Cricket: County Championship 2008

[kevshat]

Re: Cricket: County Championship 2008 The final round of matches begin tomorrow. My beloved Hampshire are involved in the TV game. Mathematically we can still win the title but realistically it's between Notts, Durham and Somerset. Warwickshire just need 4pts to win Division 2.

Wednesday 24 September 2008	Home	Away	bookmakers margin on the event. However, they do not take account of commissions that may be charged.">BPP
Kent v Durham (10:30BST)	2.38	1.70	100.84 %	Details »
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Nottinghamshire v Hampshire (10:30BST)	1.60	2.58	101.26 %	Details »
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Somerset v Lancashire (10:30BST)	1.72	2.37	100.00 %	Details »
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Sussex v Yorkshire (10:30BST)	1.72	2.35	100.45 %	Details »

Wednesday 24 September 2008	Home	Away	bookmakers margin on the event. However, they do not take account of commissions that may be charged.">BPP
Gloucestershire v Essex (10:30BST)	2.60	1.60	100.96 %	Details »
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Leicestershire v Derbyshire (10:30BST)	2.25	1.90	96.83 %	Details »
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Northamptonshire v Middlesex (10:30BST)	2.00	2.00	100.00 %	Details »
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Warwickshire v Glamorgan (10:30BST)	1.53	2.80	101.07 %	Details »

I'm going with 4 this week. I've been priced in on Hampshire. Especially after Notts beginning to get a bottlers tag. 2 bets in the TV game and 2 away from it. I'll do the TV game bets 1st. 10pts Hampshire to beat Nottinghamshire (DNB) 6/4 VC Both these sides can still win the Championship although Notts need only 4 bonus points to deny Hampshire a shot at winning it. Even should that happen though I don't expect Hampshire to ease off as finishing 2nd after being wrote off by every before a ball was bowled would be a great finish. Nottinghamshire had the Pro40 in the back of the hands but failed to bring it home. If they get bowled out cheaply surely those memories will return. Notts have everyone who is available to them fit. Ryan Sidebottom and Stuart Broad are being rested by England which means Charlie Shreck and Darren Pattinson will again lead the bowling attack. Ashwell Prince plays his last game for the county with David Hussey to return next season. Graeme Swann and Samit Patel are both available as Notts look likely to play the same side which battered Surrey last week. Hampshire will be without leg spinner Imran Tahir who has been such an influential player for them. Liam Dawson will perform the spin duties. Chris Tremlett is fit to take his place in what looks like being a four man bowling attack. John Crawley could take his place in the middle order which would boost the Hawks who could have Michael Brown playing his last game for the club. Hampshire have won a lot of matches recently. That was in part down to Tahir but you'd think Hampshire's seamers will like conditions at Trent Bridge so the Hawks should cope without him. Either way this is a massive overreaction to the loss of Tahir by VC. Notts are a good side but as I've intimated they do wobble with the winning line in sight. In an ideal world Hampshire will restrict Notts to less than 4 bonus points to keep their title hopes alive but if they don't I still think there's plenty of value in an away win. 5pts ew N.Pothas Top Hampshire Batsman 8/1 Coral (1st Inns Only) (1/5 1,2,3) Nic Pothas hasn't had the best of seasons with the bat. That's an understatement actually but he came good in Hampshire's last game with an excellent 137. He's usually the type of batsman who goes on a run of form too which is good for us here. He's also a gutsy character and often comes good when Hampshire really need him, which could be here. Traditionally, Hampshire's lower order scores a heavy baulk of our runs and with Pothas likely to come in at number 6, I'll take him to top score. 10pts Somerset to beat Lancashire (DNB) 8/11 Totesport Somerset are another side still in the title hunt while Lancashire are neither chasing the title or in real relegation trouble with Sussex and Yorkshire playing each other. Somerset have only lost once all season and will be hopeful of forcing a win but as ever the Taunton wicket could have the last laugh. Somerset are likely to be at full strength for the game with Marcus Trescothick expected to play. Justin Langer will be his opening partner. Craig Kieswetter is fit again after his recent injury. Charl Willoughby and Alfonso Thomas are likely to lead the Somerset attack with Ian Blackwell being key if the wicket is dry. Lancashire will be without Francois du Plessis who has gone back to his South African side so Mal Loye will come into his place. Lou Vincent and Paul Horton will open up for the Lightning. Sajid Mahmood is still out injured so Tom Smith and Oliver Newby look set to keep their spots in the bowling attack with Dominic Cork no longer getting a look in. Lancashire are a poor side. Their win over Kent last week just masks that. Somerset aren't much better due to their pitiful bowling attack but if anyone is going to win this you'd expect it to be Somerset with Langer being aggressive going for the win to try and steal the title from Notts. 10pts Middlesex to beat Northants (DNB) Evs Coral In terms of promotion, this is a nothing game for both sides as neither can get promoted. However it's still a fairly important game for Middlesex who will want to go out with a win as they head to Antigua next month. Northants will take the opportunity to blood some youngsters. Lance Klusener, Andrew Hall and Johann Louw all sit out here. Louw has gone back to South Africa in fact. So David Wigley, Mark Nelson and Steven Crook will play. David Sales could open the batting again. If he plays, Jason Brown will be playing his last game for the Steelbacks while Monty Panesar is available before heading off the India with England in November. Middlesex will be without Murali Kartik and Dawid Malan who are both injured but Shaun Udal is fit and will skipper the side. Ed Joyce could be playing his last game for the club as he has still not committed himself long term. Owais Shah and Andrew Strauss will both be playing here as will young hotshot Billy Godleman. Tim Murtagh and Dirk Nannes will lead the bowling attack after destroying Worcestershire last week. Middlesex have the strongest side here, especially with Northants blooding some youngsters. It won't be an easy win but Shaun Udal, who learnt a lot about captaincy from Shane Warne will be keen for another win here to stake his claim for the captaincy role should it be available in Antigua. Despite the match having nothing on it in terms of promotion, I expect Middlesex to end their best season in a while with a win in their last game.

[mdivenuto]

Re: Cricket: County Championship 2008 Superb shout with Pothas, an 8/1 winner. That should make up for the disappointment of you not winning the Championship!!

[kevshat]

Re: Cricket: County Championship 2008

Superb shout with Pothas, an 8/1 winner. That should make up for the disappointment of you not winning the Championship!!

Cheers mate. :hope Imran doesn't ruin it :hope. Signing Tahir for 2 years makes up for the disappointment of not winning the Championship :cow.

[kevshat]

Re: Cricket: County Championship 2008 Tahir didn't ruin it so the Pothas bet won. Somerset are looking good for a 1st innings lead while Middlesex look away and gone at Wantage Rd. Hampshire fighting hard too so I'm well in the mix with all bets so far. As I found out last week though, there's a long way to go but :hope the matches are played out to form. I'll update the profits when all the bets for the week are completed.

[kevshat]

Re: Cricket: County Championship 2008 From the final round of matches Pothas was top scorer which gave a 48pt profit, Hampshire and Middlesex won but Somerset lost. That means +15 for the match bets and +63 overall for the week. None of the outright bets were close though so -23 there so +40 to go with the previous +4.16pt profit for the season means I end the Championship season +44.16pts which I'll take as it's been a tricky season with so few wins and so much rain.

[mdivenuto]

Re: Cricket: County Championship 2008 No joy with either of my outright picks (Somerset & Sussex) but WHO CARES!! Durham - County Champions, I never thought I would see the day. Special thanks to Hampshire and of course to Kev for providing the Pothas tip to help me celebrate properly!

[kevshat]

Re: Cricket: County Championship 2008

No joy with either of my outright picks (Somerset & Sussex) but WHO CARES!! Durham - County Champions, I never thought I would see the day. Special thanks to Hampshire and of course to Kev for providing the Pothas tip to help me celebrate properly!

Blimey. You won the title on Saturday and post on Tuesday. That's some celebration mate :lol. What did I tell you at the start of the month? You give us the Pro40 match and we'll see you right in the Championship ;). Shame the weather got in the way in the Pro40 for us but it's nice to know we did the double over the champions this season. I'm looking forward to renewing the battle next season :ok.