Cricket: Friends Provident Trophy 2009

[kevshat]

Re: Cricket: Friends Provident Trophy 2009

Thursday 14 May 2009	Home	Away	bookmakers margin on the event. However, they do not take account of commissions that may be charged.">BPP
Ireland v Leicestershire (10:45BST)	6.00	1.20	100.00 %	Details »
Hide « Ireland v Leicestershire
Worcestershire v Hampshire (10:45BST)	2.00	1.90	102.38 %	Details »

Scotland v Middlesex (10:45BST)	8.00	1.13	101.00 %	Details »
Hide « Scotland v Middlesex
Somerset v Warwickshire (10:45BST)	1.66	2.37	102.11 %	Details »

[kevshat]

Re: Cricket: Friends Provident Trophy 2009 Nothing for me tomorrow. Tempted to back Hampshire but the forecast for Worcester is atrocious tomorrow and as we know it only takes a few rain drops to put that ground under water :lol. Hopefully the forecast can be better for Friday where there's a few more even matches rather than counties vs Ireland/Scotland.

[Matt]

Re: Cricket: Friends Provident Trophy 2009 Never thought I;d see us at 1/5 to beat anyone :unsure Cant do it myself, but wouldnt put anyone off backing Ireland agaisnt us at that price.

[kevshat]

Re: Cricket: Friends Provident Trophy 2009

Never thought I;d see us at 1/5 to beat anyone :unsure Cant do it myself, but wouldnt put anyone off backing Ireland agaisnt us at that price.

If you hadn't just walloped Worcester mate I'd have been tempted. Shame it's not on TV, I reckon we could've got a decent price on that Taylor. Don't know who made the decision to bat him at 3 but it could turn out to be a very inspired decision.

[TheRat]

Re: Cricket: Friends Provident Trophy 2009 Leave New Road alone At least it's not had a load of dead fish on it lately like the race course

[WoodyTHFC]

Re: Cricket: Friends Provident Trophy 2009 Form was totally turned upside down in the surrey game. One tomorrow and hoping it can survive any weather: Hampshire to beat Worcestershire 10/11 sj 10 pts Worcester have made what now seems a traditional poor start to the county when they play in div 1 but in one day cricket they had been playing quite well initially. They won their first 3 games and looked in some decent one day form with a victory over hants to show as wll. However that has started to change in their last two games with two defeats in their last two, one too notts which wasnt that surpising but one to leics which was in a game they were heavy favs to win. Hants in contrast have started to get some form in this format after a first loss to worcs. They were a bit unlucky to lose a point effectively with the banker win washed out but they have won all their other games including against a good notts side the other day. They have a few injuries atm but so do worcs especially on the bowling front and unlike worcs., they adjusted well in their last game and can take this game for me as long as the weather doesnt have the final say which it may.

[kevshat]

Re: Cricket: Friends Provident Trophy 2009

Friday 15 May 2009	Home	Away	bookmakers margin on the event. However, they do not take account of commissions that may be charged.">BPP
Surrey v Durham (10:45BST)	1.90	2.00	102.38 %	Details »
Hide « Surrey v Durham
Sussex v Gloucestershire (14:30BST)	2.00	1.90	102.63 %	Details »

Derbyshire v Northamptonshire (14:30BST)	1.90	2.10	100.00 %	Details »
Hide « Derbyshire v Northamptonshire
Glamorgan v Lancashire (14:30BST)	2.60	1.61	100.37 %	Details »

Thank fcuk that forecast at Worcester was awful :lol. It isn't a great deal better but we could get some play in London so I'll take just one tomorrow. 4pts Surrey to beat Durham 10/11 Stan James After starting this competition badly, Surrey Brown Caps have suddenly hit a bit of form in it. They've won their last 2 matches now and have scored over 300 runs on both occasions. Durham started the competition badly too but unlike Surrey their form hasn't got better, in fact, they've probably got progressively worse. Both sides look set to name the same sides which played in their last game despite Surrey winning and Durham losing. Surrey absolutely thrashed Gloucestershire last time out while Durham went down against Yorkshire. Mark Ramprakash has been in superb form in this competition and against a Durham attack devoid of Onions and Harmison he'll fancy his chances to fill his boots again. Durham are still without Michael di Venuto with injury while Paul Collingwood is obviously with England still. Surrey should have beaten Durham in the reverse fixture but shit a brick when the winning line came. Having won 2 on the bounce now though they should have the confidence to get the job done this time and with Durham missing key personnel I'm happy to back the London side here.

[WoodyTHFC]

Re: Cricket: Friends Provident Trophy 2009 Not a good tournament for me so far as Im -39.9. Hoping to pull a bit back tomorrow if the weather is ok. Sussex to beat Gloucestershire evens sky 10 pts Well Gloucester had been the form team in this comp, winning their first five games including a win over sussex. However they suffered a slightly surprisng defeat in their last game to surrey and it will be interesting to see how they react. The defeat itself wasnt a major shock but the nature of it was, Surrey got over 300 and Gloucester were out for just half of that. Sussex in contrast have been going well of late in the one day format. They lost their first two games but have bounced back with 3 wins and their batting has been impressive in the last two of those games, over 300 each ocassion. Its not really that surprising because with guys like Joyce, Goodwin and Yardy and then the more accelerating type players like Wright they have a solid side. One noticeable benefit to their bowling is that if it is a dodgy day, guys like Kirtley, Arafat can take advantage in seaming conditions. Also it is worth pointing out that those two in particular are good bowlers at the death which is a considerable advantage in the shorter format of the game. Im just giving the edge to the home side here.

[kevshat]

Re: Cricket: Friends Provident Trophy 2009 Yesterday was disappointing given Durham don't have much to play for. -4 for the game and now -10.66 for the competition although Gloucester have Group C as good as won with their washout yesterday. One for me today. 4pts Somerset to beat Kent 9/10 Boylesports Somerset have kicked off their one day season in very good form. They've won 4 of their 5 matches and the only one they didn't win was a washout against Warwickshire. Kent haven't been as good. They've played well on the odd occasion but generally their batting hasn't fired yet and they've relied on their bowling to win matches. Kent have a near full squad to choose from in this game but they'll be without Darren Stevens still and for me, he's a big loss as their batting looks a lot lighter without him while he offers them a solid option with the ball too. However their top 3 of Key, Denly and van Jaarsveld are very solid. With the ball, Azhar and Warne Parnell are good players and Robbie Joseph has plenty of ability. Tredwell offers the main spin option but fall back options for Rob Key if someone gets carted are thin on the ground. Somerset are in good nick and they've got Craig Kieswetter back in the side today. Justin Langer is over a throat infection too so he captains the side and Mark Turner also returns. So the only man who is missing for the Sabres is Andrew Caddick. Marcus Trescothick has been in good touch with Peter Trego also offering good cameos with the bat. I'm not a huge fan of Somerset's bowling "attack" but Willoughby, Turner, Thomas and Phillips should be enough on this deck. Trego can bowl too. They've got a couple of spin options which helps. Their batting lineup is stronger than Kent's overall and I think Somerset will as good as win the group with a win here.

[kevshat]

Re: Cricket: Friends Provident Trophy 2009 Much better today. Somerset were never in any danger at any stage really. +3.60 for today puts me back to -7.06 for the competition.

[kevshat]

Re: Cricket: Friends Provident Trophy 2009

Sunday 17 May 2009	Home	Away	bookmakers margin on the event. However, they do not take account of commissions that may be charged.">BPP
Northamptonshire v Essex (10:45BST)	2.30	1.64	104.45 %	Details »

Middlesex v Somerset (12:00BST)

2.37

1.72

100.00 %

Details »

One for me tomorrow. 4pts Somerset to beat Middlesex 8/11 Coral Somerset did me a decent turn yesterday and I'm going to back them again today in the expectation that they follow that effort up. Somerset's win yesterday ensured they will get a home quarter final having topped this group but I'm sure they'll want to keep up the momentum going into that game. Middlesex are one of 3 sides right in the mix for qualification and will move into 2nd place if they win here. Somerset aren't likely to make any changes to their side after their comfortable win over Kent on Saturday. Middlesex may make the odd change with Gareth Berg possibly coming in else they will be unchanged. Somerset's batting is firing on all cylinders while other than a huge partnership against Kent, Middlesex have been poor with the bat in their matches against county sides. The Sabres are playing good cricket at the minute and I'll take them to win this one.

[kevshat]

Re: Cricket: Friends Provident Trophy 2009 Somerset won a high scoring contest today to give me a +2.91pt profit on the day which puts me back to -4.15 for the competition. I'm not going with anything tomorrow because the forecast is pretty bad all over the shop but I've got an outright interest in that Sussex vs Yorkshire match if there's any play. A Yorkshire win would put them massively in the box seat for qualification.

[kevshat]

Re: Cricket: Friends Provident Trophy 2009 Annoyingly Yorkshire lost so they are now out. I'll settle the outrights after the group stages have finished. Onto tomorrow.

Tuesday 19 May 2009	Home	Away
	Glamorgan v Northamptonshire (10:45 BST)	2.1	1.83
	Leicestershire v Nottinghamshire (10:45 BST)	2.62	1.57
	Surrey v Sussex (10:45 BST)	2.1	2.05

[kevshat]

Re: Cricket: Friends Provident Trophy 2009 3 for me. The TV game is Surrey vs Sussex. I've got 2 in that and one other. I'll start with the TV game. 4pts Sussex to beat Surrey 21/20 Sportingbet Sussex qualified for the quarter finals when they beat Yorkshire on Monday, knocking Surrey out in the process. They've decided to take this opportunity to rest a couple of their players. Murray Goodwin and Michael Yardy have been rested, along with Robin Martin-Jenkins. Luke Wright comes back into the squad though. As yet I'm not sure who will be captaining Sussex but I would imagine it will be Ed Joyce. Chris Nash also misses out in this game. Carl Hopkinson comes in. Surrey, despite being out have named their best squad. Andre Nel and Pedro Collins are the eyecatching bowlers in a very weak bowling attack. With the bat, Scott Newman is going well at the minute as is Ramprakash as always. There's a couple of others who can hold the bat too in the likes of Afzaal and Spreigel but it's the bowling attack which is a concern. Sussex are still a good side even without Goodwin. Ed Joyce is in excellent nick, Josh Gatting is very talented while Luke Wright can take games away from anyone. Yasir Arafat is on fire with the ball at the minute and along with James Kirtley can ensure the Sharks win this one. You can back Surrey was well to get a free bet but I'm happy to go with Sussex in this one. 1pt ew M.Spriegel Top Surrey Batsman 10/1 Coral (1/5 1,2,3) This is a big price on a very capable and talented batsman. He's in decent enough form having smacked 64 against Gloucestershire on this ground 2 games ago. He has a solid technique who can play spinners well which could be key given that he'll bat at number 5. One problem he does have is upping the run rate but in a way that might not be a bad thing here as Surrey will need someone to bat around on a pitch like this. Spriegel is yet to fulfil all his potential but he's a genuine batsman and 10/1 is a big price which is worthy of an each way bet. 4pts Northants to beat Glamorgan 5/6 Totesport Northants and Glamorgan are both out of this competition but both will be looking for some momentum going into the twenty20 cup next week. It's Northants I like the look of here though. Their seam attack has a weak look about it without van der Wath but they have performed well between them and they have a potential 4 spinners playing in the game in Panesar, Boje, White and Willey and if this pitch is like the infamous one seen at Sophia Gardens on Friday that could be crucial. Glamorgan have decided to go in without Robert Croft and Gareth Rees is out too. Michael O'Shea and the big hitting Aussie, Mark Cosgrove will open the batting with the likes of Dalrymple and Wallace coming in later. I'm not a huge fan of a seam attack of Waters, Harrison and Harris despite me being a huge Harris fan. Cosker will provide the spin but for me Northants have the better batting lineup from 1-8 and marginally the better bowling attack and that's what gets them the call for me in this match.

[kevshat]

Re: Cricket: Friends Provident Trophy 2009 While I've been typing all that lot out Sportingbet have obviously noticed the potential free bet and trimmed Sussex into 10/11 which is still a decent price.

[kevshat]

Re: Cricket: Friends Provident Trophy 2009 Awful day today. -6 but that would've been a bit better had Spriegel made 3 more runs. Sussex were awful though. -10.15 for the competition now.

Wednesday 20 May 2009	Home	Away	BPP
	Durham v Gloucestershire (10:45 BST)	2	1.9	102.38 %
	Glamorgan v Derbyshire (10:45 BST)	2.25	1.83	99.09 %
	Lancashire v Essex (10:45 BST)	1.9	2	102.38 %
	Nottinghamshire v Hampshire (10:45 BST)	1.8	2.22	100.60 %
	Scotland v Somerset (10:45 BST)	7	1.16	100.00 %
	Surrey v Yorkshire (10:45 BST)	1.9	2	102.38 %
	Warwickshire v Kent (10:45 BST)	1.9	2.1	100.00 %
	Worcestershire v Ireland (10:45 BST)	1.1	8	103.41 %

I'm going with 5 for tomorrow. Might have to dodge the weather in some places, especially Manchester but hopefully the rain doesn't have too big an impact. Lots of bets so just short writeup's. Warwickshire vs Kent is the TV game. No real top bat value with the exception of Kemp perhaps. 3pts Gloucestershire to beat Durham 10/11 Boylesports Gloucestershire have won this group easily enough but they have still named their strongest squad. Steve Kirby is out but they are almost full strength other than that. Durham could have Graham Onions back but they still have a couple of injuries and could rest a few as they are out ahead of the twenty20 next week. Gidman has said he wants the Gladiators to continue their momentum so they'll be going 100% here and I think they'll win this one. 4pts Derbyshire to beat Glamorgan 8/11 Stan James Derbyshire can go through if they win and Essex lose. They've played well in the main and the likes of Rogers and Law would be the class acts on show here. Dan Redfern is very talented while the Phantoms have a decent enough bowling attack which doesn't contain any fresh injuries. Glamorgan can be all about Mark Cosgrove. There isn't a lot to play for and their bowling attack isn't great. I fancy Derby to win this and put the ball in Essex's court. 3pts Essex to beat Lancashire Evs Skybet Defending champions Essex are in big danger of going out here but they'll welcome Ali Cook back into their side. There's no Bopara but Napier and Foster are still around. Kaneria should go well at Old Trafford and Dave Masters is bowling well. Lancashire are without their captain Glen Chapple and have nothing to play for. If Mahmood doesn't get in early, Essex could be away and gone when Keedy comes on. Bopara's a big miss but Essex thrashed Lancashire in the reverse fixture and can still win this at Evs. 3pts Hampshire to beat Nottinghamshire 6/5 Stan James Winner takes all here. The winner going through to the quarter finals. Hampshire welcome Nic Pothas back but Dimitri Mascarenhas is with England. The big news for Hawks fans is Lord Imran is back in town on the ground where he cost Notts the Championship last year. Notts will be without Sidebottom now as he's with England. Luke Fletcher could replace him. Dealing with Hampshire's spin twins won't be easy and off the back of a huge win over Ireland I'm taking Pothas' men to make the last 8 by winning here. 3pts Kent to beat Warwickshire 11/10 Skybet Crazy price time. Both sides can qualify although Kent need a big win to do it. They need to score almost 1 run an over quicker than Warwickshire and win the game. They'll hope Rob Key can hit some form and quick. Wayne Parnell signs off here and should go well. van Jaarsveld and Kemp are in good touch. Warwickshire will be without Ian Bell who is with England. Tony Frost comes in and Tim Ambrose is a doubt too. Kent are too good a side to be odds against even if I do still think they are a batsman short. Their bowlers should suit Edgbaston and at odds against I have to take last year's runners up here.

[kevshat]

Re: Cricket: Friends Provident Trophy 2009 Slight loss on the day with only Hampshire and Essex winning but I can accept that with Hampshire being through. -0.40 for the day and -10.55 for the matches overall. +7 for the outrights though so I'm just 3.55 down going into the quarter finals on Saturday. The quarter final draw is: Gloucestershire vs Nottinghamshire Lancashire vs Essex Hampshire vs Middlesex Somerset vs Sussex. Perfect draw for Hampshire and I'll be expecting a home win in a match I'll be at on Saturday.

[TheRat]

Re: Cricket: Friends Provident Trophy 2009 Ashamed from Worcester today :(

[kevshat]

Re: Cricket: Friends Provident Trophy 2009

Ashamed from Worcester today :(

:lol:lol:lol. Delighted from Hampshire ;).

[TheRat]

Re: Cricket: Friends Provident Trophy 2009 Kept refreshing the page at work and just couldn't believe it Was at least one wicket per click Terrible

[winbet]

Re: Cricket: Friends Provident Trophy 2009 Luckily for Notts, Worcs bottled it more than them. Warwicks managed not to stay ahead of D & L when the rain game, so heart break for them.

[Matt]

Re: Cricket: Friends Provident Trophy 2009

Ashamed from Worcester today :(

Has to be the worst result in your history surely? I couldnt believe what I was seeing.

[WoodyTHFC]

Re: Cricket: Friends Provident Trophy 2009 Didnt play yesterday as the two games I was most interested in concerned my outrights so didnt want to throw all my eggs into one basket in those games. Anyway it was a really poor group stage for me and with middlesex losing the outright on the group, Im -44.9 so far. However on the plus side both my outrights are at least through to the q/f and one will be in the semi and one game away from some reward as they meet in the q/f.

[kevshat]

Re: Cricket: Friends Provident Trophy 2009

Saturday 23 May 2009	Home	Away	BPP
	Hampshire v Middlesex (10:45 BST)	1.73	2.2	103.26 %
	Somerset v Sussex (10:45 BST)	1.66	2.58	98.76 %
	Lancashire v Essex (12:00 BST)	1.92	2	102.08 %

Quarter final day tomorrow. The Gloucester game has been put back to next month because the ODI is there on Sunday. Somerset vs Sussex is the strange choice of TV game. I'm off to the Rose Bowl so getting my bets done tonight. 4 in total. TV game 1st. 4pts Somerset to beat Sussex 4/6 Skybet Somerset qualified for this stage very easily. They weren't beaten and the only point they dropped was via a rained off match with Warwickshire. The key to their success has been their batting which has been superb. They've hit a 400, a couple of 300's and another 290 which would've been 300. Even with the ball they've surprised me in bowling sides out for 200 or less. The Sabres are at full strength here with the exception of Andrew Caddick as they look to make the semi finals. Sussex's qualification wasn't as smooth but they did come through the toughest looking of the 4 groups. Their hopes with the bat revolve in the main around Murray Goodwin although Ed Joyce is having an excellent tournament. Luke Wright hasn't got going yet but it could be only a matter of time. Yasir Arafat has been good with the ball but he'll need to be very good on this wicket. Kirtley is still churning out the wickets but then there's youth and inexperience to their bowling attack with the exception of Martin-Jenkins who doesn't seem to be as dangerous or economical as he was. Somerset are playing lovely cricket at the minute and the way they are batting it's to see them getting beaten. As long as their bowling attack continues to chip away I think Somerset will have too much firepower and will win this. 1pt P.Trego Top Somerset Batsman 12/1 Coral (1/5 1,2,3) This is a ridiculous price on Pete Trego. He comes with the reputation as a slogger but he can bat. He's got a sound technique but when the ball is in his arc it's likely to go with a bit of gusto. He's occasionally used as a pinch hitting role which is good for him but he's a very good finisher to an innings. When he hits it, it stays hit that's for certain and the boundaries here aren't nearly big enough. He top scored here earlier in the competition against Kent with a 36 ball 73. I think he's likely to bat in the top 5 here which makes the 12/1 excellent value, especially if the openers can see off Arafat so that he comes in against the weaker bowlers. 12/1 is perfect ew value. 6pts Hampshire to beat Middlesex 8/11 VC Middlesex scraped into this stage of the tournament by the skin of their teeth but now they are here they are struggling bigtime for personnel. Eoin Morgan is away with England, as are Andrew Strauss and Owais Shah while Phil Hughes' stint with the club has ended and he's back in Australia. Hughes, Shah and Morgan have been the main contributors with the bat and it seems that academy players could be filling the void. Hampshire are in good form and high spirits having thrashed Nottinghamshire on Wednesday. They'll be unchanged from that match which means that Middlesex will have to find a way to deal with Imran Tahir who is now back in town. With the bat, most of Hampshire's batsmen are in good form with all the top 5 hitting at least 50 in this competition. Dominic Cork is on fire at the minute too with the ball. Hampshire on their own patch are a good side and while I'd have fancied this to be tight if Middlesex were at full strength, the fact that they are not leads me to be very confident my beloved Hawks will move one step from Lords by winning here. 3pts Essex to beat Lancashire Evs Skybet This is the pick of the quarter finals for me and only Skybet have Essex as the outsiders for this. They won both matches between the two sides in the group stage and being defending champions they won't give their trophy up without a fight. Lancashire will claim they won the group and they did but they've produced two poor batting displays against Essex. Lancashire will welcome Glen Chapple back into the side after he missed the fixture between these two on Wednesday. He'll make a difference with the ball but it's the bat that concerns me. Horton and Chilton have carried them in this competition and that won't happen all the time. Tom Smith is never an opening batsman for me and they could be one quality batsman light. Essex will be without Ravi Bopara but they coped with that loss on Wednesday. David Masters and Danish Kaneria are bowling well at the minute while Varun Chopra is batting well. Alastair Cook provides quality at the top of the innings which can be set up for the likes of Napier, Foster and ten Doeschate. Essex are a decent one day side and I have them marginal favourites to win this one. They're confident at the minute and at Evs they get my call.

[WoodyTHFC]

Re: Cricket: Friends Provident Trophy 2009 Leaving the match between my outrights alone although given call ups, the home team look by far the most likely: Somerset to beat Sussex 4/6 boy 10 pts Somerset have been the best team in this event so far. They won what looked a toughish group on paper with some ease and also carried momentum throughout the group stages even when they were confirmed as group winners and that I feel is important. Their batting is so impressive with guys like Trescothick, Kieswetter, Langer, Hildreth to name just 4. Their bowling isnt as strong but can still do a job and Somerset would not have won as many games as they have done, if it was that bad an atatck. Sussex were not as impressive in qualification although they did improve from a poor start. Goodwin, Joyce and Yardy are more the rock and they have hitters amongst them. However they didnt continue the momentum after they qualified with a big loss to Surrey. Also their bowling attack is arguably one bowler at least short and at times in this they have gone round the park and with Somerset having a line up to take advantage, it is the home side for me.

[TheRat]

Re: Cricket: Friends Provident Trophy 2009

Has to be the worst result in your history surely? I couldnt believe what I was seeing.

Worst one I can remember seeing for sure Not just the loss, the manner of it

[kevshat]

Re: Cricket: Friends Provident Trophy 2009 My main bet won today but it was disappointing elsewhere. Would've been slightly better had Trego not been beaten into 3rd in the last couple of balls but there we go. I knew Somerset were toast when a text came through informing me Trescothick had gone 1st ball. They have to get at least 300 because their bowling attack leaks more than a sieve. Excellent game at the Rose Bowl today. We were in control for most of it except for a few overs in their batting innings. Michael Lumb's knock was quality and for me, he's turning himself into one of the best one day batsmen in the country. Excellent to watch and is filling his boots now too. -4.64 for the day today so -8.19 overall. Semi final draw couldn't have been worse for Hampshire but at least we'll have Dimi back for it. Sussex vs Gloucester/Notts Lancashire vs Hampshire This thread is redundant for a few weeks now while the twenty20 is on. I'll bring it back up for the last 1/4 final on the 16th June.

[kevshat]

Re: Cricket: Friends Provident Trophy 2009

Sunday 5 July 2009	Home	Away	BPP
	Lancashire v Hampshire (10:45 BST)	1.77	2.25	100.94 %
	Sussex v Gloucestershire (10:45 BST)	1.83	2.2	100.00 %

[kevshat]

Re: Cricket: Friends Provident Trophy 2009 Semi finals are on Sunday. They are both on sky. Lancashire vs Hampshire is the main game. The other one is on the red button. I'm off to Old Trafford for the Hampshire game so I'm going up tomorrow so I'm doing my bets now. 4 in total. 2 in each match. Main match 1st. 3pts Hampshire Highest 1st 15 overs Evs Coral Both these sides have decent bowling attacks but Hampshire have the trump card for me in Michael Lumb. He's in great form and he loves pace bowling so he could well get this Lancashire attack which will be devoid of Anderson and Flintoff, off their lengths. Chapple and Mahmood have bowled well in this all summer but they won't have faced many openers in the form that Lumb is in. Hampshire will open the innings with the ball with Mascarenhas and probably Dominic Cork who can both be tough to get away. Paul Horton may well open with VVS Laxman and both of those can get stuck, especially against a Mascarenhas. I think Hampshire have the quicker scoring openers of the two sides and they can be ahead after 15 overs. 1pt ew S.Ervine Top Hampshire Batsman 5/1 Coral (1/5 1,2,3) When Hampshire won this event in 2005, Sean Ervine top scored with centuries in both the semi final and the final. He's a player who regularly comes alive on the big stage, as he showed last week in the twenty20 knockout game against Essex. He's an aggressive batsman but I always think he's at his best when he has a couple of overs to play himself in before picking up his scoring rate. He has the 2nd highest individual score in the competition this season and is coming into some form with the bat. In a Hampshire batting lineup which isn't the strongest throughout the order, Ervine's decent value at 5/1 to top score safe in the knowledge that if Lumb does go mental we'll get our money back if Ervine's 2nd or 3rd.

[kevshat]

Re: Cricket: Friends Provident Trophy 2009 And game 2......... 3pts Gloucestershire to beat Sussex 6/5 Boylesports These two sides have met twice in this competition already in the group stage with the Gladiators winning one and the other being a no result. However in that no result, Gloucestershire went to Hove and put on over 300 against a full strength Sussex bowling lineup. Since then Sussex have gone into the quarter finals of the twenty20 cup while Gloucester's results have taken a decline. Sussex will be without Matt Prior for this game but Yasir Arafat is now back at the club. Luke Wright is also back with the side having been with England in the twenty20 world cup. Murray Goodwin is fully fit now and Dwayne Smith has returned from the IPL since Sussex made the semi finals of this competition. With the ball, James Kirtley could be key while Yardy and Beer will offer spin options. Gloucestershire have a doubt over Chris Taylor who is a pretty important player for the Gladiators as he's a decent batsman and a top fielder. My gut feeling is they'll play him though such is the importance of this game. Alex Gidman is fit again to bat and bowl while Craig Spearman and Hamish Marshall offer international experience to the batting. Steve Kirby, Jon Lewis and James Franklin have bowled well all summer. Gloucestershire under John Bracewell are a well drilled unit. They have their plans and invariably they get carried out with maximum effect. Sussex have been a good one day side for a few years now but I'm always reluctant to take Gloucestershire on in 50 over cricket and at odds against, with the form between the two sides taken into account I'm happy to take Gloucestershire here. 1pt ew E.Joyce Top Sussex Batsman 6/1 Coral (1/5 1,2,3) Ed Joyce has opened the innings for Sussex in this competition in it's entirety this season so far and I don't see Sussex changing a winning formula. He's the Sharks' top scorer in the competition having bagged a couple of centuries already. At his best he's a very good one day batsman but he's a perfect foil for the bigger hitters in this Sussex lineup and it will be the Irishman's job to bat through the innings without taking too many risks. That's a role he performs perfectly and if you take Murray Goodwin out of the equation there's probably only Michael Yardy who can bat for a long period of time. The rest are more hitters. 6/1 is very good value on any opener in any game and with the ew terms on offer too the former England international looks a very good ew bet.