Cricket: Friends Life t20

[kevshat]

Re: Cricket: Friends Life t20 3 for me tonight. Will do the 5.30 match here and then the later matches can follow. 5pts Warwickshire to beat Northants Evs Skybet Not sure I'm getting where Northants are favourites from here. Northants are rank bottom of the North Group coming into this match with just one win in their five matches to date, a win which was admittedly over Warwickshire but these are different circumstances now. Warwickshire are halfway in the North group with a couple of wins and three losses, two of which were to runaway leaders Nottinghamshire. Northants have a few injury problems ahead of this match. David Sales went lame last time out against Worcestershire while Niall O'Brien and Mal Loye remain out. Chaminda Vaas also misses out here too with injury. Johan Botha will carry the overseas duties on his own for Northants tonight while Rob Newton will open the batting, possibly alongside Andrew Hall which I don't see as ideal. In Vaas' absence Hall and Brooks will take the new ball with Daggett backing them up. Warwickshire have no new injury concerns and I didn't think they were beaten out of sight last time out by Nottinghamshire. Neil Carter is due to fire and the likes of Porterfield, Maddy, Clarke and Woakes can all hit a big ball. With the ball Jeetan Patel and Stefan Piolet are tricky to get away while the likes of Ant Botha can come in if an extra spinner is needed. Ian Bell and Jon Trott are away on England duty. Northants are struggling to make 140 with the bat at the minute and while I don't expect them to produce a green top here, I don't see this wicket being a batting paradise. Warwickshire have a competent bowling attack and the batting attack to win this match so at even money it's the Bears for me this evening.

[kevshat]

Re: Cricket: Friends Life t20 And the last two. One in the TV game, one away from it. TV game first. 1pt ew G.Andrew Top Worcestershire Batsman 8/1 Coral (1/5 1,2,3) Gareth Andrew is a massive hitter of a cricket ball as we've already seen this season when he swiped Middlesex all over London in a CB40 match a few weeks ago. Yorkshire are another side who can testify how big a ball he can hit as he hit them for 60 off just 26 balls last Thursday. He then came in at 5 in Worcestershire's next match, a position I'd love to see him bat in this format, and placed. I think Worcestershire need to get him in so while I hope he'll bat 5 he won't be any lower than 7 and at 8/1 for a guy who scores a lot quicker than anyone else in their side, he looks a decent ew punt this evening. 4pts Essex to beat Somerset 11/10 Stan James Both these sides come into this match off the back of heavy defeats last time out. Essex lost to Surrey - their third defeat of the campaign, while Somerset were thrashed by Sussex last night. Somerset continue to occupy a top four spot though while Essex are languishing down a bit further in the table and are in need of a win here. Essex will be without Graham Napier for this match after the all rounder twanged a hamstring against Surrey last time out. That's a blow but it gives someone like Maurice Chambers the chance if Essex decide to replace him with a bowler. I feel they may go with Pettini though as they have more than enough bowling options in their side and that will strengthen their batting nicely, which is what is required. Southee, Masters, Phillips, Styris and Bopara can all bowl and then there's ten Doechate and Shah as well. Somerset come here with injury problems of their own. Alfonso Thomas weakens their bowling attack while Nick Compton weakens the batting, as we saw last night when they were shot out for just 90. Roelof van der Merwe and Murali Kartik are decent overseas players but if the power of Trescothick, Trego, Kieswetter and van der Merwe fail there isn't a huge amount to come after that. It's a big ask for Somerset to back up last night so soon. They finished against Sussex at Hove at around 9.45 so would've been on a coach around 11pm or so and although Hove to Chelmsford isn't John O'Groats to Penzance it's still a sizeable little trek at that time of night and to have to go out and face a dangerous if misfiring Essex side so soon is a big ask. Essex are often a lot better at Chelmsford than they are away from it and with the extra day's rest I think the fresher side, with home advantage, can nick this one.

[fishy25]

Re: Cricket: Friends Life t20 Took yesterday off so hopefully it bring a change in fortune for me. Taking 3 in the TV match where there's meant to be some rain about later but read reports that the sun is out at Derby at the minute. The bets I'm taking require at least 16 overs in each innings if not they are made void, if the bet hasn't come through which is why I like them due to the possible rain. Derbyshire Over 12.5 4's- 5/6 Ladbrokes- (4/10) Worcestershire Over 12.5 4's- 5/6 Ladbrokes- (4/10) If there is too be the full lot of overs tonight, I can't see either team failing to cover this line given both teams strength in the batting department. We've got some pretty strong hitters of the ball on show tonight. Derbyshire have Durston, Guptill, Hughes and Madsen at the top of the order who have all been amongst the runs in the T20 recently so they should be able to take care of most of the line on their own, with Smith, Park and Clare no mugs down the order either. Worcestershire have some good batsman in their lineup with Solanki, Ali, Kervezee, Shakib and Cameron which is a fairly strong top 5 in my opinion and doesn't get the credit it deserves. If it wasn't for Worcestershire's lack of bowling talent, they could be a real force in the T20 but as I say their bowling attack is a tad weak. Their boundaries should come though with their top of the order strength, not to mention Gareth Andrew who if he gets in, will tonk most bowlers on the county circuit all over the place. Derby has seen some decent scores this year in the T20. A tied 190 match between Lancashire and Derby has already been played, showing that serious runs can be scored on this ground so I'll back both teams to cover the overs. Derbyshire Over 3.5 6's- Evens Ladbrokes- (4/10) Struggle to see Derby not hitting at least 4 6's here. They've hit 16 sixes in their 4 matches so far this year in the T20, including 6 against Lancashire on this ground and hit 3 at Durham in their recent match, against a decent bowling attack, one which is better than what they will face today. Durston and Hughes can hit huge sixes on any ground, let alone a fairly small Derby pitch so those two are genuine threats who can bring the sixes in. Madsen and Guptill are also capable of clearing the rope so with a top 4 of genuine agressive batsman, the price looks too high on Derby here to hit at least 4 sixes so I'll back them to do so against a fairly weak Worcestershire bowling attack.

[fishy25]

Re: Cricket: Friends Life t20 Another horror night for me. Yet more abysmal batting on the TV. Think I'll have a longer break from this now and hope to reduce the losses in a week or so.

[kevshat]

Re: Cricket: Friends Life t20 One for me tonight. In a bit of a hurry as I'm off to Lords soon but I took this one a few days ago and the same thoughts apply. 4pts Durham to beat Nottinghamshire 6/5 Skybet Durham walloped Nottinghamshire on Tuesday despite not scoring as many as they should have at one stage. I'm still half and half about this Notts batting line up and if Durham can get stuck in early, and they have the bowlers to do that, then they can pick up a quickfire double over Notts this evening.

[Luck7]

Re: Cricket: Friends Life t20

One for me tonight. In a bit of a hurry as I'm off to Lords soon but I took this one a few days ago and the same thoughts apply.

Do Middlesex look as bad as they seem in person as on the scoreboard, is it worth going against them majority of the T20?

[kevshat]

Re: Cricket: Friends Life t20

Do Middlesex look as bad as they seem in person as on the scoreboard' date=' is it worth going against them majority of the T20?[/quote'] In some ways it is hard to say mate. I certainly didn't sit there thinking they were 50 runs worse than Sussex but they just batted so naively it was untrue. It was as if there was no plan. Obviously losing Rogers didn't help in that regard but they just went in and threw the bat at everything until Newman and Dalrymple got together. They couldn't get the spinners away and left themselves with too much to do but after having Sussex 2/2 after 2 overs to lose by 49 runs is bad. There was a short boundary so 165 wasn't out of reach had they batted sensibly but that 'effort' so soon after being rolled over for 100 against Glamorgan suggests they can't bat. I would say their batting needs a Murray Goodwin like experienced player to guide them to a good score so that might be Rogers and their bowling is a bit light as well. McLaren had a bit of a stinker which never helped but to answer your question I do think they are a weak side. It wouldn't surprise me at all if they go in when least expected but I'd be very surprised if they won anymore than 4 matches in this on the evidence of what I saw last night :ok

[kevshat]

Re: Cricket: Friends Life t20

Friday 17 June 2011	Home	Away	BPP
	Gloucestershire v Essex (17:30 BST)	2.63	1.62	99.75 %
	Leicestershire v Durham (17:30 BST)	2.3	1.72	101.37 %
	Somerset v Surrey (17:30 BST)	1.61	2.6	100.37 %
	Warwickshire v Worcestershire (17:30 BST)	1.61	2.49	102.07 %
	Yorkshire v Lancashire (17:40 BST)	1.98	2	100.51 %
	Northamptonshire v Derbyshire (18:50 BST)	1.9	2.12	99.80 %
	Sussex v Kent (19:10 BST)	1.62	2.5	101.73 %
	Glamorgan v Hampshire (19:30 BST)	2.6	1.61	100.37 %

[kevshat]

Re: Cricket: Friends Life t20 I've walked into a couple of 200+ scores in the last couple of nights which is annoying so I need a good night again. Will update my P/L after these matches because I'm aware they start soon. First bet for tonight. I'm avoiding the South which is under water. I'll be surprised if there's much cricket south of the midlands tonight which is annoying with Hampshire on TV :(. 4pts Yorkshire to beat Lancashire 10/11 Stan James After beating Lancashire at Old Trafford last week it's Yorkshire's turn to hold a crucial Roses match tonight. Yorkshire come into this match on 5pts in the group table with Lancashire 1pt better off on 6pts. With second place on only 7pts and a bit of rain around the winners of this match can make a decisive move in the group table tonight. Yorkshire welcome Ajmal Shahzad back tonight which looks a good boost to their squad. It appears as though they will go in with the same batting line up which beat Lancashire last time out so Shahzad will probably come in for either Rich Pyrah or David Wainwright depending on the wicket at Headingley tonight. Lancashire welcome Sajid Mahmood back into their squad but I don't believe Sri Lanka have released Farveez Maharoof yet which is strange given that he's not doing much in Southampton now. He's certainly not in their squad which they've named and neither is Junaid Khan who they said they signed. Glen Chapple is also missing with injury while Lancashire were pretty much using all their batsmen as it was so the batting will be unchanged. Neither of these sides can bat with confidence so it could come down to the bowling attacks and Rashid, Shahzad and Sidebottom give Yorkshire the edge in that department. Roses matches are often close but I like the momentum Yorkshire have at the minute and with home advantage too in a complete ground rather than Old Trafford which isn't as intimidating to the opposition these days, I'll take the White Rose to beat their Red rivals.

[kevshat]

Re: Cricket: Friends Life t20 One more for me. Apologies for the short notice, was waiting on the weather. 4pts Derbyshire to beat Northants Evs Skybet I live about 40 minutes from Northampton and the rain stopped here a few minutes ago so I think we'll be ok for a fair length game here and assuming we do get that I'll be surprised if Derbyshire don't win this one. Northants are still battered by injuries, so much so that they've had to bring Bilal and his beard back to Wantage Road on a game by game basis. There's no Sales or Vaas tonight while Loye and O'Brien are also both out too so I expect their batting troubles to continue. Both attacks are competitive in this match but I believe Derbyshire have the better batsmen in Guptill, Hughes, Durston and Madsen and that combination can get the job done for the Falcons tonight against a side in Northants who I believe could already be looking at the Championship again and ensuring everyone is ready for that. Derby for me.

[kevshat]

Re: Cricket: Friends Life t20 One win and one void tonight but it's been a fairly decent few days on the whole with 25% of the overall loss gone. +3.64 for the night and back to -37.48pts overall. Now the juggling with the Championship begins which should lead to some better prices :hope.

[kevshat]

Re: Cricket: Friends Life t20

Saturday 18 June 2011	Home	Away	BPP
	Derbyshire v Leicestershire (17:30 BST)	2.24	1.83	99.19 %
	Nottinghamshire v Northamptonshire (18:00 BST)	1.48	3	100.90 %
	Kent v Middlesex (19:00 BST)	1.62	2.55	100.94 %

[kevshat]

Re: Cricket: Friends Life t20 One for me tonight. Again apologies for the late post but I was waiting on the weather. It's meant to clear up from tomorrow so we should be good to concentrate purely on the cricket. 4pts Leicestershire to beat Derbyshire 5/6 Ladbrokes Leicestershire have been frustrated by the weather in recent matches but a win tonight will put them 2nd in the North Group. In the cricket they've played they appear to be in good form with the likes of Josh Cobb, Andrew McDonald, Will Jefferson and Abdul Razzaq in decent nick with the bat and with the ball the likes of Hoggard, Henderson and Razzaq able to restrict sides and take wickets. Derbyshire are solid with the bat at the top of their order but once a side have them 3 down there isn't a huge amount of depth to their batting whilst with the ball most of them can pick up wickets but there isn't anyone you would look at and say that's a definite economical bowler. Leicestershire just look like the stronger all round side of these two to me and I think they can pick up the win in this one.

[kevshat]

Re: Cricket: Friends Life t20 Slowly eating into this deficit I ran up. Leicestershire won by 5 wickets to pick up the match bet win and enhance the outright bet on them. With the win tonight I'm back to -34.14 for the tournament which continues tomorrow.

[infamous]

Re: Cricket: Friends Life t20 Taken a bit of a break with the betting lately due to other commitments. Decided to ease my way back into it with Wimbledon and the CC matches starting again. One early play for tomorrow's t20 game. 5pts Lancashire to beat Warwickshire at 11/10 with B365 Both of these sides in slightly patchy form and coming off losses here, but I'm more than happy to take Lancs at odds against here. Lancs are one of those sides who you always think will struggle due to the lack of real 'names' in the side, but they always tend to pull it together and perform above expectations. Moore and Smith have formed a very decent opening partnership in this tournament, and others lower in the batting lineup have all at some point or another hit some decent quick runs. Problem for Lancs so far has been putting it all together - i.e the middle order performing in the same game. Think this is set to change against a Warcks attack which seems to lack variety as well as consistency. This is evidenced by their failure to defend 180 plus recently against Worcestershire. Woakes, Patel, Carter, Barker, Maddy, and Piolet make up an attack which contains individuals that can on their day prove very tough, but at the same time they can all be expensive. Lancs welcome back Maharoof for this game and he should partner Saj Mahmood to form part of the pace attack. You then have Keedy and Parry who are difficult to get away in the middle overs. Warcks have a few big names in their batting lineup, but get them a wicket or 2 down early and I think that they will struggle against Lancs. At odds against I'm happy to take a chance.

[kevshat]

Re: Cricket: Friends Life t20 Can't copy the prices in here for Sunday because there's only one match and it goes funny but Warwickshire will play Lancashire at Edgbaston. 4pts Warwickshire to beat Lancashire 10/11 Blue Square This is a key match in the North Group. Warwickshire sit just outside the top 4 places in the table coming into this match but they will be aware they've played more games than most. Lancashire are in 7th spot but a win for either in this match will send them up into the coveted top 4 which if they can stay there they will qualify for the knockout stages. With finals day at Edgbaston this year that's a big aim for Warks. Warwickshire lost their last match against Worcestershire but they put up a lot of runs which will boost them because they had been struggling a wee bit with the willow prior to that match. With the short boundary at Edgbaston it's important for them to feel confidence with the bat and in the likes of Maddy, Ambrose, Clarke and Woakes they can propel any total. Piolet, Patel and Carter are generally hard to get away so the Bears have a fairly solid line up. Lancashire welcome back Farveez Maharoof for this match after he was finally released by Sri Lanka. Glen Chapple and Simon Kerrigan are both still out with injury which isn't ideal because they like to open the bowling with Kerrigan's spin. Karl Brown could be the player to make way for Maharoof's all round abilities but there's still no sign of Junaid Khan who was meant to have signed an overseas deal. Warwickshire weren't disgraced last time out. They got done up by a Gareth Andrew special but if the mongoose wielder gets in he can do that to anyone. There's nobody in this Lancashire side that can wipe a bowling attack apart like that unless Maharoof opens his shoulders and even then I doubt he has that sort of pyrotechnics. This is a Lancashire side who are struggling a bit with the bat and don't bat particularly deep in terms of genuinely good batting options. As long as Warwickshire can continue to score runs I think they have the more solid side to win this game.

[Luck7]

Re: Cricket: Friends Life t20 Pretty amazed that i got 5/6 on Lancs in running with sportigbet when warwickshire were 10-2:unsure

[LAMPS]

Re: Cricket: Friends Life t20 good stuff in running there mate, Warwickshire need a decent partnership to get back in this one, that's a great price when 2 down so early

[kevshat]

Re: Cricket: Friends Life t20 Good shout guys. Bad day for me. Warwickshire were never in that. -4 for the day. -38.14 overall. No games tomorrow so back on Tuesday when the run of TV games begin again :ok.

[kevshat]

Re: Cricket: Friends Life t20 TV game tonight. Can't copy odds because they won't copy over but it's Glamorgan vs Essex. 4pts Glamorgan to beat Essex 6/5 Coral Two sides on the edge of the playoff places in the South Group do battle tonight with Glamorgan in 5th place taking on Essex in 7th place. Glamorgan know they have games in hand of most of those above them beginning tonight while Essex, having lost four matches already in this competition, know they need to start winning pretty soon. Glamorgan have Simon Jones making another debut for them tonight and also have Gareth Rees back from injury as well. James Harris will miss out with injury as will Adam Shantry and Huw Waters. Ben Wright has also been added to the squad which looks to have a fair amount of batting in it with Cosgrove and Petersen having the overseas duties. Essex will be without a couple of key men in Graham Napier and Scott Styris who are both out for a while with injury. Mark Pettini will come back into the side as could Chris Wright as Essex look to get over an absolute mauling by Somerset last time out. Tim Southee continues in the overseas role and he'll be joined with the new ball by David Masters. Essex will be relying on Owais Shah, Ravi Bopara and Ryan ten Doeschate for runs. Essex have only beaten Middlesex and Gloucestershire in the competition so far and in the four matches they've lost they've lost each one pretty heavily. Glamorgan have only beaten Middlesex in this tournament but they should've beaten Hampshire and Kent and but for the rain may well have beaten Surrey. I think they have a decent side. Croft and Cosker keep things tight and they look like they will make enough runs with their batting line up. Essex have been shot out for 111 and 82 in their last two matches and aren't batting well despite their talented line up. At odds against, with home advantage I'll take the Welsh side here.

[kevshat]

Re: Cricket: Friends Life t20 Essex are killing me in this. Think I've lost on every match of theirs I've had a bet on. I'll happily forgive them if they go on and win the tournament though :). Another close defeat for Glamorgan means -4 tonight and back to -42.14 overall :(.

[Luck7]

Re: Cricket: Friends Life t20 Cant find any value tonight, I think Yorkshire will win but hard to get excited about best 8/13. Derbyshire are very poor but seem to do well when given no chance. Am looking forward to taking on Essex, they are playing scared which is never good, That's twice now Foster has lost his cool in successive games and they made a meal of chasing 140 down, now they go back home to 'Fortress Chelmsford' and i think they will crack under the pressure.

[kevshat]

Re: Cricket: Friends Life t20 Same here. Night off for me by the looks of it.

[Charlie Wong]

Re: Cricket: Friends Life t20 Quite like Glamorgan at 6/4 bet365 to see off south leaders sussex, purely because they'll be missing yardy, prior & wright, ok gul is available put judging by this pitch spin is they way to go, fort back well against Essex and cosker and croft should prove dangerous.

[Charlie Wong]

Re: Cricket: Friends Life t20 Ps I'm not dyslexic iPhone predictive text :D

[Rushdentom]

Re: Cricket: Friends Life t20 Like the look of Essex to beat Hampshire tonight at Evens on Bet365. Essex are a good Twenty20 side and also have fortress Chelmsford with a large vocal home support so should overcome a decent Hampshire side.

[kevshat]

Re: Cricket: Friends Life t20 A few bets for me tonight. It's nice of Stan James to price up the Glamorgan vs Sussex match as if it's on that Welsh channel but it isn't. Essex vs Hampshire is the TV game. 5pts Hampshire to beat Essex 4/5 Bet365 Hampshire come into this match with an unbeaten record in twenty20 this season whereas Essex are struggling. It's almost roles reversed from previous years. These two met in the semi final of this tournament last year when Dwayne Bravo pitched in for £10k and not much else with Hampshire winning comfortably on their way to the title. A win for Essex tonight could move them into the top 4 while Hampshire could gain top spot again depending on the result at the Swalec. Essex will continue without Graham Napier and Scott Styris here while Ravi Bopara has left for England duty as well so that's 3 all rounders gone from this Essex line up. That leaves probably only Ryan ten Doeschate as a natural all rounder now and pulls quite tight on Essex's batting resources. Shahid Afridi makes his long awaited debut for Hampshire in this competition tonight, 13 months after he was first due to play for the club. Michael Lumb misses out as he's also on England duty while Simon Jones has been loaned out to Glamorgan. Sean Ervine played for the 2nd XI earlier in the week so he could come into the side to replace Lumb, as could Dawson. Afridi looks set to replace Wood leaving Hampshire with 3 quality spin options in Afridi, Tahir and Briggs. It's those spin options which I think give Hampshire the edge here. There's been a 20 over match on this wicket already today so I expect this wicket to start to turn a bit as this game goes on. Afridi and Tahir have shown what they can do on the international stage and Briggs was one of the stars of the tournament last year. Essex don't play spin all that well with the exception of Shah and Foster and with batting resources stretched for the home side I'll take Hampshire to remain unbeaten here. 1pt ew J.Foster Top Essex Batsman 8/1 Coral (1/5 1,2,3) As I've said above, aside from Owais Shah, James Foster is Essex's best player of spin and that's going to be a massive feature tonight with Hampshire bowling at least 12 overs of spin and could even be more if Benny Howell plays and bowls. Foster top scored in front of the cameras last week against Surrey and also has a 2nd placed effort against Middlesex in the match before that. Foster is one of the better finishers at this level and in a batting line up missing Cook, Bopara, Napier and Styris I think the Essex captain looks a cracking each way bet tonight. And now the Glamorgan game. 3pts Glamorgan vs Sussex - Highest Individual Score - Under 55 13/8 Stan James I quite like this line tonight. Nobody as yet in the tournament has scored an individual 50 against Sussex whereas only Luke Wright has cleared 55 for Sussex with the bat and he doesn't play tonight as he's on England duty. Sussex have a very good bowling attack which is further boosted by Umar Gul making his debut tonight while you feel it's all about Glamorgan's top 3 in terms of them passing 55. Glamorgan have wicket takers in their side too with Simon Jones joining Wagg, Croft and Cosker. The wicket here is playing quite slow and I didn't see another being prepared the other night so I assume it's the same wicket tonight so I don't see batting being easy and with 2 attacks that know how to take wickets I think we'll keep the highest score under 55. 1.5pts L.Vincent Top Sussex Batsman 5/1 Stan James In many ways I was obliged to take someone in this market because Luke Wright has been priced up in it but he's not playing tonight. In his absence I would expect Lou Vincent to go up to open. He's opened for New Zealand in the past and opened for Lancashire in this competition in season's gone by too. I saw Sussex down at Middlesex last week and Lou Vincent was hitting the ball very nicely and it took an excellent catch by Tom Smith to get rid of him on the boundary when he was beginning to cut loose. Before then though he had taken McLaren for plenty and got after Finn where possible too. He's batting well at the minute and if he does open this 5/1 will look a very big price. It's a big price anyway with only Murray Goodwin a certain danger if Vincent puts up any kind of score. If he does open he'll get the advantage of facing the new ball when scoring could be a bit easier and with the form he's shown so far I'll have a small play on him top scoring for the Sharks. 1pt M.Wallace Top Glamorgan Batsman 8/1 Stan James It could be all about the top 3 for Glamorgan tonight but Mark Wallace is in decent nick and could sneak a top score in this match. Sussex are likely to open with Umar Gul who could easily take out a couple of the top 3 while Liddle is no easier to face at the minute either. It could just be that Wallace will come in when the spinners are on and while they won't be easy to face, Wallace is a very competent player of spin. He showed that on a turning track at Richmond last week when he top scored for Glamorgan and he looked well on the way to top scoring here against Essex the other night before Ryan ten Doeschate pulled out one of the catches of the tournament to get rid of him. He's been in good touch for a while now and if Liddle, Gul or Rana can see to the top 3 then Wallace will be a leading contender for the top score for the Dragons.

[kevshat]

Re: Cricket: Friends Life t20 Another annoying night last night where dropped catches cost me dearly in the 3 key bets :wall. Great shouts with Glammy and Essex though guys. Onto tonight and hoping for better luck. I like a lot of outsiders tonight. Will do my bets in 3 posts. 5.30 ones in here, TV game next and then the 7.00 starts. 5pts Lancashire to beat Durham Evs Bet365 I've missed the bigger prices on Lancashire but I still like them at evens. 5th placed Durham take on 3rd placed Lancashire tonight with a spot in the top four up for grabs. Lancashire won their last match coming past Warwickshire with the minimum of fuss while Durham were wiped out against leaders Nottinghamshire having previously lost to Derbyshire and Warwickshire in this campaign. Durham will be without Paul Collingwood tonight as he's gone lame again while Graham Onions sits this one out as part of his nursing his way back to full fitness routine. Steve Harmison is being saved for the Championship so his brother Ben Harmison comes into this side. David Miller plays this match before joining up with South Africa A on Monday. Lancashire have Jimmy Anderson making a rare appearance tonight which is a boost. He'll share the new ball with Sajid Mahmood with the likes of Maharoof, Keedy and Parry making up a very good looking Lancashire bowling attack. I'm not completely at ease with Lancashire's batting depth but Moore and Smith are in wonderful form and the hitting abilities of Maharoof and Mahmood to provide a bit more substance to Lightning's batting. Collingwood and Onions are big players in this Durham side. They're the only seamers who can keep the run rate down while Collingwood is obviously a class act with the bat as well. Lancashire should be buoyant coming into this one having beaten Warwickshire in this last weekend and then beaten Notts in the Championship so I'll take the visitors at Evs. 4pts Yorkshire to beat Warwickshire Evs Skybet This is a big game for both sides coming into this match off the back of defeats last time out. Yorkshire sit in 7th place in the table and Warwickshire are 8th and have played more matches than anyone else around them. However the group is so tight the winners of this could go into the top 4 depending on results elsewhere. Warwickshire come into this match with their batting needing to improve but neither Ian Bell nor Jon Trott are available so it will be the same batting line up as the one which barely made 100 against Lancashire last time out. They don't have the same issue with the ball but Chris Woakes will need replacing as he's on England duty at the minute. Yorkshire have Tim Bresnan back this evening and he will take the new ball with Ajmal Shahzad. Ryan Sidebottom remains out but Adil Rashid and Azeem Rafiq are good spin options to have. Andrew Gale is in decent touch with the bat while the likes of Bairstow, Lyth, Root and Ballance can all provide telling cameos with the bat. Yorkshire seem to have the better balance to me. Woakes is a big loss not just with the ball for Warwickshire but propelling a total with the bat as well. Tim Bresnan does both jobs well for Yorkshire and that can be a difference. Warwickshire haven't won a match at Edgbaston in this competition yet and I'll take Yorkshire to keep it that way. 4pts Sussex to beat Somerset 11/8 Totesport Third hosts top in the South Group in this one. Sussex come into this match off the back of a defeat to Glamorgan last night and while I don't normally like taking teams who've played the night before I can't ignore the price on this one. The winners of this match will end up topping the group at the end of the night should Hampshire lose against Gloucestershire. Somerset have no Craig Kieswetter for this match as he is with England but they do have Kieron Pollard making his debut for the season. Roelof van der Merwe's stint as overseas player is over now. Alfonso Thomas has been ruled out of the group stage which doesn't help a leaky attack with the ball. Peter Trego is set to open in Kieswetter's absence with Pollard slotting into the middle order. Sussex will be without Luke Wright and Michael Yardy while Matt Prior is resting too. However Umar Gul is in the country and he bowled fantastically well last night. Wright's replacement, Ben Brown, went well with the bat last night too. Ollie Rayner and Monty Panesar provide the spin options with Rana Naved providing all round abilities and good abilities at that. Sussex were always up against it batting on a wicket which was being used for the 3rd time, 2nd but they only just went down to an attack which bowled a lot of spin and cutters. This wicket won't be like that one so I expect their batsmen to fire a lot better against a poorer overall bowling attack. If the likes of Gul and Rana Naved can fire at their best Sussex will be a big price here.

[kevshat]

Re: Cricket: Friends Life t20 TV game now. 3pts Leicestershire to beat Nottinghamshire 13/8 Ladbrokes First hosts second in the televised match this evening and it promises to be a good match. Nottinghamshire come into the match in top spot with a 4pt lead over Leicestershire who do have a game in hand. With the table so bunched up Leicestershire will want to win this to pull away from some of the sides on a key night in this group. Nottinghamshire have a big hole to fill in their side in more ways than one. Samit Patel is away with England now and he leaves a big void in their batting line up as well as with his left arm spin. It looks like Ben Phillips could replace Patel while Andy Carter also needs replacing as he's injured. Andre Adams could be his replacement as could Jake Ball or Graeme White. Leicestershire have no injury problems and having rested the likes of Josh Cobb, Paul Nixon and Harry Gurney for their Championship match earlier in the week they'll be quite fresh. Cobb and McDonald are in excellent touch at the top of the order while Taylor, Jefferson and Razzaq and Nixon provide excellent middle order qualities. Leicestershire can be loose with the ball but Hoggard, Henderson and Razzaq can be match winners. These two met earlier in the tournament when rain ended proceedings early but Leicestershire looked in a good position in that match and could well have gone on to win it. Since then Razzaq has really kicked them into life and with the leaders having no Patel I'll take the Foxes in the East Midlands derby. 1pt ew A.Razzaq Top Leicestershire Batsman 6/1 Coral (1/5 1,2,3) Abdul Razzaq looks a big price here. He cracked 40 in no time against Derbyshire to force home a win for Leicestershire last week and we all saw what he did when they were last on sky. I think this Notts attack suits him perfectly. I can say from experience of watching him last season that he doesn't play the spinners very well but when the medium pacers arrive they leave his bat twice as quick as they come on to it and on the short boundary at Trent Bridge down to the new stand side of the ground he has something to target when he likes. In truth none of the boundaries on this ground are big enough for him when he gets going. Other than the top 2, Razzaq scores quicker than anyone in this side and that scoring potential can push him close to top scoring this evening.

[kevshat]

Re: Cricket: Friends Life t20 And the last one which comes in the 7pm starts. 3pts Surrey to beat Essex 11/10 Skybet This is a huge game in the South Group. Essex come into the match having claimed 4th spot in the group last night but they've played more matches than anyone else and appear to be sitting ducks to be overtaken. Surrey will overtake them if they win tonight even though they come into the match in 6th place in the table. The losers of this one will be up against it when it comes to getting a QF place. Essex come into this match off the back of a good win over Hampshire last night and the move to put Southee up to open was interesting. They remain without Ravi Bopara who is on England duty as well as Scott Styris and Graham Napier who both remain out with injury. Tim Phillips looks like being a key player this evening on the same wicket which was used last night. Surrey have Jade Dernbach and Chris Tremlett on England duty but Stuart Meaker is fit again to join overseas duo Dirk Nannes and Yasir Arafat in the seam department. Rory Hamilton-Brown bowled 4 overs last night which was good because this wicket looks likely to turn so Gareth Batty and maybe even Chris Schofield could be key players. Steven Davies, Hamilton-Brown and Tom Maynard are all in decent nick with the bat while Jason Roy and Zander de Bruyn offer good support. Mark Ramprakash is sitting out the 20 over games. It's hard to see where Essex are going to profit from against this Surrey bowling attack which has already bowled them out for 111 in this competition now. Their main batsmen, Shah aside, aren't in form and the Southee trick is known now and can be planned for, not that I expect the degree of hitting against the likes of Nannes and Arafat that he enjoyed last night. Hampshire did a lot to hand Essex a win last night but even then would have won but for Southee's knock. I'm not so sure Surrey will be so kind so I'll take the visitors in this South Group battle.