County Cricket

[swooperman]

Dont know if there'll be any interest in this, but here goes: (all start wednesday) Kent 5/4 v Warwicks 4/7 Kents first championship game of this season, & had a no result sunday in the National League. Warwicks hammered Glamorgan by an innings & 43 runs last week, miss Mark Wagh, possibly for 3 weeks, & Dewald Pretotious. Would be quite surprised to see Warwicks lose this TBH, & will probably back them. Middlesex 8/13 v Notts 6/5 Middlesex unchanged from sundays NL win over Notts although rain affected. Neither played in the CC last week, so first up for both. Notts unveil Stephen Fleming, the NZ skipper, & I wouldnt rule them out of this. Sussex Evs v Hampshire 8/11 Ian Ward faces a late fitness test for this for Sussex, who drew with Surrey last week. Hants include Warne & Pietersen & beat Gloucs last week. Durham Evs v Worcs 8/11. Difficult one this. Durham absolutely hammered Leics last week but Mike Hussey scored 250-odd for them, but Chaminda Vaas making his debut for Worcs might be a bit tougher to score off & should be a handful on these wickets. Harmison plays for Durham. Swerve. Northants 4/7 v Leics 5/4 Martin Love in for Northants, who didnt play last week. Leics responded from the Durham hammering by dropping Defreitas & picking the SA Charl Willoughby, who only landed today. Dont like Leics at all TBH, but wouldnt safely back Northants. Yorkshire 5/6 v Somerset 5/6 Chris Silverwood misses out through injury for Yorks, who struggled to a draw @ Essex last week. Sanath Jayasuriya plays for Somerset, who drew without him @ Lancs last time.

[swooperman]

Re: County Cricket Forgot to say, draw no bet on these odds

[rcgills]

Re: County Cricket Hi Swooperman, I'm potentially interested in betting on these matches, but I haven't really followed very closely what's gone on in the pre-season so don't feel I can really comment much at the moment. Once the season's a few weeks old, and I've had a chance to see what's been happening via Cricinfo (not easy keeping tabs on the cricket from Madrid:lol ), I might attempt to contribute my thoughts. Good luck with any picks you've taken for this week (well, apart from Warwickshire, being a Kent man myself:tongue2 ).

[zonker84]

Re: County Cricket I'm a regular with bets on the County Championship. Not so keen on betting on one-day games, but regularly bet on the four-day game. Didn't see any worthwhile bets this week. As for season bets, I know it's a bit late, but there weren't too many around I liked either. I fancy Essex to go well in Div2, and they were about 10/1 which wasn't bad, but yet to have my first domestic cricket bet of the season yet :)

[swooperman]

Re: County Cricket RCgills...yeah, I tried following from Madrid a couple of weeks ago & it wasnt easy at all. I had a draw no bet double on my system thread, Warwicks & Hampshire. Only Betfair that I can find offer the draw, & although its better odds there as 3 results, with the weather early doors I'm quite happy betting draw no bet TBH. I was going to take Worcester at Durham with Vaas but talked myself out of it & good job, Worcs were skittled for 171 & Durham are 133-2, Durham now 1/3, Worcs 2/1. Kent knocked up 334-9 but still dont think Warwicks will lose TBH. Hants did well bowling Sussex out for 252 & posting 65-1 in reply. Notts look to be in an interseting position though, 393-6 on day 1 v Middlesex at Lords.

[zonker84]

Re: County Cricket Which bookmaker are you using for the betting in-running Swooper? I remember a couple of years ago, a bookmaker called Sunderlands I think, was offering prices at the end of each day, but they only had a pretty poor website, and you had to phone up to place bets. I know Betfair do in-running, but the amounts available to match and the prices are usually pointless. With the weather, probably not too wise anyway :)

[evtherev]

Re: County Cricket warks cant bowl for shit from what i saw against glammy, we just cant bat for some reason, their batting is top notch, see loads of draws for them

[winbet]

Re: County Cricket Once the Uk footy season is over, my interest will turn more to cricket. Glad to se my team Notts have had a good first few days. Bit worried about our bowling attack but even that is doing ok so far. We bat right down the order and have what you would class as 3 all rounders. Our number 8 Paul Franks made a very good century today.

[swooperman]

Re: County Cricket Zonk, I use Stan James mostly. they had odds on all 6 games overnight after day 1, but seem to only be offering Kent/Warwicks & Sussex/Hants tonight, but I didnt look too hard so might be worth checking, but I certainly didnt see Bet365 offering anything in-running or overnight. Stan James still make Warwicks 8/11 favourites even though they collapsed a bit after a good start to 288-7, chasing 347 all out. Nick Knight tonned & Warwicks were 180-1. Notts put up 546 with Franks's ton as Win said, & Middlesex are in the mire at 167-6. Hants made 280 all out after being in grief early on, but Sussex moved on to 101-2, 73 ahead. Durham absolutely dicked Worcester by an innings. Northants scored 433-6 & Leicester are 69-0. After no play on day 1, Yorkshire rattled up 401-7 v Somerset with Ian Harvey unbeaten on 161.

[swooperman]

Re: County Cricket After day 3: Warwicks all out for 309, conceding a lead of 38. Kent on 308-6, Kent 2/9, Warwicks 11/4. Dont think Warwicks will lose this. Middlesex rallied to 345 ao, conceding 201, Notts batted again & declared on 212-5, Middlesex 8-0. Sussex were bowled out for 312 second time around, setting Hants 285, & they are 89-3, but Stan James somewhat bizarrley offer 2/1 Sussex, 1/3 Hampshire.....might have to have a go at that. Northants are 45-0 2nd time around after Leics scored 339. Yorks declared on 501-9, somoerset deep in the mire, bowled out for 182 & now 109-4.

[rcgills]

Re: County Cricket I'd agree with you on Warwickshire not losing - I'm yet to be convinced Kent have got enough strength in depth in their bowling - Khan and Patel seem to be doing OK, but not sure about the rest. Not sure Kent have got enough runs on the board just yet either, although I've no idea what the pitch is like, so don't know whether 347 would be a reasonable target to set or not.

[winbet]

Re: County Cricket Notts problem is going to be bowling teams out twice as our bowling attack lacks penetration. This was proving by allowing middlesex to put on 80 for their last wicket.

[swooperman]

Re: County Cricket Kent declared overnight, which is braver than I thought they'd be, & soon reduced Warwicks to 10-2, with the key wickets of Knight & Bell in the hutch. Now moved on to 43-2 in the 12th over, so run rate suggests they are looking at going for it. Need 347 for the win, which whilst an ask, is not massive in a county day. If any other team had lost those 2 so early I'd say shut up shop, but warwicks bat further down than most & I would still be surprised to see them lose this, unless its really close & they lose going for it at the death. Start delayed @ Sussex & Trent Bridge, so maybe destined for draws. Interesting that Stan James offered 2/1 on Sussex when they only lead by 197, but already had 3 wickets. with 2 new bats at the crease, although 1 is a night-watchman I think, I'd have thought they were an even shout myself.

[swooperman]

Re: County Cricket Warwicks 57-4, might not be too surprised to see them lose now!! Have seen this side in similar positions in recent years & come through it ok :hope

[rcgills]

Re: County Cricket Well Warks managed to hang on in the end, finished on 233/9, with the match a draw. The other Kent bowlers didn't do too bad in the end, Cusden and Cook managed 2 wickets each.

[swooperman]

Re: County Cricket Piece of piss, rc, I told you, never in danger of losing that :tongue2 :lol Didnt think they'd struggle TBH but there is an element of bully-boy in the warwicks batting, & Nick Knight very much sets the tone, so with him & bell gone so early they were a touch rudderless. liked my comment about batting deeper than most & then Giles & streak were removed, both for 0, in the blink of an eye!! :lol Fair play to Kent, but when you have the defending champs, whoever they might be, in that position you need to finish them off. Good start for you lot though rc :ok Middlesex drew with Notts, finishing on 158-2 chasing over 400, & Winbets comment on Notts penetration rings true. Good start for Fleming though :lol Sussex & Hants settled for a draw with Hants 18 adrift but 8 down on 267-8, honours even, Pietersen got 60-odd Northants drew with Leics & Yorkshire hammered Somerset by an innings & 44 runs in effectively 3 days after bowling them out for 275 second time around. Jayasuriya failed again. Tomorrows National League odds @ Stan James: Gloucs 4/9 v Northants 13/8 Middlesex 5/4 v Lancashire 4/7 Durham Evs v Surrey 8/11 Kent 1/2 v Leics 6/4 Sussex 2/5 v Derby 7/4 Yorkshire 1/2 v Somerset 6/4 Will have a look for team news, but at first glance, I'd say Durham might look a half decent shout at Evs at home if the England lads are playing, Middlesex will be up after coming out of the wrong end of the first couple of days against Notts in the 4-dayer, & Lancs were in trouble against Glamorgan last week when the rain intervened. Kent had conceded nearly 200 v Derbys last week when abandoned & not sure they should be as big favourites as that v leics. Got to fancy Sussex with Adams, Ward, Goodwin, Mushtaq & Kirtley versus Derby, who despite a half decent score v Kent last time, I still think theyre shite. Yorkshire have now scored big runs in a 4-dayer & the previous one of these, & just hammered Somerset in the championship, so theyve got to look good here, but not sure how big the boundaries were last week versus Surrey!!

[swooperman]

Re: County Cricket Couple of upsets for the odds compilers today: Northants held on to beat Gloucs by 9 runs after setting 202-7, Gloucs finishing on 193-8. My 2 fancies Middlesex & Durham came up trumps. Middlesex were in desperate trouble @ 37-6 v Lancs, but James Dalrymple pulled them up to 210-9, Lancs bowled out for 141, with Flintoff!. Durham, stuttering on 77-4, set Surrey 224-8, then without Harmy, bowled Surrey out for 86!! Leicester set Kent 214-8, but after rain Kent just achieved the D/L total by 6 runs, finishing on 150-4. Sussex brought home the points by posting 254-8 although looking like they should get more, Derby were set 205 off 32ovs after rain, & were bowled out for 203, brave attempt, maybe theyre not that shite after all..... Yorks overhauld Somersets 209-9 for the loss of 5 wickets.

[swooperman]

Re: County Cricket County Championship Week 3. Warwicks 8/15 v Middlesex 11/8 (DNB) Warwicks will field the same 11 plus SA Kolpak signing Dewald Pretorius, who shared overseas duties with Heath Streak last year. This can only help as Warwicks main problems are bowling sides out. There 5 wins last year was the lowest by a titla winning county, indeed, they picked up 1 bowling point less than Lancashire, who were relegated. Pretorius will probably play in place of Warren or possibly Carter. Ashley Giles is the man in form, with 2 x 5-fors so far. Middlesex include Scott Styris for his debut after coming through sundays match unscathed, & Nantie Hayward plays. Alan Richardson returns to his former county in form after a bagful last week. Middlesex have strong batting with Strauss, Smith, Joyce & Styris & should be a hard nut to crack, but again dont fancy Warwicks to lose here so I think I'm quite happy to back them on draw no bet, but with the weather this week not sure that there'll be enough play for a result. Glamorgan 5/4 v Surrey 4/7 Glamorgan miss Matthew Maynard, & he is replaced by Jon Hughes. Surrey have Ramprakash as captain as Butcher continues to recover from his wrist injury, Thorpe plays, but they also miss Bicknell, Mahmood & Salisbury for this game. Strange one this, as the odds are on reputation I think. Glamorgan got pummelled by Warwicks first up, & had no game in week 2, & both NL games have been abandoned, so theyre not in the best of touch. But Surrey are virtually unbackable at this price I feel, they drew with Sussex first up, then lost to Yorkshire in a high-scoring NL game, then (& I wouldnt normally take too much notice of this) they got turned over in 3 days by Bradford/Leeds Uni, & were then bowled out for 86 by a Harmison -free Durham. If Glamorgan had any form, I'd be on them here, but a definite swerve. Gloucs 11/8 v Kent 8/15. Gloucs will probably hand Upul Chandana his debut, which will boost them, & Greenidge is also in the running. Kent have Saggers back, & their 3 new players Van Jaarsveld (2 tons v Warwicks on debut) Cook & Stevens have all impressed. Kents new coach Graham Ford seems a real addition & had a very good record with SA. Gloucs havent started well, losing to Hants in the Championship & Northants in the NL, & have always been more of a one-day side. Kent looked impressive against Warwicks and, if the weather allows, should win here. Notts 5/6 v Sussex 5/6. Notts field the same side that drew with Middlesex in week 2, with Fleming needeing a decnt knock for confidence, but David Hussey looks a good signing. Sussex have Van Der Wath likely to debut. Difficult to split these 2, as the odds suggest. Both have decent batting sides, with Sussex's of Adams, Ward, Montgomerie, Goodwin, Yardy (2 tons already) & Prior looking particularly strong. The Sussex bowling looks stronger on paper as well, Martin-Jenkins, Van Der Wath, Davis, Mushtaq, Kirtley & Lewry looking more heavyweight than Notts Sidebottom, Greg Smith, Franks, Swann & Ealham. Not sure either side can get the 20 wickets required in 4 days never mind a likely weather-shortened affair so best to swerve, but Sussex if pushed. Derby 6/4 v Northants 8/15 Derby are @ full strength, as are Northants, & both sides play 4 seamers. Against anybody else I would go against Derby, they have 3 decent players in Di Venuto, Adnan & Welch, but the rest can flatter to deceive. Derby have not won a championship match @ home since May 2002 (22 games) & 14 of those have been defeats. Their record against Northants however is not that bad, won 3, lost 3 in the last 6, bearing in mind they do not have a positive win/loss ratio against any team in any competition since the 2 division split. Putting all this in english, if Derby are going to win a game this season, its going to be against this lot, so Northants are surely not worth 1/2. Somerset 11/8 v Essex 8/15 Somerset have Trescothick back after the birth of his son, & they need him. Jayasuriya hasnt scored anything since arriving, & they lost twice to Yorkshire last week. Essex add James Middlebrook to the side that drew with Yorkshire in week 1, then they beat Hants in the NL, but no game since as the NL game v Glamorgan was abandoned. Think Essex look stronger on paper here, with class, if ageing, in all departments. Not sure where Somersets wickets will come from if Caddick has a bad day, but its Caddick v Gough isnt it.....I fancy Essex here, but they look short. Worcs 11/10 v Lancs 4/6. Worcs have Kabir Ali back in for Matt Mason, & come here off a pummelling by Durham last week, after winning both games in week 1. lancs have Flintoff playing, & maybe also Muralitharan. Lancs drew with somerset in week 1 & lost to Middlesex after letting them recover from 37-6 on sunday. Flintoff will not bowl. Not really on this one, but wouldnt rule out Worcester, after all, with Vaas playing, theyve got as much chance of coping with Muri as anyone else.

[deets]

Re: County Cricket Brad Hodge probably debuting for Lancs tomorrow. This is a really strong team now with Flintoff in as well. Possibly Chilton, Loye, Law, Hodge, Flintoff, Hogg, Hegg, Mahmood, Keedy, Anderson and Murali. On paper strong enough to tackle any team in the country but we all know what can happen in cricket. Following this with interest Swooperman.

[swooperman]

Re: County Cricket I definetly saw that Mahmood was out with bad shins, Deets, but it was the BBC :( Anyway, Ive had doubles & trebles on warwicks, kent & essex on my 'cricketing Capers' thread in S&S

[zonker84]

Re: County Cricket Strongly disagree on Notts v Sussex Swooper. I think Notts have a very well-balanced team, who bat right down to number 10, and they'll be very hard to beat. Totesport had 6/5 on them a few hours ago, not sure if it's still there, but that's a good bet for me, as I'd slightly edge towards Notts. We shall see anyway :ok

[swooperman]

Re: County Cricket That Mahmood thing was wrong on my part, I looked at the wrong sheet of paper, it was Surreys Mahmood that has bad shins, sorry. Zonk, I dont dislike Notts, I think its a very tight match to call, with 2 decent batting sides, but I cant see where the 20 wickets are coming from TBH. This is backed up by the fact that they couldnt press home their advantage against Middlesex when in the driving seat, & Winbet, whos a Notts fan, said their bowling lacked the necessary penetration. The fact that Sussex have a class spinner in Mushtaq just swings it for me, but there you go.....too close to call.

[zonker84]

Re: County Cricket I'm not convinced by Sussex's bowling really, plus I think Notts have a deeper batting lineup. Swann isn't in MacGill's class as a bowler, but he adds a bit to the batting. I do think Notts are the more likely to win, I'd make is something like 53-47 in their favour, so odds of 6/5 stood out to me. 5/6 wouldn't have tempted me. I did win a lot from backing Notts last season, but Gallian was a useless tosser :lol I'm sure he lost at least 12 of the tosses in the Championship, which didn't matter so much in the weaker division. I hope Fleming can be more successful today, and make some runs too :ok Rain is forecast today and tomorrow though, so could well be getting my money back on that one, I suppose depends on what sort of wicket it is.

[zonker84]

Re: County Cricket Nope, Sussex won the toss and are batting :sad If you offered me 1.80 on Notts losing the toss, I could probably argue that it's value :lol

[swooperman]

Re: County Cricket Glamorgan are 236-9 v Surrey, with Wallace 84*, Hemp scored 53. Kent are 66-2 @ Gloucs in the 32 possible overs. Sussex are 116-2 in the 36.3 overs possible, with yardy & goodwin in the mid-30s. Warwicks are in trouble @ home, bowling Middlesex out for 298 after they were 56-4, the in-form Ed Joyce hit 92 & Scott Styris 53. Warwicks are 12-2, with Knight & Powell gone to old-boy Alan Richardson. Northants are 292-0 v Derby. Did I say dont touch Northants here?.....oops. In my defence I have quite often said Derby are shite!! Lancs bowled out for 196 & Worcs have replied with 59-1 with Hicky well set on 30-odd. Lancs look in trouble TBH. Somerset are 119-5 v Essex with Tresco & Jayasuriya both gone.

[swooperman]

Re: County Cricket Revised prices @ Stan James after day 1: Glamorgan 6/4 Surrey 1/2 Gloucs 5/4 Kent 4/7 Notts 5/6 Sussex 5/6 Warwicks 4/6 Middlesex 11/10 Worcs 5/6 Lancs 5/6 Somerset 7/4 Essex 2/5 I must say that that 6/4 on Glamorgan doesnt look too bad, 236 not a great score but Surrey arent confident at the moment, & if Wallace can extend that score in the morning then I dont think its a bad shout. The others I dont disagree with apart from Warwicks, I mean....I'm on them, Middlesex only have 298 but Warwicks are 12-2 ffs with arguably their best bat Nick Knight in the hutch!! Tempted with a cover there. Surprisingly, there are no odds on offer for Northants @ Derby......

[zonker84]

Re: County Cricket Don't see a problem for Warwickshire myself. Yes, they've lost 2 early wickets to the new ball, but they can certainly bat. Clearly if the Middlesex lower order could get some runs, the pitch isn't too bad. My money would be on Warwickshire taking a first innings lead, but we'll see :) Don't really see any worthwhile bets, Lancashire have had a nightmare, but the odds reflect this. It could be a dangerous game to be in-running when you've not seen any of the match on TV, as you've no idea how the pitch is playing and so on. Obviously you can read up on this, but still not ideal. Come on Notts (if it stops raining long enough) :ok

[swooperman]

Re: County Cricket Fair comments, Zonk :ok I just have this horrible feeling about Richardson going through Warwicks TBH, old boy & all that. Fair comment about going on not seen it though. Warwicks could well bat well & go past Middlesex but apart from Joyce & Styris there wasnt a lot scored, but we'll see.....I hope Notts do it for you mate. As a matter of interest, Zonk, you obviously rate the Notts bowling higher than me, but who do you think will regularly take wickets for them this year? Ive never been a great fan of Sidebottom, although I rate Smith, but Franks has never really impressed me either. Just interested in another view....

[zonker84]

Re: County Cricket I think Sidebottom performed OK last season (30 Championship wickets @ 28). Certainly having played for England, he has ability. Didn't do it often enough for Yorkshire, but certainly capable of turning it on. Notts rotated their seamers last season from game to game in the Championship, to keep everyone fresh. I think that Shreck has potential, although he missed this game injured. He took 29 wickets @ 27 last season. Will need to step it up against slightly better opposition, but from what I've seen and heard, he is OK and could improve. I like Swann as a player. He's never going to a be world class spinner, but he has England ambitions and will be looking to impress. Greg Smith is a solid player, but he is probably past his best, and does lack aggression at times. Ealham is a decent 5th bowling option, but is also probably past his best in bowling terms. Clearly Notts aren't blessed with loads of world-class bowlers, probably one bowler short of what they need to be honest, but I think they will do OK. If Fleming is as good a captain as people claim, he should be able to get the best out of these players. To be honest, my comments were more an indication of my lack of faith if Sussex's bowling attack. Kirtley is a solid performer, but Mushtaq hasn't looked the same force as a couple of years ago so far, and the others all have question marks hanging over them. I do think that Notts will follow the Warwickshire blueprint for success though. They'll not be bowling teams out for 100 very often, but they do bat a long way down. Franks and Swann each have more than one first-class century and come in at 8 and 9. The only downside will be if they persist with their rotation policy, and play games with Ealham or Franks rested in favour of Harris or Shreck. Can't see Notts losing many games though, as their batting should be good enough to make enough runs to draw most of the games they don't win. Shame that Pietersen left, which means they need Fleming to find some form to make up for his loss. It will be an interesting season, don't think Notts will win the title, but probably will end 3rd, 4th or 5th I reckon :ok

[swooperman]

Re: County Cricket After day 2: Glamorgan 250 all out. Surrey stuttering slightly on 162-4. No odds. Kent still batting on 339-6, Robert Key scored 164 being watched by Duncan Fletcher, Walker 107. Gloucs 5/2, Kent 1/4. Kent have to bowl Gloucs out twice though in 2 days. Sussex totalled 379, Notts 36-0 in reply Warwicks recovered well to close on 277-6, 21 adrift but Ian Bell is still in on 143. Warks 4/9, Middlesex 13/8. Northants stopped the slaughter on 451-7, the opening partnership worth 297, Derby are 132-4 in reply & in it deep. Worcs totalled 306, or rather Hick did, with 176!! Lancs 47-1, still 63 behind. Worcs 8/11, Lancs Evs. Somerset fell for 190 & Essex are 224-3, with 2 late wickets. Somerset 10/3, Essex 2/11.