Cricket: County Championship 2008

[kevshat]

Re: Cricket: County Championship 2008 Kent beat Surrey and although it looked like the rain might save Hampshire, it didn't in the end so I've just got the Prior place to show for this week. +2.5pts for the week and +7.68 for the season.

[kevshat]

Re: Cricket: County Championship 2008 The Championship resumes from a week's break for the one day knockout stuff tomorrow with Worcestershire vs Northants. I'm not betting on that but I should have a couple for Friday's matches although the weather could win.

Friday 11 July 2008	Home	Away	bookmakers margin on the event. However, they do not take account of commissions that may be charged.">BPP
Durham v Somerset (11:00BST)	1.66	2.50	100.00 %	Details »
Hide « Durham v Somerset
Hampshire v Lancashire (11:00BST)	2.50	1.64	100.98 %	Details »
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Kent v Yorkshire (11:00BST)	1.84	2.10	101.97 %	Details »
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Nottinghamshire v Surrey (11:00BST)	1.66	2.40	101.91 %	Details »

Thursday 10 July 2008	Home	Away	bookmakers margin on the event. However, they do not take account of commissions that may be charged.">BPP
Worcestershire v Northamptonshire (11:00BST)	1.72	2.30	101.37 %	Details »
Hide « Worcestershire v Northamptonshire
Friday 11 July 2008	Home	Away	bookmakers margin on the event. However, they do not take account of commissions that may be charged.">BPP
Derbyshire v Leicestershire (11:00BST)	2.10	1.90	100.25 %	Details »
Hide « Derbyshire v Leicestershire
Glamorgan v Essex (11:00BST)	2.75	1.53	101.58 %	Details »

My gut feeling is Northants are a big price but Stephen Peters is injured while they've called David Wigley back from his loan spell and that's my optimism on the Steelbacks gone :lol. It's the time of the season where I'm always out watching cricket so hopefully we can take off between now and the end of the season but we'll have to wait until Friday for bets this week!

[kevshat]

Re: Cricket: County Championship 2008 Knew I'd end up regretting not backing Northants. Anyway I'm going with 3 this week. 10pts Lancashire to beat Hampshire 8/13 Ladbrokes Hampshire are really struggling this season. Our batting lineup isn't firing too well and we are really missing the quality spin of Shane Warne. We also come into this match without an overseas player after attempts to sign Sohail Tanvir were thwarted by the PCB. Nantie Hayward is injured for this one so Rory Kleinveldt makes his debut. Lancashire are without Mal Loye but Andrew Flintoff does play what could be his last game of the season for Lancs if as expected he is called up by England next week. Iain Sutcliffe comes in for Loye. Gary Keedy is likely to come into this side after missing the twenty20 quarter final defeat on Tuesday. Neither team's batting is firing much at the minute but this is a seriously good Lancashire bowling attack at the minute and even though Hampshire have a pretty good one themselves, their young batting lineup could succumb to Lancashire and I'll take the visitors to leave the Rose Bowl with the win. 10pts Leicestershire to beat Derbyshire 5/6 Ladbrokes Leicestershire were woeful against Worcestershire last time out but Derbyshire weren't much better against Essex. It was Leicester's batsmen who let them down but generally that doesn't happen too often. Batting is Derbyshire's problem in the fact they don't score many runs and while the likes of Charl Langeveldt and Graham Wagg are good with the ball, they always have too much to do. Chris Rogers returns for the hosts here having been off for a few weeks resting. Leicestershire should have Dillon du Preez back from an ankle injury while on loan Tom Smith will also play. Leicestershire were going really well in this before the twenty20 break. They were poor last week but I think they can bounce back here. 10pts Middlesex to beat Gloucestershire 4/6 Ladbrokes Middlesex have Owais Shah back in their side and they'll be buzzing with confidence after their twenty20 win over Lancashire on Tuesday. Star of the show that day, Dawid Malan could well open up for the Crusaders here. Steven Finn keeps his place in the bowling attack which won't have Shaun Udal after he injured his knee on Tuesday. Gloucestershire are still struggling with injuries. They do have Alex Gidman fit again though as is Kadeer Ali. Craig Spearman is out injured and Steve Adshead is also out although I'm not certain that's through injury. Loan signings Andrew Harris and David Wigley both went back to their clubs earlier in the week which means Lewis, Kirby and Hardinges will lead a weak bowling attack. Middlesex are the stronger side here. They are batting well and now have the firepower to bowl sides out and I'll take the Londoners to win this.

[kevshat]

Re: Cricket: County Championship 2008 A profitable but seriously frustrating week in the Championship for me this week. Lancashire won easily enough but Gloucestershire's last 2 batted out the last 22 overs to deny me the Middlesex win and Leicester were 18 runs short of beating Derby when they ran out of time. Really annoying but it's a 6.15pt profit this week which makes it +13.83pts for the season. The Championship returns on Wednesday.

[kevshat]

Re: Cricket: County Championship 2008 The next round of Championship matches begin tomorrow.

Wednesday 16 July 2008	Home	Away	bookmakers margin on the event. However, they do not take account of commissions that may be charged.">BPP
Somerset v Kent (11:00BST)	1.90	2.00	102.63 %	Details »
Hide « Somerset v Kent
Surrey v Durham (11:00BST)	2.30	1.73	101.28 %	Details »
Hide « Surrey v Durham
Sussex v Hampshire (11:00BST)	1.73	2.30	101.28 %	Details »
Hide « Sussex v Hampshire

Wednesday 16 July 2008	Home	Away	bookmakers margin on the event. However, they do not take account of commissions that may be charged.">BPP
Middlesex v Warwickshire (11:00BST)	1.75	2.37	99.25 %	Details »
Hide « Middlesex v Warwickshire
Northamptonshire v Derbyshire (11:00BST)	1.70	2.37	100.93 %	Details »
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Thursday 17 July 2008	Home	Away	bookmakers margin on the event. However, they do not take account of commissions that may be charged.">BPP
Worcestershire v Glamorgan (11:00BST)	1.52	3.00	99.12 %	Details »

Weather should be good this week. I'm going with 3 initially. 10pts Hampshire to beat Sussex (DNB) 13/10 Boylesports Hampshire go to Hove in bottom spot in the table but they are only 5pts behind 7th placed Sussex. The defending champions are struggling somewhat this term while Hampshire were expected to struggle. The Hawks come into this match off the back of a defeat to Lancashire last week but they played well in that match aside from one innings. Sussex have had a week off to prepare for this match. The week off hasn't really helped Sussex though because they will be without Mushtaq for this one after he had exploratory knee surgery. Luke Wright twanged a finger in fielding practice so he too misses out. That means Sussex will have no overseas player as Dwayne Smith has left now. Their batting lineup, aside from Goodwin and Prior isn't in great nick and the bowling attack looks weak without Mushy in the ranks. Hampshire don't have an overseas player either but Chris Tremlett won't be dashing up and down motorways this time so that's a positive. Nantie Hayward could still be out with his injury so Rory Kleinveldt looks like keeping his place. Michael Carberry will be looking for a score after his pair last week. In fact Hampshire's whole lineup will be looking for scores as none of them have scored big hundreds yet this season. Mascarenhas is in good touch with the ball and he'll join Tremlett, Kleinveldt and Tomlinson in the pace attack with Greg Lamb offering a spin option. There isn't much between these two sides both in makeup or in form and although Sussex have home advantage they are a massively different side without Mushtaq and for that reason I'm happy to side with the Hawks in this relegation clash. 10pts Kent to beat Somerset (DNB) Evs Blue Square Kent come into this side going well in all competitions. They've made the FP final and finals day in the twenty20 and they sit 3rd in the Championship having won their last two 4 day matches. Somerset predictably have a lot of draws to their name but will be looking over their shoulder at the result at Hove should they lose here. Somerset baffle me. They've got a good batting lineup and play on the best wicket in the country yet they've still only gone past 450 once in a 1st innings this season and they still didn't win that match. That shows they don't have the firepower to bowl teams out. Trescothick, Langer, Hildreth and Blackwell are all quality batsmen and can destroy any side when they want to but as I said they don't seem to do it. Caddick returns for this match but I don't think even he can get Somerset to bowl sides out regularly. Kent are buzzing at the minute and they'll bring Ryan McLaren back for this match, possibly in place of Azhar Mahmood. Darren Stevens could be missing with injury and he'll be replaced by Matt Walker if he doesn't make it. Rob Key and Joe Denly continue one of the best opening partnerships in the country while Yasir Arafat is 3rd in the PCA MVP rankings with Kent batsman Martin van Jaarsveld, who is in excellent form, on top of that list. Kent are going really well and although at some point a bit of fatigue might step in I still think they should be favourites to win here. A lot of the time people are reluctant to bet on matches at Taunton as the common thought is there's never a result here. That's not true though so I'll take Kent DNB. 10pts Northants to beat Derbyshire (DNB) 4/6 Ladbrokes The weather worked in different ways for these sides last week. Northants were denied a likely win over Worcestershire by the rain while Derby were probably saved from defeat by it. Northants and Derbyshire have identical records in terms of results in the Championship this season but Northants have 10 more batting points which says a lot. The Steelbacks will leave Stephen Peters and Johann Louw out of the side while Monty Panesar is on international duty. Jason Brown and Nicky Boje will provide the necessary spin options. David Sales and Rob White will join Niall O'Brien in the top 3 while Andrew Hall is expected to be fit to play. Johannes van der Wath and Lance Klusener give Nicky Boje all round options. Derbyshire are still without Tom Lungley which is combatted by the form of Graham Wagg and Charl Langeveldt but they need some assistance. The lack of a top notch spinner won't help Derbyshire either. Chris Rogers returns to his old club while Wavell Hinds plays spin well so should go well. Derby have only earnt 13 batting points from 8 matches though so it's easy to see where their problems lie. I can't get away from that last stat. Northants bat all the way down and the runs keep coming. They have so many bowling options too that I believe they'll just be too strong for Derbyshire at Wantage Rd.

[kevshat]

Re: Cricket: County Championship 2008 Bad week this week. Captain's frustrate me. Surely Rob Key is experienced enough to know one thing you don't do is stick Somerset in at Taunton on a sunny day. They put up over 400 on that 1st day and that was that. Hampshire's batting was non existant but to have a side 28/4 and lose by 10 wickets isn't easy. Luckily the weather saved me at Northants where I got out with a draw. -20 for the week though so -6.17pts overall now.

[kevshat]

Re: Cricket: County Championship 2008

Tuesday 22 July 2008	Home	Away	bookmakers margin on the event. However, they do not take account of commissions that may be charged.">BPP
Lancashire v Hampshire (11:00BST)	1.53	3.00	98.55 %	Details »
Hide « Lancashire v Hampshire
Nottinghamshire v Yorkshire (11:00BST)	1.72	2.35	100.45 %	Details »

Tuesday 22 July 2008	Home	Away	bookmakers margin on the event. However, they do not take account of commissions that may be charged.">BPP
Essex v Gloucestershire (11:00BST)	1.50	3.00	100.00 %	Details »
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Middlesex v Worcestershire (11:00BST)	1.90	2.10	100.25 %	Details »
Hide « Middlesex v Worcestershire
Northamptonshire v Leicestershire (11:00BST)	1.80	2.26	99.80 %	Details »
Hide « Northamptonshire v Leicestershire

Just one for me. Just lost a big writeup which I'm not typing out again so a shorter preview for me. 10pts Worcestershire to beat Middlesex (DNB) 11/10 Totesport Worcestershire come into this match high on confidence after their win over Glamorgan last week sent them 2nd in the table. Middlesex lost by an innings last week and were thrashed on Sunday in the Pro40. They have bigger fish to fry than this match this week too. Andrew Strauss is missing for Middlesex who may well bring Billy Godleman and David Nash back into their side. Worcestershire will name the same side which wil include Simon Jones. With Middlesex bound to be having an eye on finals day and the reward for beating Glamorgan or Durham they can't possibly be totally focused on this match and so I'll go with Worcestershire here.

[kevshat]

Re: Cricket: County Championship 2008 Next round of fixtures begin tomorrow. Just doing the housecleaning I didn't do before I went to finals day. Worcestershire thrashed Middlesex to give me +11 for last week and +4.83 overall now.

Wednesday 30 July 2008	Home	Away	bookmakers margin on the event. However, they do not take account of commissions that may be charged.">BPP
Kent v Hampshire (11:00BST)	1.58	2.55	102.51 %	Details »
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Nottinghamshire v Durham (11:00BST)	2.15	1.90	98.89 %	Details »
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Sussex v Somerset (11:00BST)	2.10	1.90	100.00 %	Details »
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Yorkshire v Surrey (11:00BST)	1.66	2.40	101.67 %	Details »

Wednesday 30 July 2008	Home	Away	bookmakers margin on the event. However, they do not take account of commissions that may be charged.">BPP
Derbyshire v Northamptonshire (11:00BST)	2.15	1.80	102.07 %	Details »
Hide « Derbyshire v Northamptonshire
Essex v Glamorgan (11:00BST)	1.37	3.80	99.31 %	Details »
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Gloucestershire v Worcestershire (11:00BST)	2.62	1.60	100.60 %	Details »
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Leicestershire v Warwickshire (11:00BST)	2.62	1.62	99.82 %	Details »

I'm going with 2 this week. 10pts Surrey to beat Yorkshire (DNB) 5/4 Ladbrokes Two relegation threatened sides meet at Headingley Carnegie here as 7th placed Yorkshire entertain bottom of the table Surrey. Surrey haven't actually won a game yet this season but by the same token they've only lost 3 from 9. Yorkshire have lost their last 3 to go along with their other troubles from the twenty20. As if their recent form wasn't bad enough for Yorkshire, they come into this one without Matthew Hoggard, Rana Naved and Anthony McGrath who are all injured. Michael Vaughan is with England. Darren Gough returns to captain the side but how fit he is remains to be seen. With no McGrath, Yorkshire's batting lineup which looked a batsman light anyway looks very poor now. Surrey will have Matt Nicholson and Saqlain Mushtaq back from injury for this match but the game comes too soon for Mark Butcher. Mark Ramprakash will continue to captain the side. Chris Schofield is out with injury so Spriegel and Saqlain will be the spin options. Jade Dernbach looks like the player most likely to make way for Nicholson. Surrey are getting back to full strength. They'll miss Butcher's runs still but they still have a decent batting lineup. Yorkshire don't and they have 2 very good bowlers out. Surrey don't lose many but I'll take a chance they can open their account for the season with a win here. 10pts Warwickshire to win 1st Inns vs Leicestershire 8/11 Ladbrokes Leicestershire haven't hit 200 in the 1st innings of a Championship match since the twenty20 break which isn't good going. Even before that they were having to rescue themselves from situations like 4/4 at one stage against Essex so they are having real troubles with the bat despite a really strong looking lineup on paper. Warwickshire don't have that problem. They've passed 300 in every 1st innings in their last 7 matches. Being unbeaten in the Championship so far this season seems to have given them great confidence and despite missing Ian Bell and Tim Ambrose they are still scoring good runs. Jon Trott and Darren Maddy have been in good form as has Tony Frost. Carter, Botha and Salisbury can all bat so Warwickshire bat right down to number 9. They've just thrashed Leicestershire in Pro40 and I'll take them to lead after the 1st innings.

[winbet]

Re: Cricket: County Championship 2008 I agree with both your picks Kev, though games may well be weather effected. Notts are a good shout as well: Broad has been cleared to play, from lunch time today anyway (barring injuries at Edgbaston.) Shreck, and Ealham in good form, pattinson back to play at a swinging Trent Bridge. May well get a result here even if we lose a days play. Harmy for Durham, Plunkett, possibly Onions too! Notts at around 11/10 (draw no bet) is the pick at totesport.

[kevshat]

Re: Cricket: County Championship 2008 Leicestershire decided to pick tihs game to score as many in one 1st innings as they did in their last 3 :wall:wall. So that lost but Surrey held out for a draw comfortably enough so -10 for the week and now -5.17 overall.

[kevshat]

Re: Cricket: County Championship 2008

Wednesday 6 August 2008	Home	Away	bookmakers margin on the event. However, they do not take account of commissions that may be charged.">BPP
Durham v Kent (11:00BST)	1.66	2.40	101.67 %	Details »
Hide « Durham v Kent
Hampshire v Yorkshire (11:00BST)	2.14	1.90	99.36 %	Details »
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Lancashire v Sussex (11:00BST)	1.70	2.40	100.49 %	Details »
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Somerset v Nottinghamshire (11:00BST)	1.90	2.10	100.00 %	Details »

Wednesday 6 August 2008	Home	Away	bookmakers margin on the event. However, they do not take account of commissions that may be charged.">BPP
Glamorgan v Middlesex (11:00BST)	2.62	1.57	101.73 %	Details »
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Gloucestershire v Leicestershire (11:00BST)	2.30	1.73	101.28 %	Details »
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Worcestershire v Derbyshire (11:00BST)	1.44	3.10	101.49 %	Details »
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Thursday 7 August 2008	Home	Away	bookmakers margin on the event. However, they do not take account of commissions that may be charged.">BPP
Warwickshire v Northamptonshire (11:00BST)	1.62	2.50	101.73 %	Details »

I'm going with just one to begin with. Although it's at Manchester so I'm not sure how much play there will be :lol. 10pts Sussex to beat Lancashire (DNB) 11/8 Totesport Sussex head up to Manchester to take on Lancashire with only 1pt between them in the Championship table. Lancashire drew with Hampshire last time out while Sussex drew their last match against Somerset. Lancashire won the reverse fixture between these two at Hove. Lancashire will go into this match without Mal Loye who has a back problem again. Andrew Flintoff and Jimmy Anderson are away with England so they don't play. Iain Sutcliffe is in the squad for Loye while Kyle Hogg is added to the squad but looks the man likely to miss out from the 12. Stuart Law continues to captain the side. Sussex welcome Mushtaq Ahmed back into their side. Matt Prior and Luke Wright may well be playing their last Championship match for a while having been called up for England. Carl Hopkinson is likely to go up to open alongside Michael Yardy. Will Beer returns from England under 19 duty for Chris Adams' men. Mushtaq Ahmed could be the difference here. I'm still nowhere near convinced Lancashire have a batting lineup and that's something Susse definitely do have with Martin-Jenkins possibly coming in at number 8 here. It will turn for Mushy up at Old Trafford and I think he can inspire the defending champions to pick up a win here.

[Spooner]

Re: Cricket: County Championship 2008

Sport	Cricket
Event	Durham v Kent (Day 3, Start time 11:00am)
Selection	Durham
Strength	10/10
Date	08/08/2008
Bookmaker/Price	Ladbrokes @ 1.40 (Back)
Reasoning	Current state of play at the end of Day 2 Durham 146 & 108 Kent 78 & 116-8 Kent are really struggling here, There last hope is (van Jaarsveld 46 Not Out) which is the highest score of the game. Kent need another 61 to win the game and I just cant see them getting it on this wicket with only 2 wickets left. Even if van Jaarsveld stays in, You can see the other two wickets going pretty quickly. The price of 2/5 doesn't exactly excite you in anyway but at the state of play this looks a good bet.

[kevshat]

Re: Cricket: County Championship 2008 Nice one Spooner. Don't think Rob Key was too pleased though :lol. Weather beat me today with Sussex looking like certain victors had they got on the pitch today. Stakes back this week so it's as you were going into next week.

[kevshat]

Re: Cricket: County Championship 2008

Tuesday 12 August 2008	Home	Away	bookmakers margin on the event. However, they do not take account of commissions that may be charged.">BPP
Durham v Nottinghamshire (11:00BST)	1.75	2.37	99.25 %	Details »
Hide « Durham v Nottinghamshire
Lancashire v Yorkshire (11:00BST)	1.66	2.50	100.24 %	Details »
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Somerset v Surrey (11:00BST)	1.57	2.60	102.10 %	Details »

Tuesday 12 August 2008	Home	Away	bookmakers margin on the event. However, they do not take account of commissions that may be charged.">BPP
Warwickshire v Essex (10:45BST)	1.75	2.24	101.79 %	Details »
Hide « Warwickshire v Essex
Derbyshire v Middlesex (11:00BST)	2.15	1.85	100.57 %	Details »
Hide « Derbyshire v Middlesex
Glamorgan v Gloucestershire (11:00BST)	1.94	1.95	102.83 %	Details »

Not sure how much play we'll get in these games but I'm going with 2. 10pts Durham to beat Nottinghamshire (DNB) 8/11 Ladbrokes The top 2 do battle at the Riverside this week as Durham in 2nd entertain Notts who are top as the minute. Only 1pt stands between them though so this is a vital match. All eyes will be on the pitch after Robert Key's outburst about it last week. Durham will be without Paul Collingwood and Steve Harmison who have been rested by the ECB. The good lord only knows why Harmison can't play because he doesn't play one day cricket anymore. Durham didn't miss Harmison last week though with Mark Davies coming in and taking wickets. Shivnerine Chanderpaul is the star man in the Dynamos batting lineup but Di Venuto, Smith and Benkenstein are all capable of scoring runs. Notts will be without Stuart Broad and Ryan Sidebottom who have also both been rested by the ECB. Samit Patel is also unavailable as he'll be playing for the England Lions side on Thursday. Matt Wood will come into the middle order in his place. Chris Read is fit again and will skipper the side while Adam Voges plays his last match of the summer. Charlie Shreck and Darren Pattinson will lead the seam attack. Durham are just beginning to get on a roll and are usually very tough to beat with their seam attack on the Riverside wicket. Notts are missing one or two and I think Durham look the safer option here. 10pts Warwickshire to beat Essex (DNB) 8/11 Blue Square 2nd in the Division 2 table Warwickshire play 4th placed Essex at Edgbaston with the Bears knowing that a decent win will send them top of the table and really strengthen their promotion claims. This is almost must win time for Essex if they want promotion but I would expect them to have more than one eye on their Lords final on Saturday. Warwickshire will be at full strength for this one excluding their England players who they've been without all summer. Ian Bell is being rested by England as is Tim Ambrose although again, why he is being rested is anyone's guess as he isn't the England one day squad either. Chris Martin and Chris Woakes are in the squad as is Boyd Rankin after being out for a while. Darren Maddy, Ian Westwood, Jon Trott and Jim Troughton have all been in good form with the bat this summer. Essex will be without England duo Alastair Cook and Ravi Bopara. Cook's being rested while Bopara is with the England Lions squad. Varun Chopra is likely to come in for Bopara who is a big loss for Essex with the form he is in. Graham Napier and David Masters have been very good with the ball this season while Danish Kaneria is always a danger. Essex are likely to have one eye on Saturday, it's impossible not to, especially after Kent did them in the twenty20 semi finals. Warwickshire have gone along under the radar this season but have played some really good cricket and I'll take them to see off Essex here.

[kevshat]

Re: Cricket: County Championship 2008 Two draws last week. This competition is getting frustrating now. We can't find a break in the weather to get any results :wall:wall.

Tuesday 19 August 2008	Home	Away	bookmakers margin on the event. However, they do not take account of commissions that may be charged.">BPP
Hampshire v Somerset (11:00BST)	2.30	1.72	101.37 %	Details »
Hide « Hampshire v Somerset
Wednesday 20 August 2008	Home	Away	bookmakers margin on the event. However, they do not take account of commissions that may be charged.">BPP
Kent v Lancashire (11:00BST)	2.00	1.90	102.38 %	Details »
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Surrey v Sussex (11:00BST)	2.37	1.72	100.00 %	Details »

Tuesday 19 August 2008	Home	Away	bookmakers margin on the event. However, they do not take account of commissions that may be charged.">BPP
Gloucestershire v Northamptonshire (11:00BST)	2.30	1.69	102.65 %	Details »
Hide « Gloucestershire v Northamptonshire
Wednesday 20 August 2008	Home	Away	bookmakers margin on the event. However, they do not take account of commissions that may be charged.">BPP
Essex v Worcestershire (11:00BST)	2.10	1.80	103.17 %	Details »
Hide « Essex v Worcestershire
Middlesex v Leicestershire (11:00BST)	1.57	2.50	103.64 %	Details »

Of the two matches tomorrow I like the outsiders in both but weather and team news isn't great. I might see how day one goes and try and get a bet on then. I'll come back tomorrow with Wednesday's bets if I have any.

[kevshat]

Re: Cricket: County Championship 2008 I'm going to go with one tomorrow. 10pts Kent to beat Lancashire (DNB) 10/11 Coral Kent come into this match in 7th place in the table and Lancashire are 4th but there are only actually 9pts between the two such is the tightness of this division. Kent stuttered a bit in the lead up to the FP final which I would imagine was a reaction to losing the twenty20 final but the way they beat Derbyshire on Monday suggests the hangover is over. Lancashire have been frustrated by rain in recent weeks and haven't been on the park much. Kent will have Darren Stevens and Justin Kemp back for this match but Azhar Mahmood and Yasir Arafat are unlikely to play. Robbie Joseph will play after his matchwinning haul on Monday. Lancashire have recalled Mark Chilton to replace Iain Sutcliffe who suddenly retired last week. James Anderson and Andrew Flintoff are on England duty. I think Kent are the better side of these two. I can't be backing Lancashire with such a weak top 6. Kent bat all the way down and are probably stronger in the top 6 than Lancashire and at Canterbury, runs will probably be the key. For that reason I'll side with the Spitfires.

[kevshat]

Re: Cricket: County Championship 2008 Kent won that pretty easily. It was nice to get 4 days of cricket in. +9.09pts for the week and up to +3.92pts for the championship season with 4 weeks of the season left.

[TheRat]

Re: Cricket: County Championship 2008 Well done Kev Back into the black stuff!! We completed a good chase of 347 today. Should really get promo now

[kevshat]

Re: Cricket: County Championship 2008 Cheers mate. Been a struggle with the weather and a bit of bad luck having at least 2 certain wins washed out on the last day but I've kept going. Hopefully I can finish well. Your next match is the big one. Beat Warks and you're up. Lose and it's squeaky bum time :lol.

[mdivenuto]

Re: Cricket: County Championship 2008 I dont normally back teams that have won 0 games all season, and I especially dont back teams called Surrey. However, I am breaking these rules for.. Surrey to beat Lancs 11/8 Coral Lancs seem all over the shop. Challenging for the title 2 weeks ago they seem to have lost interest and the question marks about their top order remain. Surrey with Rampsforcash back inform are no great shakes in my opinion but at the price seem worthy of a wager

[mdivenuto]

Re: Cricket: County Championship 2008 kiss of death, max oram tips up surrey

[kevshat]

Re: Cricket: County Championship 2008

kiss of death' date=' max oram tips up surrey[/quote'] He's on form now mate :lol. At least the day of rain looks to have saved you from the loss mate so you should get your cash back at worst :ok.

[kevshat]

Re: Cricket: County Championship 2008

Tuesday 9 September 2008	Home	Away	bookmakers margin on the event. However, they do not take account of commissions that may be charged.">BPP
Somerset v Durham (10:30BST)	2.00	1.90	102.38 %	Details »
Hide « Somerset v Durham
Surrey v Hampshire (10:30BST)	1.90	2.10	100.00 %	Details »

Tuesday 9 September 2008	Home	Away	bookmakers margin on the event. However, they do not take account of commissions that may be charged.">BPP
Leicestershire v Gloucestershire (10:30BST)	1.90	2.20	98.09 %	Details »
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Northamptonshire v Essex (10:30BST)	1.85	2.10	101.67 %	Details »
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Wednesday 10 September 2008	Home	Away	bookmakers margin on the event. However, they do not take account of commissions that may be charged.">BPP
Glamorgan v Worcestershire (10:30BST)	2.90	1.50	101.15 %	Details »

Not sure how much play we'll get but I'll go with two starting tomorrow. Taking on two sides who are yet to win this season. 10pts Hampshire to beat Surrey (DNB) 11/10 Totesport Hampshire come into this match having played some really good cricket, particularly in the last 6 weeks or so. In fact they are probably the form team in the division at the minute. Surrey haven't won a match in this competition all season and yet somehow Totesport have them clear favourites. Surrey welcome Shoaib Akthar into their side for the rest of the season. I would imagine he's the sole reason Surrey are favourites but he hasn't done much at the other counties he has played for in county cricket and I don't really see him starting now. Mark Ramprakash, back to scoring runs in hundreds will continue to skipper a side whose batting has come on again but whose bowling continues to be woeful. Hampshire will be back to full strength for this match. Chris Tremlett is back from England duty while Michael Brown and John Crawley have recovered from back injuries. Key to Hampshire's recent success has been the leg spinner Imran Tahir and I would expect him to go well at The Oval. Liam Dawson is another reason and he could have a good match too. Hampshire are a much stronger side than Surrey. Perhaps not overall in the batting although if their big players fire they can more than hold their own but the old saying goes you don't win matches if you can't take 20 wickets. Hampshire definitely can and the fact Surrey are still winless suggests they can't. It's Hampshire for me here. 10pts Leicestershire to beat Gloucestershire (DNB) 5/6 Betfred Neither of these sides are in any form but Gloucestershire have played 13 matches and are still looking for their 1st win in this competition. Immediately that says to me they shouldn't be the same price as Leicestershire. Leicestershire were done in two days by Essex last time out but they've struggled against Essex all summer so I'll let them have that one. They did draw with Middlesex before that making over 500 in the process. Gloucestershire haven't been helped much by the weather and have drawn their last 4. Leicestershire will give a debut to Lee Daggett who has been signed on loan from Warwickshire. Sam Cliff will make way with Dillon du Preez and Nadeem Malik forming the seam attack. Young batsmen James Taylor and Josh Cobb are likely to get another chance alongside the experienced HD Ackerman. Gloucestershire come into this match without an overseas player after Marcus North went home to prepare for the Aussie season. Craig Spearman is out as well with his injury. Anthony Ireland could come into the bowling attack which is likely to include ex-England spinner Richard Dawson. Will Porterfield will open the batting for the Gladiators who are another side who can't bowl teams out. I think Leicestershire are the better of these sides and the more likely to get 20 wickets, especially on home soil and with that in mind along with the fact Gloucestershire haven't won a game yet this season I'll go with the Foxes here.

[kevshat]

Re: Cricket: County Championship 2008 Hampshire won by an innings to go top of the table although pretty much the whole division are still within touching distance :(. +11 for the week as Leicester drew so back up to +5.83pts with two weeks to go.

[kevshat]

Re: Cricket: County Championship 2008

Wednesday 17 September 2008	Home	Away	bookmakers margin on the event. However, they do not take account of commissions that may be charged.">BPP
Durham v Sussex (10:30BST)	1.66	2.50	100.00 %	Details »
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Lancashire v Kent (10:30BST)	2.10	1.90	100.00 %	Details »
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Surrey v Nottinghamshire (10:30BST)	2.80	1.53	100.93 %	Details »
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Yorkshire v Somerset (10:30BST)	2.14	1.83	101.27 %	Details »

Wednesday 17 September 2008	Home	Away	bookmakers margin on the event. However, they do not take account of commissions that may be charged.">BPP
Derbyshire v Gloucestershire (10:30BST)	1.78	2.22	101.22 %	Details »
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Essex v Warwickshire (10:30BST)	2.15	1.80	102.07 %	Details »
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Glamorgan v Leicestershire (10:30BST)	1.95	2.00	101.28 %	Details »
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Worcestershire v Middlesex (10:30BST)	1.66	2.50	100.00 %	Details »

I'm going with 2 on the penultimate week of the season. 10pts Kent to beat Lancashire (DNB) 10/11 Boylesports Both these sides can still go down but Kent can still win the title so both will be keen to win this. Both will need to get over big disappointments in the Pro40 at the weekend too. Kent are the better side here though even though they've decided not to play Neil Dexter. Lancashire's batting is woeful. It's nothing like strong enough to be in division 1 and with a young bowling attack I can only see a Kent win here given their strength in both departments right through their team. 10pts Warwickshire to beat Essex (DNB) 5/6 Totesport Warwickshire will be promoted if they win here which is a big incentive and they will also give themselves a chance of winning the title next week too. Essex are unlikely to go up but have to win this to have any chance. They will be without Graham Napier who's leg is knackered after the injury he picked up in the Pro40 on Saturday while Danish Kaneria's season ended through injury weeks ago. Ravi Bopara is available but Alastair Cook has been ordered to rest. Warwickshire will be without Ian Westwood but could give a debut to Rikki Clarke. Essex are generally a one day side while all season long Warwickshire have pinned their season on returning to Div 1 in the Championship. They haven't been beaten yet this season and I think they'll see Essex off here.

[yves]

Re: Cricket: County Championship 2008 can anyone tell me how the warwickshire pick is going ? thanks!

[Sharpe1ne]

Re: Cricket: County Championship 2008

can anyone tell me how the warwickshire pick is going ? thanks!

Essex are currently 232-5 on what sounds like a good batting wicket.

[yves]

Re: Cricket: County Championship 2008 thanks, so who won in the end?

[kevshat]

Re: Cricket: County Championship 2008

thanks' date=' so who won in the end?[/quote'] Nobody yet, it isn't due to finish until Saturday. Warwickshire are 71/1 at lunch on day 2 chasing Essex's 341 in the 1st innings. Kent well ahead at Blackpool and really shouldn't lose from here.

[kevshat]

Re: Cricket: County Championship 2008 Kent should've have lost from there but they did :wall. Warwickshire won though to keep the loss for the week to a small one. -1.67 for the week but still +4.16 for the season. Final round of fixtures begin on Wednesday.