beat Novak Djokovic- 10/11 Stan James- (3/10) Looks like I'm the only one who is favouring Slider's beloved one here. :lol I'll try and explain just why I think Mayer will hold his own here. First of all, I'm not so sure fatigue will play any part here given Mayer has hardly been on court for a prolonged period since last week. The match against Gasquet was heavily interrupted and the German coped with it exceptionally well, beating the Frenchman comfortably which is a superb result and watching his reaction at the end of the match shows how much it means to him. Gasquet didn't prove much of a test in truth yesterday so I expect Mayer to be pretty fresh coming into tomorrow and adrenaline should help him anyway. The fact that this is away from centre court as well I think favours Mayer a little more actually as rain is likely to interrupt the match which should detach Djokovic's momentum a touch which hasn't happened thus far in SW19. Like I said, Mayer coped extremely well with the rain delays against Gasquet s that may actually favour the cunning German. What's worth noting is that Djokovic tends to get pushed a little further when it comes to the quarters. Tsonga did just that at the French, whilst Ferrer probably should have taken a set off the Serb in the quarters in Melbourne. Mayer's game isn't vastly different from that of Bernard Tomic in that he'll play pretty unorthodox shots which caused Novak some problems last year in the quarters. If this was being played on centre I wouldn't think of backing Mayer, but given the rain could interrupt proceedings and the momentum of Djokovic, I think that might just play into Mayer's hands. He managed to cause problems to the Serb in the first set over in Dubai last year and I'm going to back him to keep this respectable today.
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Re: Friends Life T20 2012 Cheers but still a bit too early atm mate. If Lancashire don't get out of their group, Croft might not even come in the top 4 tbh as other batsman possibly have 3 more innings to fill their boots. Could do with them beating Yorkshire and Durham, or if the weather is terrible for Friday, they will need to beat Durham next Sunday I think it is. Hopefully they will pull through though. Sussex look very good though. Should top the group now and get a decent draw one would imagine.
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Re: Friends Life T20 2012 From listening to the radio, sounds like Kev has witnessed some ferocious hitting by the Sussex top 3. Lancashire a bit unfortunate but Yasir Arafat has been completely atrocious in the tournament for them. Consistently gone at 10 an over. Should be dropped for the game against Yorkshire if Chapple is fit.
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Re: Friends Life T20 2012 Yeah 6:45 start I'm hearing like the TV game at Trent Bridge. Hope it's a good one for you mate, with Wright scoring a century in an away win! ;)
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Re: Wimbledon 2012 Was just waiting to see if Tsonga could get that double break but looks as though he's going to fall short of the handicap. Despite a couple of really frustrating days, it has been a profitable couple of days with only the Tsonga and Baker handicaps failing to come through. That gives me +10.85 amongst all of the rain which brings me to +23.87 for the tournament.
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Re: Friends Life T20 2012 Weather is still horrible for tonight and I'll be surprised if we get much cricket at all in the 3 matches. Would have backed Sussex but the forecast doesn't look good. Been looking on Surrey's twitter page (saw Kev's tweet on there :lol) for updates but it doesn't look good so I'll stay away tonight. Sort of hope Sussex and Lancashire get a bat though to give Croft and Wright chances to score a few more but not confident that they will.
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Re: Wimbledon 2012 Frustrating viewing today from a fan's perspective as the rain ruined what is usually the best day in the tennis calendar. Istomin, Malisse, Djokovic and Paszek did the business for me today though and got a few others to come tomorrow so not taking any more seeing as I can't really pick the women's matches in truth.
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Re: Wimbledon 2012 Livescore Thread Shame to see Clijsters lose like that in her final Wimbledon match. This Youzhny-Istomin match is going on and on. The Russian has just broken back in the fifth.
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Re: Wimbledon 2012 Taken quite a few for tomorrow, including a venture into the women's side of things which I haven't done for a while. I considered more than I've taken in fact. I was interested in backing Gasquet, Radwansha and Williams with handicaps, as well as Clijsters outright but I've left those alone. Taken plenty as it is though... The write-ups may get a bit brief as I go along as there's so many to get through and my eyes are closing already. :lol Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (-4.5 games) to beat Mardy Fish- 8/11 Stan James- (4/10) Expected the line to be a fair bit higher in truth. All credit to Fish here, (great name btw) he's done exceptionally well to come back and reach the fourth round here and make the second week but this should be the end of the road for him. His draw so far has actually been pretty decent, with Ramirez-Hidalgo and Ward never likely to beat the American whilst Goffin wasn't playing his best stuff last week so Fish has had an appealing draw but Tsonga is a massive step up. The fact that Mardy had some problems in the first couple of rounds still shows how far from his best he is and despite serving well against Goffin and winning in straight sets, I think he'll just be delighted to have made the second week in all honesty and he'll know realistically that the Frenchman is in a much better place tennis wise right now. He's seen off Hewitt, Garcia-Lopez and Lacko with minimal fuss really and with Nadal out of the picture, Tsonga will know he has a huge chance of making the semis if not the finals now and will want to get the job done as quickly as he can to prepare himself for Murray in the semis. He's been serving extremely well in the tournament so far and it's hard to see Fish consistently making an impression on return, whilst I expect Tsonga to be all over Fish in the rallies and on his own return games. He's beaten Fish in both matches they've played in the past, both which were last year including in front of Fish's own fans and with all of Fish's fitness concerns, I expect Tsonga to win this comfortably come the end. Xavier Malisse (+7.5 games) to beat Roger Federer- 10/11 Bet365- (3/10) Now I'm not expecting a repeat of Federer's last match and 5 sets here but I think Malisee will have enough about him in this one to keep it close. In the past he's troubled Federer as these two go way back after going through the juniors together so both will know one another's game inside out by now. The Belgian is really playing some decent stuff at the minute, showing why he is such a dangerous player on grass. Barring the first set against Verdasco, he was the better player for the majority of the match, whilst he comfortably beat Simon in the previous round to that which isn't the easiest thing to do. Now many will say that after that scare against Benneteau, Federer will try to make up for it and put on a bit of a show but Malisse isn't the guy you can really do that to. In fact, you have to play extremely well to beat Malisse on grass, let alone romp to victory. When Federer was 2 sets down to Falla a couple of years back, he hardly bounced back in the next round with a world beating performance. On that occasion, he narrowly beat Bozoljac in 4 sets so that provides evidence that the great one hardly come back with a bang. Despite getting hammered at the Australian Open last year, he held his own on clay last year against Federer and that's Malisse's worst surface by far. This though is his best surface and he is extremely comfortable on it and with a return to centre court tomorrow, I think he'll stay close enough to Federer to cover the handicap which looks a little disrespectful to the Belgian in truth. Brian Baker (+3.5 games) to beat Philipp Kohlschreiber- 10/11 Bet365- (3/10) I have to admit, the Brian Baker story has captured my heart and it's hard not to be a fan of the guy. A highly talented youngster plagued by injuries but now is finally breaking through and has cracked the top 100 and is sure to climb a great deal more. The clay season has given him that confidence boost he desperately needed and since then he hasn't really looked back after that run in Nice. He's dispatched of everyone he's played so far last week and I expect him to really be competitive in this one and really give it his all. Kohlschreiber has been in terrific form in the grass season, making the semis in Halle and then beating Haas in the opening round here which shows just how well he is playing just at the minute. I'm never ultra confident about the German's consistency though. Despite being good in recent weeks, whenever it looks as though he is playing his best stuff, he too often throws in a bit of a stinker. Now I don't expect he'll do that tomorrow, but I think Baker is consistent and trying enough to really make this very close indeed. Both are playing extremely well of late which could easily lead to 5 sets here, but I expect the American to give this his all and keep it tight. David Ferrer to beat Juan Martin Del Potro- 11/10 Coral- (3/10) I opposed Ferrer in the previous round and perhaps if Roddick had taken that second set tie break he may well have won the match but the fighting spirit shown by Ferrer, as he always shows is remarkable and I think he might be too much of a menace for Del Potro here. Ferrer has finally managed to string some good performances on grass, in winning over in Holland and then making the second week here and as the match with Roddick went on, he really started cruising to victory and you could see him growing in confidence. Del Potro's consistency has been a little bit dubious so far in SW19 and from watching his last match, the scoreline flattered him massively. Nishikori was unlucky not to have won the second set really and Del Potro was forced to save quite a few break points which just allowed him to heap the pressure on Nishkori's serve and that saw him run out the winner. His inconsistency was evident as well in his match against Go Soeda, as he dropped a set 6-1 after seemingly cruising to a straight sets win so something clearly isn't working perfectly for the Argentinian. The problem for him here though is that Ferrer will be ultra consistent, will return a lot of balls and won't make many unforced errors at all. Of course Del Potro possesses the bigger serve and ground strokes, but I expect Ferrer to really grind him down as the match goes on. This match isn't on centre court which should favour Ferrer a little as he looked a little nervous at the start of the match against Roddick so he shouldn't be in this one. The little Spaniard beat Del Potro comfortably earlier on this season in Miami and I don't really understand why he's above evens here so I'll back him with the slight value to win this one. Novak Djokovic (-8.5 games) to beat Viktor Troicki- Evens Stan James- (3/10) Don't think Troicki is playing well enough to trouble his fellow Serb here. Malisse and Berdych have comfortably beaten him in the past few weeks and despite beating Monaco in 3, he was a break down in the first set and I think at other times as well so the scoreline doesn't really tell the whole story there. He's only just about scraped past Granollers and Klizan which tells you all you need to know about his form right now in what has been a really average season for him. Djokovic despite losing the first set to Stepanek was never really in much trouble in that match and in the end came through extremely comfortably indeed, virtually putting pressure on every service game of Stepanek. He completely owns Troicki in truth, winning the last 10 matches between the two and most pretty comfortably in truth and most of those game when Troicki was playing better than he is right now. There may be one tight set in this one, but I expect Djokovic to win at least 1 set cosily which should see the handicap go well. Andy Murray (-5.5 games) to beat Marin Cilic- Evens Stan James- (3/10) Went against Murray on Saturday but think this is the right time to back him. Not being on centre might actually work in his favour as there won't be as much expectation on his shoulders but even so, I think he'll see off Cilic pretty comfortably. I wasn't surprised to see Baghdatis trouble the Scot as Baggy usually raises his game for the big occasion and plays some good stuff but at one point, Murray was a set and a break up before he let his head drop and started blaming injuries which allowed Baghdatis back into it. I expect him to play better this week though and a little more focussed as he usually does in the second week and I don't think he'll be too disappointed with his draw here. Despite being a potentially dangerous opponent, the 17-15 in the final set against Querrey would have really taken it out of him. I know he's had the extra days rest, but I'm still not convinced that's long enough rest time for the Croat, especially when he's going to be forced to run about far more than in his match against Querrey. Murray will return serve better than the American did and then move Cilic about during the rallies and as the match goes on, I expect Cilic to start to suffer a bit and that's when I think Murray will dominate. Denis Istomin (+4.5 games) to beat Mikhail Youzhny- 5/6 Stan James- (3/10) Think the line is a little high here from what I've seen of both guys last week. Istomin has really impressed me so far and was always pretty comfortable against Andreev and Falla. He's been serving well and not capitulating in rallies which he has been prone to do in the past so there's enough to suggest he'll keep this pretty tight. Youzhny has improved drastically from his opening match against Donald Young where he was dire in truth and the win over Tipsarevic was a really good result. He still can go missing in parts of his matches and I think Istomin might be able to frustrate him a bit tomorrow, especially if he serves like he has been doing. This could also have some legs in it and I actually think Istomin might have a chance but I'll stick to the handicap here. And one for the women. Tamira Paszek (-2.5 games) to beat Roberta Vinci- 5/6 Stan James- (4/10) Have to favour the Austrian here as she's been in sensational form so far on the grass. She just about beat Wickmayer after coming back from a set down, but wins over Bartoli, Kerber and Wozniacki in the past couple of weeks really show how well she's playing and just how well she is hitting the ball on both sides. We saw against Wozniacki just how many winners this girl can hit and how well she strikes the ball and can handle herself on the big stage. Vinci is pretty good on the grass, serves well on the surface and will be as fresh as a fiddle given the draw she's had which has been pretty easy in truth, perhaps excluding Mirjana Lucic but you always felt the Italian would have enough there. From watching Paszek though, you can just sense how confident she is right now with her game and she'll really believe she can beat anyone. Vinci when under pressure, can struggle a bit and she's not been ultra convincing in recent weeks to say the least. Dropping sets against Watson and Niculescu shows how Vinci can throw a poor performance even when it looks as though she is playing well and I think Paszek will take this one tomorrow. She's beaten Vinci comfortably in the past and with the way she's playing at the minute, I'll back her to make it 2 out of 2 over the Italian.
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Re: Friends Life T20 2012 All the matches look like they will be won by the favourites to be honest so no value today. Need the day off anyway after a couple of poor ones so hopefully tomorrow will bring a change in fortunes.
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Re: Wimbledon 2012 Pretty glad for the day off tomorrow as I've not been hitting much in the past couple of days. Slightly out of luck recently as well I feel as Roddick probably should have won that second set today and then things may have been different. Cilic missed the handicap by a game despite having break points in the third set and then the Nishikori result, don't be fooled by the scoreline, it was far closer than it suggested and Nishikori wasn't far from taking the second set. Baghdatis covered the handicap with ease though which saved a pretty rotten day and after the first week, I'm currently sitting on +13.02 which I would have taken at the start of the week. Been some really good shouts this week and looks like quite a profitable tournament for most in here. I'm hoping the day off will bring a change in fortune and there will be some more profit to be had next week. :ok
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Re: Wimbledon 2012 Livescore Thread Mmm Ferrer playing the better stuff now. Need Roddick to get going again.
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Re: Wimbledon 2012 Livescore Thread Terrible net call in the tie break pretty much killed Nishikori's momentum :wall
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Re: Wimbledon 2012 Livescore Thread My 'ambitious' day atm could turn into my nightmare day in all honesty. Really poor start.
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Re: Wimbledon 2012 Livescore Thread Great start by Nishikori. :eyes
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Re: Wimbledon 2012
Haha probably. We all knew this day would come ;) Top shout IAG btw. Thought Zheng was going to blow it when she missed that forehand in the breaker but just held on. :clapYou have gone mad fishy25 -
Re: Wimbledon 2012 Livescore Thread Why is there only 1 men's match starting early? Being forced to watch Ivanovic-Goerges which is terrible to watch quite frankly.
Friends Life T20 2012
in Cricket Predictions
Posted
Re: Friends Life T20 2012 Chance of a cricket game being played in British Summer? Unbelievable Jeff! Similar thinking to Kev for me in the TV game albeit with a few different bets. 4 for me in total. Kent to beat Surrey- 6/5 Coral- (5/10) I really feel for everyone affiliated to Surrey at the minute but in saying that, I have to back Kent here. We saw just what kind of state Surrey were in last week on TV when they played Hampshire and it was clear that they still weren't in the right place mentally to play cricket. Since then, skipper Hamilton-Brown has been given compassionate leave and rightly so, Mark Ramprakash is retiring and Gary Wilson is away with Ireland. Maybe not Ramprakash and he wouldn't have played anyway, but from the other players who aren't available it leaves Surrey ridiculously short in the batting department. Of course they are without Tom Maynard as well sadly but without him and Hamilton-Brown, Surrey are without their two best batsman so far this summer, and also without Gary Wilson who has been their leading man in T20. Batting Ansari at number 4 the other day and pushing Kartik up the order is really done out of hope and a lack of options in all honesty and I'm not over exaggerating here when I say that if one of Davies, Roy or Pietersen don't score a century or there abouts, they won't score enough runs here. Kent have hardly been world beaters recently but they have talented players throughout in both departments and given bowling has been there weakness, the fact that Surrey don't have enough batsman should help that problem in this one. With the funeral of Tom Maynard being yesterday, I just can't see how Surrey will be in any way completely up for this one today so I'll back Kent to win this one. Kent (Most 6's) vs Surrey- 13/10 Bet365- (3/10) Spoken about how short Surrey are batting wise and looking through their side, it's only really Davies, Roy and Pietersen who are natural aggressors with the bat, but given just how weak the batting is, I'm not even sure if those guys will even be going for their big shots too much given the lack of batting below them. Without Tom Maynard and Gary Wilson, that's 2 big hitters that are missing for them whilst Hamilton-Brown can also pack a punch but he's missing as well so there's not too many guys in the Surrey side who you would fancy bombarding the crowd with catches. Kent however have plenty of players who can clear the rope throughout their side. Perhaps with a couple of exclusions, their top 8 can all clear the rope and hit a long ball and with the short boundaries, they should be able to hit a fair few. Not to mention that the Surrey bowlers have been going around the park a little, especially against Sussex the other day and I think Kent will win the 6's battle as well as the match. James Tredwell Most Economical Bowler- 9/2 Stan James- (3/10) Only Gareth Batty, Murali Kartik, Mark Davies, James Tredwell, Dirk Nannes and Azhar Mahmood count in this market. Not had the best luck in this market in the tournament but going to try my luck again with the Kent spinner. After the events of the past couple of weeks and yesterday in particular, I wouldn't be happy backing any of the Surrey players in this market as I don't know how fragile they are mentally coming into this one. The only Surrey bowler I would have considered anyway would have been Batty as Nannes hasn't looked the bowler he once was and he got tonked rather the other day against Sussex, whilst Kartik will bowl a couple of overs in the powerplay I imagine so that always puts me off. That leaves the 3 Kent bowlers in the market and I'll immediately rule Mahmood out as he's bowled so terrible recently, he may not even play tonight so there's too many risks over the Pakistani. The thing I like about Tredwell over Davies and the competition is that given just how weak this Surrey batting lineup is, if they were to lose a couple of wickets in the powerplay which they could well do, Tredwell will likely to come on immediately after the first 6 and he could be bowling when Surrey are looking to stabilize and just knock the ball around a bit. Over the past few years or so, he's usually been pretty hard to get away for too many away which is why he got himself into the England reckoning. If he is bowling at the Surrey middle order, he should be able to pile the pressure on and not concede many at all so I'll back the spinner to go well tonight and keep things tight. Zafar Ansari Top Surrey Batsman- 6/1 Coral- (1/10 E/W) 1/5 1,2,3 Given how thin the Surrey lineup is, I have to take Zafar Ansari on at this price. Obviously the big favourite in this market is Kevin Pietersen but since he's been back, he hasn't done much at all and even got a golden duck last week so I can't be having him at the short price in which he is available. So far in T20 this season, Ansari is 4th in the run scoring charts for Surrey with one innings less than Davies and Spriegel in 2nd and 3rd which shows how crucial he's been to Surrey runs wise. Gary Wilson is top but he's not playing tonight as he's away with Ireland which along with the already mentioned absences to Surrey, leaves a massive gap in the middle order which has led to them promoting Ansari up the order. Whether he should be as high as 4 or 5 is another question but the fact that he is gives him time at the crease and to continue impressing the Surrey staff. Given just how short Surrey are in the batting department which I can't stress enough, it leaves a massive gap for someone like the youngster to shine and given the price offering an each way place, I'll back him to go well with the bat tonight.