Cricket: Friends Life t20

[kevshat]

Re: Cricket: Friends Life t20 Tonight's odds

Wednesday 8 June 2011	Home	Away	BPP
	Warwickshire v Nottinghamshire (17:30 BST)	2.14	1.9	99.11 %
	Lancashire v Leicestershire (17:40 BST)	1.62	2.58	100.49 %
	Essex v Sussex (19:00 BST)	1.9	2.13	99.33 %
	Hampshire v Glamorgan (19:00 BST)	1.5	3	100.00 %

[kevshat]

Re: Cricket: Friends Life t20 3 for me tonight. 2 in the TV game and one elsewhere. TV game first which is Lancashire vs Leicestershire. 3pts Lancashire vs Leicestershire Highest Individual Score - Under 55 7/4 Stan James I quite like the look of this because a quick look on the Lancashire website's webcam of Old Trafford shows puddles on the outfield and with some more showers forecast I can't see us getting the full 40 overs in. Even if we do the wicket is sure to be slow and I wouldn't imagine batting would be too easy. With a wet outfield batsmen won't get full value for their shots either. There were no weather problems on Friday night when Lancashire hosted Worcestershire at Old Trafford and the top individual score in that match was 28 as 154/7 played 146/9. The wickets haven't been particularly high scoring at Old Trafford even in the 40 over competition so it may be taking them a while to bed in so a combination of wickets and weather I think will see whatever play we have tonight containing a highest score of less than 55. 1pt ew W.Jefferson Top Leicestershire Batsman 11/2 Coral (1/5 1,2,3) Will Jefferson is having a top season with the bat for Leicestershire. He currently tops the County Championship Division 2 run charts with over 600 runs in 7 matches this season and he hasn't kept his runs for that competition. He swiped this Lancashire bowling attack for 42 runs off just 19 balls in the reverse fixture between these two on Sunday. He batted at 4 in that match which was a surprise given his good form and the fact that Taylor came in at 3. I would imagine they will swap places after their knocks on Sunday. The fly in the ointment here is where Abdul Razzaq will bat but I'd be surprised if he batted above Jefferson given the form the big man is in. Wherever Jefferson bats he shouldn't be 11/2 in this form so I'll take him to top score for Leicestershire tonight. 4pts Nottinghamshire to beat Warwickshire 10/11 Stan James I've got to admit I got Nottinghamshire wrong so far in this competition. I wrote them off thinking they couldn't bat but David Hussey has not only brought runs from the IPL with him but he's brought his captaincy too and it appears to be working. The timely return of Alex Hales has done them no harm either. Notts have gone from a side who never looked like making 200 in the Championship to making over 200 in a twenty20 match and with the short boundary at Edgbaston because of the finishing building work you'd have to fancy them to hit a few more runs tonight. What I like about Notts here though is that their bowling attack hasn't gone around the park. After being thrashed really by Northants on Sunday you'd have thought Warwickshire would be a much bigger price for this match than they actually are. As I said on Sunday, it will be interesting to see if Warwickshire can put up decent totals if their top order, Porterfield specifically, fails. It did on Sunday and they didn't and without Trott and Bell I'm not sure it's perfectly placed to fare any better tonight. They could be boosted by the return of Chris Woakes which would add a bit of slogging value to their batting but he's been out with shin splints so he may be nursing himself when he comes to bowl. With both overseas players being batsmen Notts are taking full advantage of that with big scores and I think they will outscore and in turn beat Warwickshire tonight and make it 3 from 3 in a competition they were semi finalists in last season.

[InfectedBoy]

Re: Cricket: Friends Life t20

Take Essex at 9/10 tb Sussex' date=' I got Evens on Monday but 9/10 is still acceptable for a team that have a 18-9 win record at Chelmsford the last 5 years and have a better team than Sussex even allowing for the defeat at Hove[/quote'] Will definitely take this one mate. Lets see how it goes. I will wait for the TV match to start to see how it goes. I am still not sure where my money is despite being disappointed by the Lancs couple of times last season.

[kevshat]

Re: Cricket: Friends Life t20

Hey Guys, What are your picks for todays games? Also, anyone here who does live in play betting? Cheers

I sometimes bet in play but I don't post them up here because the forum rules/ettiquette is that picks are posted up before the event so that others can get on. Some people post up in play picks in the glory hunters forum if you wanted to follow them.

[InfectedBoy]

Re: Cricket: Friends Life t20

I sometimes bet in play but I don't post them up here because the forum rules/ettiquette is that picks are posted up before the event so that others can get on. Some people post up in play picks in the glory hunters forum if you wanted to follow them.

Thanks for the friendly advice. As you can see I have joined today only so I am still learning the etiquettes of this forum. Each forum has its own culture and I am still grasping this one's and this is why I have posted less then I'd have like. I will definitely be posting my picks in future when I feel more comfortable here. Cheers :ok

[fishy25]

Re: Cricket: Friends Life t20 Thought quite a bit about the televised match, taking into consideration the weather and such, and in the end taken 5 in it with relatively small stakes. Not taken anything else away from the televised match. Fall of Lancashire 1st wicket Under 22.5 runs- 5/6 Ladbrokes- (3/10) Fall of Leicestershire 1st wicket Under 21.5 runs- 5/6 Ladbrokes- (3/10) May as well do the one write up for both of them. As Kev has mentioned the rain has been falling up in Manchester and although the groundstaff are maintaining that the game will start on time, the pitch is going to be a nightmare to bat on. It will nip, bounce and swing early doors, and the outfield will be slow as anything so the batsman will be in for a torrid time when batting. Both teams will open with players who like to get bat to ball and hit the boundaries, but as I've spoken about, this won't be easy against the hard new ball. Cobb, MacDonald, Moore and Smith are all naturally agressive players and like to get their respective teams off to good starts so there's an element of risk in how they play whatever the pitch so with the conditions favouring the bowlers. Both team's bowlers can have a tendancy to get hit around but runs will be hard to come by, and I'll back both teams to take an early wicket or two. Total Match Ducks 2 & Over- 8/5 Sportingbet- (3/10) Quite like this as if the match is affected by D/L, the bet is made void, but if the groundstaff are saying it will start on time, there could be a slim chance of a complete game. If that is the case, the price on this bet shouldn't be as high as what it is. The bowlers should enjoy bowling on this pitch, and with the amount of agressive batsman on show and runs going to be hard to come by, there is a fair chance that a few batsman could fall cheaply and fail to trouble the scorers. Due to the rain, the pitch could be doing all sorts and the batsman will find it hard to play themselves in. There's also some decent bowlers on show with Henderson, Hoggard for the Foxes, and Keedy and Parry for Lancashire, all of whom can take wickets in a flurry so given the high price, I'll hope for a few batsman to fall early on. James Taylor Top Leicestershire Batsman- 4/1 Bet365- (1/10) Although Kev has gone for Jefferson given his form, I'm going with the Foxes' best batsman and a guy I'd like to see in the England setup before too long. In the CB40, Taylor leads the run charts for Leicestershire, and is second behind Jefferson in the Championship. I like Taylor today in particular as he is one of the few batsman in the team who won't look to play outrageous shots, and will just play the ball about and go about his business quietly but usually effectively. With some tough conditions for the batsman, the likes of Cobb, McDonald and Razzaq with their big hitting will struggle to keep that up, so that leaves Taylor and Jefferson, but I'll back Taylor with that extra quality he has to impress the Sky cameras again. Stephen Croft Top Lancashire Batsman- 4/1 Bet365- (1/10) Croft is my favourite Lancashire player and is a guy who I rate quite highly in the first-class game. He used to be a middle order batsman who bowled a bit as well, but over the past year or so he has focussed solely on his batting and is now one of the key guys in the Lancashire top order. He has the ability to hit a ball a long way, but can also play some genuine class strokes as well. He's a red rose man through and through and will have seen these conditions so many times before up north so he'll know how to bat today. In his one day innings this season, he already has a century and a fifty to his name, and he is the leading run scorer in one day cricket for Lancashire. He'll come in at number 3, so should have plenty of time at the crease, and hopefully pile on some runs today.

[kevshat]

Re: Cricket: Friends Life t20

Thanks for the friendly advice. As you can see I have joined today only so I am still learning the etiquettes of this forum. Each forum has its own culture and I am still grasping this one's and this is why I have posted less then I'd have like. I will definitely be posting my picks in future when I feel more comfortable here. Cheers :ok

You're welcome mate. We don't ask for much on PL, just some reasoning with all bets (only a few lines if you like, doesn't have to be an essay) and that the bets are posted before the off to give anyone who may want to follow you time to get on and make some cash too :ok. :welcome to PL. Hope you enjoy it here. Have a look around the place and get stuck in :ok.

[kevshat]

Re: Cricket: Friends Life t20 Good luck with those Fishy. Looks like the covers are coming off judging by the pics from the webcam so we should be starting on time. That grey cover might put paid to a few of the overs but let's hope not :ok. I agree with your views on Taylor. I really think he'll be in the England side sooner rather than later and he's a player I really rate but with Jefferson offering the better price given the ew terms I went for him. Certainly think we've got a good chance of nailing it between us.

[fishy25]

Re: Cricket: Friends Life t20 Yeah wicket looks to be slow as and already regretting taking the ducks and fall or wicket bets tbh. Unders on boundaries and sixes looks to have been the intelligent bet.

[InfectedBoy]

Re: Cricket: Friends Life t20 None of my picks are looking good so far. Took essex @ 1.80 and Leics @ 2.10 Hope you guys are having better luck.

[PerryPFC]

Re: Cricket: Friends Life t20 Pleasure to watch Razzaq, excellent innings. With macdonald, Taylor, hoggard, nixon, Jefferson and others it might be worth keeping an eye on them.

[kevshat]

Re: Cricket: Friends Life t20 Yep. As soon as I heard they were signing Razzaq I thought the 40/1 looked big. Might regret only having 0.5pts ew on them outright but we'll see. Long way to go. Razzaq's knock along with McDonald ended my main TV bet but I don't mind losing a bet to an innings like Razzaq's. Nottinghamshire had no problems though so I'm -1.36 for the night and -17.92 overall.

[kevshat]

Re: Cricket: Friends Life t20

Thursday 9 June 2011	Home	Away	BPP
	Northamptonshire v Durham (17:40 BST)	2.14	1.9	99.11 %
	Yorkshire v Worcestershire (17:40 BST)	1.6	2.62	100.60 %
	Middlesex v Essex (18:15 BST)	2.44	1.66	100.98 %

[kevshat]

Re: Cricket: Friends Life t20 I'll hit this one now because I don't see the price lasting. 4pts Northants to beat Durham 11/10 Sportingbet Northants are a big price here. They've still only lost one match all summer and they bounced back from that loss to Leicestershire in this tournament by thrashing a Warwickshire team who had previously destroyed Durham with relative ease. I accept Durham have Paul Collingwood and Graham Onions and I also respect that Durham are going well in limited overs cricket this season but they're not going any better than Northants are. For me Johan Botha could well turn out to be the best signing in this t20 competition this season, especially when the wickets become used and turn at Wantage Road. Throw in class international acts like Chaminda Vaas and Andrew Hall and this is a Northants side who will be difficult to score off this season. Durham have a powerful batting line up but it will need all it's class to score against this bowling attack. My main concern as far as Durham are concerned in this match is that their attack doesn't look all that strong, even though Graham Onions is in it. Most of Durham's one day matches this season have high scoring with their batting getting them out of trouble. A lot of the time Ben Stokes got a large percentage of those runs and he's out with injury. I don't see Durham scoring freely against this Northants attack so Northants are the call here especially at odds against.

[fishy25]

Re: Cricket: Friends Life t20 Literally just taken the same bet a few minutes ago, was staggered by the price. Will do the write ups later.

[fishy25]

Re: Cricket: Friends Life t20 Razzaq's blinder of an innings was a pleasure to watch. Croft and Taylor didn't do too much with the bat, thankfully Cobb played a stupid shot first ball to get me at least one win, whilst the ducks bet was void due to D/L. -2.50 today though, leaving me on -1.50 overall. Hopefully can have a few good days this week to make up for the losses.

[InfectedBoy]

Re: Cricket: Friends Life t20 Yeah, Razzaq's innings was amazing to say the least. He pulled out a victory out of thin air. It reminded me of last year when he did the same against south africa in abu dhabi. With him is form Leics prospects are looking good this season.

Razzaq's blinder of an innings was a pleasure to watch. Croft and Taylor didn't do too much with the bat' date=' thankfully Cobb played a stupid shot first ball to get me at least one win, whilst the ducks bet was void due to D/L.[i'] -2.50 today though, leaving me on -1.50 overall. Hopefully can have a few good days this week to make up for the losses.

What stat is this? Is it your percentage for this season? Sorry for asking but I am not aware of these terms even though I have been betting on cricket since last four years.

[fishy25]

Re: Cricket: Friends Life t20

Yeah, Razzaq's innings was amazing to say the least. He pulled out a victory out of thin air. It reminded me of last year when he did the same against south africa in abu dhabi. With him is form Leics prospects are looking good this season. What stat is this? Is it your percentage for this season? Sorry for asking but I am not aware of these terms even though I have been betting on cricket since last four years.

Yeah basically I keep a track of my results through a running tally of profit and loss. The -1.50 now means I'm down by 1.5 units. You'll see that each of mine and also Kev's bets have a strength next to the bet. Whether it be 4pts, 5pts, that's the strength so that has a direct influence on the profit or loss. Hope that clears that up for you.

[fishy25]

Re: Cricket: Friends Life t20 Let's hope for better results in the forum than yesterday, and I've taken on 5 in the televised match. Northants to beat Durham- 11/10 Sportingbet- (4/10) Kev has pretty much cleared up the reasoning for this one. Northants are going extremely well this season and to have them as underdogs on their home ground where they've been exceptional this season is wrong for me. They've got quality players in Vaas, Hall, O'Brian, Sales and Botha who are some of the best in the county game. Durham as Kev has said are strong in the batting department, but are missing Ben Stokes today who has contributed heavily to their runs this year and without him I see it as a huge boost for Northants and I'll back them to continue their impressive form this year. Durham Over 12.5 4s- 5/6 Ladbrokes- (4/10) Northants Over 12.5 4s- 5/6 Ladbrokes- (4/10) Regulars to the forum will know I like these over bets and I especially like it today as there are so many quality batsman on show who are all capable of pounding the boundary ropes. Vaas for Northants is having a late fitness test, but even if he doesn't play, we've still got the likes of Wakely, Sales, White, Botha for Northants, who also have Hall and Middlebrook down the order to hit the runs, whilst Durham have Mustard, Blackwell, Collingwood, Benkenstein and Muchall, with Breese, Miller and Smith to backup their frontline batsman down the order who can hit the boundaries. All of the players mentioned are fully capable to get going and hit a fair few boundaries and already this year at Northampton we've seen some big scores from individuals so we should see a fair number today if the weather holds up which I've read it will so I'll take the overs for both sides here and hopefully we'll see a good number of runs today. Ian Blackwell -0.5 handicap to beat Rob White- 5/6 Ladbrokes- (4/10) Suprised to see only the half a run handicap on Blackwell here, who is very much the better batsman and the more in form of the players. This is a guy who has played 34 ODIs for England and averages a tad over 40 in first class cricket which isn't bad at all. This year he's already hit a couple of centuries in the 4 day game, averaging over 50, and in the limited form of the game, he has a 98 to his name in his 3 innings and top scored for Durham in their only T20 match thus far. He'll come in at 3 and with the absence of Stokes, he'll one one of guys who Durham will be relying on to hit some runs at the top of the innings. White isn't in the best of form with the bat, hitting 4,1,140,1,6 in his last 5 innings and that big score came in the championship. In the one day game, White has yet to hit the ground running, and has a top score of just 47 which shows he hasn't had the best of times. I think he'll open with Vaas if he's fit, so he'll have to face Onions and perhaps Rushmore of Thorp, not entirely sure but those bowlers aren't the worst in the county game are capable of dismissing White cheaply if he doesn't get going. Just have to back Blackwell to outscore White here given the two players form and that extra quality the Durham man has. Alex Wakely Top Northants Batsman- 9/2 Bet365- (1/10) Wakely, like Vaas is having a fitness test but I'm expecting him to play today and bat at either 3 or 4 where there is always a good chance of him getting in early and having plenty of time to hit some runs. He already has 35 and 30 to his name in Northants' two T20 games thus far, topscoring with that 35 in their game against Warwickshire. He's been pretty solid with the bat this year, and the one day game is usually where he is at his best with the bat, averaging near to 50 this year which is a good return in this in form Northants side. A lot of the focus will be on the likes of Botha, Vaas and Sales etc, but Wakely is a former England U19's captain showing he has the ability and I'll back him given his good performances in the T20 this year to turn it on today.

[kevshat]

Re: Cricket: Friends Life t20 Two more for me. One in the Northants game first and then one away from the TV. 2pts J.Botha Most Economical Bowler 10/3 Stan James Only Johan Botha, Chaminda Vaas, Andrew Hall, Liam Plunkett, Gareth Breese and Ian Blackwell count. All bowlers must bowl at least 2 overs else rule 4's come into play. Johan Botha looks a big price here. He's always tough to get away and comes into this match off the back of a 4/16 off 4 overs against Warwickshire on a ground where there is a short boundary. In fact he never went for a boundary in the whole of that match which says a lot about how tough he is to get away and on these spinning tracks at Wantage Road I see him being even harder to get away. The fact James Middlebrook isn't included in this market is a huge help. I don't see Vaas or Hall having much joy here with Mustard opening against Vaas and Durham having big hitters at the end of the innings. Plunkett couldn't bowl economically if his life depended on it and the likes of Wakely, Sales and Botha are good players of spin to take care of Blackwell and Breese. Botha is a world class performer who won't go for more than 30 in many spells and I think anything less than 30 off his 4 overs will be enough to land this. 3pts Worcestershire to beat Yorkshire 6/4 Blue Square I'm prepared to take a chance on Worcestershire here. Yorkshire still haven't convinced me that they can bat and if Andrew Gale was to go early in this match I'd be very worried about Yorkshire's batting. Their bowling is strong and that's to their advantage but the likes of Moeen Ali, Vikram Solanki and Shakib al Hasan are no mugs with the bat and I would expect Worcestershire to be able to score a competitive total. Shakib will keep it tight with the ball and then there's the likes of Shantry and overseas player Wright who can also keep things tight. If Worcestershire can pick up 3 or 4 wickets this Yorkshire batting line up runs out pretty quickly whereas at least Worcestershire have the likes of Gareth Andrew and James Cameron down the order who can give it a good swipe. I wouldn't say Yorkshire are sufficiently better than Worcestershire that they merit being 1/2. They've lost both their matches so far and haven't really been close in either. Worcestershire gave Lancashire a close game on Friday night and I think they can do the same here only edge over the line.

[Charlie Wong]

Re: Cricket: Friends Life t20 early one for friday Gloucestershire Vs Hampshire, going to this game, note being played in Gloucester not Bristol:ok Hampshire to win 1/2 Bet365 I appreciate this is a skinny price but really cant see glos winning, even with Murali in the side, dont think they'll contain Hampshire's batting line up, Jon Lewis called for the crowd to make it a hostile enviroment for the visitors in the local rag, cant see it happening bar a few jeers. Glos lost both their games here quite heavily to Sussex and Kent respectively last year and Hampshire will have too much for a winless Glos side. Kevin O'Briens yet to fire so i am wary of that, also should be plenty of runs scored if you get a chance to bet inplay on innings runs, as the ground is pretty small, i've played on it a couple of years ago and trust me the boundaries aren't the biggest so could be plenty of boundaries, meant to be a bit of weather about but should be similar to today.(bit overcast)

[kevshat]

Re: Cricket: Friends Life t20 Ok answers on a postcard as to why Northants would welcome the best seam attack in the country to their ground and then give them a green wicket to play on :wall:wall. Idiots. To round off a thoroughly sick night Worcestershire lost by 2 runs, two runs which by all accounts were a wrongly signalled 4 which should've been given as a 6 :eyes.

[InfectedBoy]

Re: Cricket: Friends Life t20

Ok answers on a postcard as to why Northants would welcome the best seam attack in the country to their ground and then give them a green wicket to play on :wall:wall. Idiots. To round off a thoroughly sick night Worcestershire lost by 2 runs' date=' two runs which by all accounts were a wrongly signalled 4 which should've been given as a 6 :eyes.[/quote'] Another bad day for me too. Lost significantly on the televised game but cut some loss on essex. Do you get to watch other games live as well or just the single one?

[kevshat]

Re: Cricket: Friends Life t20 Unless I go to a game and sky plus the live game I only watch one but if I have a bet which isn't on TV I'll generally listen to some of it on the radio.

[fishy25]

Re: Cricket: Friends Life t20 Yeah really don't understand the prepared wicket. Even Rob White when he was talking on the mic found it hard to not criticize the pitch. Even so, alot of the Northants bowling was a pile of toffy. Durham covered their overs, Northants didn't and Wakely fell cheaply along with the Northants' top order disregarding White. Could have been a lot worse if Blackwell skied the ball to a fielder on 21 but luckily it landed safe. Would have literally :wall if he got out on the same score as White. -2.33 today though, giving me -3.83 overall. Hopefully tomorrow can be a good day in the forum after a couple of indifferent ones. Unlucky on that Worcestershire result Kev, didn't know about that run speculation but if that is the case, sure the luck will even itself out and get you some profit sometime in the season.

[Luck7]

Re: Cricket: Friends Life t20 The worst team in the T20 are Gloucestershire yet even though are 6/4 against an unbeaten Hants team so I have no idea what b365 are on making Durham 2/5 at Derby. Yeah Durham looked great batting 2nd on a wicket which suited them and yes they have a strong team but they are just 1-1 yet they are 2/5 on the road, people will have watched the game and thought wow the North eastern club look great but it was only one game their record overall in T20 is poor. Derbys are not good but they did make 190 and tied with Lancs and I cant for the life of my work out why they are 2/1. No team especially away should be that short after 2 games. They will probably lose but 2/1 is way too big on the Falcons 1pt Derbyshire 2/1 B365

[kevshat]

Re: Cricket: Friends Life t20 Ok I need a good night and a change in luck. Going with 4 in total, 3 in the TV game and a double away from the TV. TV game first which is the Roses match. 4pts T.Smith (+0.5 runs) to beat J.Bairstow 5/6 Ladbrokes I'm a big fan of Jonny Bairstow but I'm not so sure he should be the favourite in this match up. Tom Smith is the 4th highest scorer in the competition so far and has scores of 75, 45 and 33 to his name this season while Bairstow is yet to pass 31 in the competition this term and it must be said he's playing on an eminently easier wicket to bat on than what Smith is. Both men will be facing tight bowling to begin with but there's little doubt that Smith is going better in his role as opener which he has played in all forms of cricket in his career than Bairstow is in his opening berth which he's been given because Yorkshire can't bat. It's Smith for me in this match. 6pts Under 6.5 6's 4/6 William Hill I think this line looks a little high even at the lower price. There were 11 6's here on Wednesday, 5 of which came from Abdul Razzaq's piece of wood but I think it's fair to say that a) there's no Abdul Razzaq in either of these sides, and b) both bowling attacks will be stronger than the ones that 'performed' here on Wednesday night. Yorkshire come into this match having only hit 5 6's in their three matches to date and they failed to hit a single 6 in their match against Worcestershire last night. Lancashire have only hit 14 6's in 4 matches and 7 of them came in a high scorer at Derby. So were both sides to perform to their average in this match we would see 5.17 6's which doesn't threaten this 6.5 line. This is going to be the same wicket they played on Wednesday night so it's going to be slow, low and hard to get big shots away. Although Abdul Razzaq made it look like Old Trafford was the size of a postage stamp the boundaries here are actually quite big. There wasn't a single six when Lancashire hosted Worcestershire here last week and I don't expect many tonight either. 3pts One or more stumpings 17/10 Sportingbet When I'm -26 for the tournament these are luxury bets I probably should avoid but I think the price is very big here so I'm prepared to have a dabble at it. There's been 5 stumpings in the two matches that have been played on this ground so far in this tournament so that makes the stumping price look quite big. Lancashire will play 3 main spinners and Steven Croft might even make it a fourth whereas Yorkshire will play at least 2 and they might even bring Azeem Rafiq or Joe Root in to make it 3 spinners on this slow, turning track. Brophy will also stand up to the likes of Anthony McGrath and Rich Pyrah so the keepers will be up to the stumps for probably 30 of the 40 overs in this match. Cross and Brophy both have good hands and I wouldn't be at all surprised to see a stumping in this match. 4pts Hampshire to beat Gloucestershire & Sussex to beat Middlesex 5/4 Blue Square I'm no fan of taking multiples as a rule or indeed short prices in this format but with both being 1/2 I actually think the prices are value compared to their chances of winning. I would give both a 75% chance of winning. What I like about this double is it's 2 of the best 3 sides in the South Group against the worst two sides in the section. Hampshire's batting line up could be a slight concern although Sean Ervine allays those fears a bit tonight and with Dominic Cork coming in at 8 there's enough there but their bowling attack is top notch and Imran Tahir plays tonight. I saw Gloucestershire last week at The Oval where they looked a batsman light and their bowling attack was awful. Someone will take this bowling attack for 230+ this season when they catch the right conditions and while I don't expect Hampshire to do that unless Michael Lumb does something violent I do expect Hampshire, who bowled Gloucestershire out for 68 in this fixture last year albeit at Bristol as opposed to Gloucester where they play tonight, to make it 5 wins from 5 matches. Sussex are another side going along nicely and they look really strong. Chris Nash, Luke Wright, Murray Goodwin, Lou Vincent and Michael Yardy look a real good top 5 and the likes of Parnell and Rana Naved can clonk it down the order. It's with the ball Sussex are going so well. Rana and Parnell are performing like overseas pros and the likes of Chris Liddle and Monty Panesar are taking wickets as well. Middlesex miss Jamie Dalrymple and Dawid Malan tonight and not only are they big losses to their batting line up which looks a tad weak now with Simpson at 5 and Davey at 6 with Gareth Berg also out injured, but it's a couple of fairly solid spin options the Panthers will be missing at Hove too. Aside from Finn and McLaren there isn't a lot in this Middlesex attack for Sussex to fear so I expect the Sharks to keep their unbeaten record up against a Middlesex side who only finished against Essex at around 9.30 last night. Stick Sussex and Hampshire together and I think 5/4 looks a decent double on a card where I expect many of the favourites to win.

[fishy25]

Re: Cricket: Friends Life t20 Like Kev I could do with a good night to make up for a couple of disappointing nights this week. 4 for me in total, with 3 in the televvised match and one elsewhere. Will do the non tv match first. Worcestershire to beat Northants- 11/8 Sportingbet- (4/10) Now looking at the tables you'd think I'm crazy to back a Worcestershire side who have just two wins all season but I still feel they are a tad high. Their two defeats in the T20 this season have been by the narrowest of margins and yesterday they looked like beating Yorkshire after a blinder of an innings by Gareth Andrew but fell just short. 3 of their key batsman yesterday in Ali, Kervezee and Shakib made just 4 runs between them so they will want to make amends tonight. They do have good players amongst their ranks though, with Solanki and Ali up the top, and then the likes of Cameron and Kervezee backing them up, and then the power of Andrew and Shakib so from a batting perspective they don't look a bad outfit. Put that with the bowling talent of Shantry, Wright and also Shakib you can't rule them out from getting a result tonight, especially given the fact that Northants were hammered well and truly yesterday so they could well be on a low after that match. Their bowling particularly worried me yesterday as when Mustard got stuck into them, they bowled all sorts of poor deliveries so if one of the Worcester batsman get going, a similiar thing could occur today. On paper and form you would back the Steelbacks here, but a couple of encouraging defeats for the Royals recently lead me to think they will look to get stuck into this one and claim their first win in the T20.

[fishy25]

Re: Cricket: Friends Life t20 3 in the Roses match as well. Sorry for the late post, internet was playing up. Tom Smith +0.5 run handicap to beat Jonathan Bairstow- 5/6 Ladbrokes- (4/10) Yeah with Kev on this one and I like the Lancashire man here out of the two openers. Smith is in good form at the minute, with decent scores in 3 of his 4 T20 innings this season showing he is in good nick and after playing on this Old Trafford pitch just 2 days ago, he will know just what to expect on this slow pitch. Bairstow has done well in the Championship but in the one day game he has struggled. He has a highest score of just 31 in all one day forms this season and this pitch won't be any easier to bat on than he usually does, quite the contrary. He'll open up with his skipper so the pressure will be on those two to hit some runs but without practice on this pitch, it won't be easy for either opener so I fancy Smith to outscore his counter opener today. Lancashire Highest score after 6 overs- 10/11 Ladbrokes- (4/10) As I've said without practice on this pitch, the Yorkshire openers will have a few interesting overs early on to try and get a read on this slow pitch, and will find it difficult to get the ball away on a consistent basis. Bairstow hasn't really done it for them at the top of the innings this season, and Gale these days looks to be the one to bat through for his team whilst others play around him. Both are capable of packing a punch but some tight early overs from Lancashire could prevent them from hitting many in the powerplay. The Lancashire top 3 all play with an agressive style, before the likes of Horton, Clark and Proctor come and rotate the strike in the middle overs. But in Moore, Smith and Croft, they have 3 genuine boundary hitters and despite a slow wicket, both can go over the top and make the most of the powerplay giving Lancs a good start. Yorkshire will most likely open up with Sidebottom and Rashid which I don't see being a bad thing for the bet as Sidebottom although he made get some swing on the ball, he will have even less pace than he does usually on this pitch so he should be there for the taking for the Lancashire openers. We saw just the other day how Razzaq hammered the Lancashire spinners and although we won't see Rashid get that kind of treatment, he's always likely to throw in a few tasty deliveries early on in his spell so he could well go for a few. Fancy Lancashire to bowl a bit tighter at the top of the innings so after 6 overs I'll back them to be on the higher of the two scores. Steven Croft Top Lancashire Batsman- 4/1 Bet365- (1/10) Although Croft didn't get started against Leicestershire the other day, I'll back him again to hit some runs today. He's a Lancashire boy through and through so he will be well up for this Roses clash and he is always a likely contender to hit runs in this Lancashire side. He leads the run scoring charts in the CB40 for his side where he has a fifty and also a century to his name already in his 5 innings showing what a key member of the team he is and I'll back him to lead the Lancs side today in terms of runs.

[League1_punter]

Re: Cricket: Friends Life t20

3pts One or more stumpings 17/10 Sportingbet When I'm -26 for the tournament these are luxury bets I probably should avoid but I think the price is very big here so I'm prepared to have a dabble at it. There's been 5 stumpings in the two matches that have been played on this ground so far in this tournament so that makes the stumping price look quite big. Lancashire will play 3 main spinners and Steven Croft might even make it a fourth whereas Yorkshire will play at least 2 and they might even bring Azeem Rafiq or Joe Root in to make it 3 spinners on this slow, turning track. Brophy will also stand up to the likes of Anthony McGrath and Rich Pyrah so the keepers will be up to the stumps for probably 30 of the 40 overs in this match. Cross and Brophy both have good hands and I wouldn't be at all surprised to see a stumping in this match.

Very poor from Cross. Should have been in the bag. :hope he gets another opportunity for you