Cricket: County Championship 2010

[pakelly]

Re: Cricket: County Championship 2010 What time do county cricket games finish at. Derbyshire are fighting hard for a draw.

[PerryPFC]

Re: Cricket: County Championship 2010 Worcs only need 38 to win currently.... I think there is too much time for Derbyshire to hang on :puke

[TheRat]

Re: Cricket: County Championship 2010 Unlucky with the bets but a good win for us. I was dreading this season but not been a bad start and got Smith today for part of the Twenty20 depending on his Ozzie duties

[kevshat]

Re: Cricket: County Championship 2010

What time do county cricket games finish at. Derbyshire are fighting hard for a draw.

It's meant to finish at 6pm but it's whenever 96 overs have been bowled in the day or 6pm, whichever is later :ok. With the Durham draw lay never in much danger I finish level for the week's match bets after Derbyshire couldn't quite put up enough resistance for a draw. Middlesex did though and Lancashire won so the 4 "match bets" put me level for those so +7.8pts for the week and up to +22.18pts for the season after the Ben Stokes top bat came in.

[kevshat]

Re: Cricket: County Championship 2010

Monday 24 May 2010	Home	Away	BPP
	Hampshire v Yorkshire (11:00 BST)	2.1	1.9	100.25 %
	Durham v Kent (11:00 BST)	1.57	2.5	103.64 %
	Lancashire v Essex (11:00 BST)	1.57	2.75	100.00 %
	Somerset v Warwickshire (11:00 BST)	1.9	2.2	98.09 %

Monday 24 May 2010	Home	Away	BPP
	Northamptonshire v Surrey (11:00 BST)	1.9	2	102.38 %
	Sussex v Worcestershire (11:00 BST)	1.53	2.75	101.58 %
	Derbyshire v Gloucestershire (11:00 BST)	2	2	100.00 %
	Leicestershire v Glamorgan (11:00 BST)	2.1	1.9	100.00 %

[kevshat]

Re: Cricket: County Championship 2010 4 bets for me this week. This is the penultimate round of matches before the twenty20 starts. I'll do them in 2 posts. Division 1 in this post, division 2 in the next one. 3pts Hampshire to beat Yorkshire 11/10 VC Hampshire have had a rotten start to the season but the signs are that an upturn in form is just coming along now. Yorkshire flew out of the traps but suffered a last day heartache loss to Somerset last time out and will be wanting to bounce back to winning ways here. Hampshire beat the league leaders Nottinghamshire last week and will be looking for back to back wins to really kick their season into life. Michael Lumb could make his season debut in first class cricket in this match against his old county. Neil McKenzie is fit after missing the CB40 game at the weekend so he'll come into the middle order. Michael Carberry wasn't picked for England and that's Hampshire's gain. With the ball, Kabir Ali and Simon Jones aren't far away but neither will play this week. James Tomlinson will lead the attack which will contain overseas player Rangana Herath. Sean Ervine's good form continues and he'll be a big player. Yorkshire have their captain Andrew Gale back in their side after he was on Lions duty last week. Jacques Rudolph who engineered a result which went the wrong way against Somerset last week goes back to vice captain. Adam Lyth is in good touch with the bat. Tim Bresnan and Ajmal Shahzad continue to miss out now that they are in the test squad while Adil Rashid and David Wainwright were toothless last week. I sense these two sides could be about to go in opposite directions to how they've started. Hampshire often start slowly but once they get going can be a hard side to stop while Yorkshire's resources will continue to be tested, particularly in their bowling attack. Hampshire are usually good at home and I'll take them to win this one. 3pts Somerset to beat Warwickshire 9/10 Stan James Somerset's win over Yorkshire last week was their 1st win of the 4 day season and it lifted them over Warwickshire who lost to Lancashire last week. Warwickshire started off nicely but have slipped up a bit now and come into this match off the back of defeats to Lancashire in the Championship and Hampshire in the CB40. Both sides have differing fortunes with personnel for this game. Somerset will welcome world twenty20 winner Craig Kieswetter back into their side after he was omitted from the test squad. He won't play until Tuesday though as he's meeting the Prime Minister on Monday. A substitute will fill in for Somerset on Monday. Murali Kartik is now in Taunton which will hopefully boost their wicket taking fortunes, especially with Alfonso Thomas fit again too. Warwickshire will be without their two best batsmen in Ian Bell and Jon Trott who are away with England now. Darren Maddy will need to step up to the plate. Varun Chopra is likely to come into the batting lineup but I'm not sure who the 2nd replacement will be. It may have to be someone like Ant Botha who is more a bowler than a batsman. Chris Woakes is back with Warwickshire after Lions duty last week and Imran Tahir will be a threat. Bell and Trott are massive losses for Warwickshire. As ever with Somerset, taking 20 wickets is the issue so it's a help that there's no Bell and Trott this week. That win last week could kick start them into life and with Warwickshire's batting in a bit of a slump at the minute and without their king duo here I'll take the Sabres to win this.

[kevshat]

Re: Cricket: County Championship 2010 And now 2 for Division 2. 3pts Gloucestershire to beat Derbyshire Evs William Hill Derbyshire have hit the buffers bigtime in the last couple of weeks. They've lost their last 2 heavily by an innings and by 8 wickets to Middlesex and Worcestershire respectively. Gloucestershire lost to Glamorgan last week but had picked up 3 wins on the bounce before then. They'll be aiming to get back to winning ways this week. Derbyshire coach John Morris looks like he'll ring the changes this week. He's named a couple of youngsters in the squad. Chris Rogers continues to have to carry this batting lineup although Garry Park's ton last week almost rescued a draw. Derbyshire aren't bowling teams out cheaply though and that's a concern. Mark Footitt could get a game here as they try to resolve that issue. Gloucestershire welcome Steve Kirby back into their attack after he impressed for the England Lions last week. He'll join Jon Lewis and James Franklin as well as Hussain in the seam attack. Vikram Banerjee could well get a game after a superb spell in the CB40 win over Northants on Sunday. Alex Gidman is in decent form with the bat and he'll be hoping the rest of his top order can score round him. The form of these two sides is completely different and that leads me to take Gloucestershire here. They have no issues with their bowling attack and their batting is generally going ok. Derbyshire could be low on confidence with bat and ball so I'll take the Gladiators to get back to winning ways here. 3pts Glamorgan to beat Leicestershire 10/11 Bet365 Glamorgan have played excellent cricket in the Championship and after last week's win over Gloucestershire they currently top the table. Glamorgan have won their last 3, two of them by an innings and one by 9 wickets so they are really dominating their matches at the minute. Leicestershire are struggling a bit with the bat. They've only registered 5 batting bonus points from their 5 matches so it's not hard to see where their problems lie. Leicestershire look like being without Will Jefferson again and Wayne White could miss out again too. Andrew McDonald found some form on Sunday which could be key but Leicestershire need youngster James Taylor, back from Lions duty now, to really fire like he was last season. Matthew Hoggard continues to lead a successful bowling attack but they need runs to play with. Glamorgan are going nicely with bat and ball and they'll be pleased to have James Harris back in their ranks after he was on Lions duty last week. He'll join an attack with David Harrison and Jim Allenby. Robert Croft could well play again. Mark Cosgrove is in the squad despite his injury on Friday night while Allenby is in good nick with the bat, as is most of the top 6. Glamorgan are playing great 4 day cricket at the minute and are dominant with bat and ball. Leicestershire aren't scoring runs at the minute and will have come back from Durham fairly late on Sunday and head straight into this match early on the Monday. That may take it's toll as well and all in all I'm happy to take Glamorgan to win this one.

[PerryPFC]

Re: Cricket: County Championship 2010 Wow... interesting couple of days gone and to come! Somerset all but won already.... need just 38 more runs with 10 wickets in hand!! A crazy reversal in Glamorgans game now makes them huge favourites... having trailed the first innings by 125.... they bowled Leicestershire out for just 71!!! Meaning they require just 80 with 10 wickets in hand!! Derbyshire / Gloucestershire is tight, but is looking better than it was, with Derbyshire having an 103 1st innings lead....Glouc. are making in-roads at 185-4... effectively 82-4 but gives hope of clinging to a draw! Yorks in command against Hants after posting 415... Hants currently replying with 267-6... Best chance is a draw I guess unless Yorks do a Leics and get skittled second time round for just double figures!!

[kevshat]

Re: Cricket: County Championship 2010 Yeah decent day in the end. Glamorgan and Somerset end up completing routine wins and from nowhere Gloucestershire have set Derbyshire 301 to chase on the last day and they've only got 5 of them. You've got to think if Rogers goes early there the deck of cards could just appear. Hampshire are way behind the 8 ball against Yorkshire but a bit of rain and some solid Hampshire batting 2nd time around should get us out of that mess. The advantage we have is after setting up a result and losing last week I'd imagine Yorkshire will make absolutely sure we can't chase a total down before declaring, which means taking a fair bit of time out of the game tomorrow. Looking good this week so far.

[kevshat]

Re: Cricket: County Championship 2010 Gloucestershire wrapped up a pretty easy win midway through the day and as I intimated above, rain came along and then Yorkshire didn't allow a repeat of last week so we got out of there with a draw. The 3 wins this week makes it a +8.43pt week which takes my season total up to +30.61pts. There's one more round of matches which begin on Saturday before the mid season break for the twenty20.

[kevshat]

Re: Cricket: County Championship 2010 Final round of matches tomorrow before the mid-season break.

Saturday 29 May 2010	Home	Away	BPP
	Nottinghamshire v Essex (11:00 BST)	1.53	2.62	103.31 %
	Warwickshire v Durham (11:00 BST)	2.25	1.8	100.00 %
	Yorkshire v Lancashire (11:00 BST)	1.9	2.1	100.25 %

Saturday 29 May 2010	Home	Away	BPP
	Glamorgan v Surrey (11:00 BST)	1.72	2.34	100.63 %
	Leicestershire v Middlesex (11:00 BST)	2.1	1.84	101.97 %
	Worcestershire v Gloucestershire (11:00 BST)	2	2	100.00 %

[kevshat]

Re: Cricket: County Championship 2010 2 for me this week. 4pts Durham to beat Warwickshire 4/5 Boylesports Both these sides will be disappointed with their seasons to date, Durham in particular. Having won the title for the last two seasons they find themselves languishing in 6th place in the table and come into this match off the back of a 2 day beating at home to Kent which will have sent shockwaves through the Riverside. Warwickshire have been even worse really. They sit bottom of the league and have serious batting worries at the minute. They come into this one off the back of a heavy defeat to Somerset. Warwickshire will be without Ian Bell and Jon Trott who are playing for England and there will also be no Neil Carter who is injured and Tim Ambrose who's poor form has led to Ashley Giles dropping him. Youngster Richard Johnson will come in and keep wicket while Keith Barker replaces Carter in the squad. Other than Johnson, the team itself maybe unchanged from last week's heavy defeat. Durham welcome Ian Blackwell back into their side and he should baulk their batting up a bit. As should Mark Stoneman who will slot back in alongside Michael di Venuto at the top of the innings. Stephen Harmison is out with injury but Callum Thorp is back in the squad which is a good thing. Liam Plunkett went well for the Lions and will hope to impress in front of Giles who is an England selector. Durham might be struggling a bit but there's a couple of key personnel back for them and I believe it's only a matter of time before they click into gear again. Warwickshire's batting has a huge hole in it with the England duo away on international duty and it's hard to see how it can be plugged. Durham remain a class act and I think they'll win this one. 3pts Surrey to beat Glamorgan 5/4 Sportingbet It can be folly to take on the top side in the table with the bottom side but I'm brave (or stupid) enough to try it here. As people who've been on PL for a while will know I'm a reluctant Surrey backer but their win over Northants last week was a good one and coupled with 2 good 40 over wins confidence could be improving at The Oval. Glamorgan brought home a bet for me last week but let's be fair we got a tad lucky in that Leicestershire were bowled out for 71 2nd time round. That won't happen every week. Still 5 wins on the bounce for the Welsh outfit is good going. Glamorgan have added Robert Croft to their side for this match which is interesting given that they've won 5 on the bounce. That suggests the Swalec is starting to turn a bit. Mark Cosgrove ploughed into the Leicestershire bowling last week and when he goes well so do Glamorgan. Jim Allenby is in good touch with bat and ball too. James Harris continues to impress and his opening partnership with David Harrison with the ball is proving very fruitful for the Dragons. Surrey could well give a debut to Younus Khan in this match. He's a class act with the bat who if he isn't re-selected for Pakistan, could score an ocean of runs for the Lions this season. Stick him in a side containing Ramprakash, Afzaal and Davies and that's a seriously strong middle order. With the ball there will be no Andre Nel after he was banned for 2 matches by the club for yet more indiscipline. Chris Tremlett will return though and Schofield and Batty will be a very good spin pairing if this wicket is turning. Surrey have got the personnel to go ok. As I said earlier their tails might be up after a few wins recently. Surrey went to the Swalec and won in the CB40 last weekend and if the likes of Tremlett and Dernbach can make early breakthroughs with the ball then Surrey can win this one.

[PerryPFC]

Re: Cricket: County Championship 2010 Regardless of this weeks results, (Durham looking good having forced the follow on, Surrey looking like a draw) some good performances from the outrights this week... Tahir took 8 wickets in Durhams 1st innings!! And a double turn for Leicestershires J.Taylor must push him up div 2's top run scorers!

[kevshat]

Re: Cricket: County Championship 2010 Even with that double ton Taylor is still only 16th on the runs list and almost 400 runs behind Ramprakash. Imran Tahir is 3 clear in the Div 1 wicket takers list and that's on wickets that haven't really suited him yet. When the CC returns he'll come into this own. ten Doeschate is only 13 behind James Foster in Essex's run charts so there's a few outrights right in the mix going into the 2nd half of the season.

[PerryPFC]

Re: Cricket: County Championship 2010

Even with that double ton Taylor is still only 16th on the runs list and almost 400 runs behind Ramprakash. Imran Tahir is 3 clear in the Div 1 wicket takers list and that's on wickets that haven't really suited him yet. When the CC returns he'll come into this own. ten Doeschate is only 13 behind James Foster in Essex's run charts so there's a few outrights right in the mix going into the 2nd half of the season.

Wow... A double turn moves him to 16th, he obviously couldn't hit water if he fell out of a boat before hand!!! Still, he's found some form now, let's hope he kicks on!

[kevshat]

Re: Cricket: County Championship 2010

Wow... A double turn moves him to 16th' date=' he obviously couldn't hit water if he fell out of a boat before hand!!! Still, he's found some form now, let's hope he kicks on![/quote'] It's just our luck he's found form just as the Championship takes a 6 week break :sad. Leicestershire do play at The Oval next week though so hopefully he can fill his boots again before the twenty20 kicks in :hope.

[kevshat]

Re: Cricket: County Championship 2010 Both matches last week were drawn. Final round of fixtures is this weekend before the mid-season break. Although not all teams play.

Friday 4 June 2010	Home	Away	BPP
	Hampshire v Essex (11:00 BST)	1.9	2.1	100.25 %
	Kent v Nottinghamshire (11:00 BST)	2.62	1.61	100.00 %
	Warwickshire v Somerset (11:00 BST)	2.2	1.66	105.45 %

Friday 4 June 2010	Home	Away	BPP
	Middlesex v Northamptonshire (11:00 BST)	1.9	2.1	100.25 %
	Surrey v Leicestershire (11:00 BST)	1.72	2.1	105.51 %

There is another game on Saturday but the odds aren't out yet. As with the twenty20, will cover these tomorrow once team news becomes more apparent.

[kevshat]

Re: Cricket: County Championship 2010 Just the one for me in tomorrow's matches. 3pts Essex to beat Hampshire 11/10 Boylesports This is a tough ask for Hampshire. Straight off the back of a euphoric and very hard fought win for Hampshire on Thursday night, and fairly late on Thursday night too with the game finishing just before 10pm, they have to come back at 11.30am the following day and perform in a 4 day match. Essex have had a day away from the twenty20 to prepare and have already won the reverse fixture against Hampshire earlier in the season. Hampshire have Kabir Ali back in their squad for this match although I sense there's still some concern over his fitness. Rengana Herath has played his last game for the county having been called into Sri Lanka's Asia Cup squad and captain Dimitri Mascarenhas made his return in the twenty20 last night but went lame and is rumoured to be out for up to 3 weeks. Nic Pothas will captain the side in his absence. It will be a side which may well contain Danny Briggs as the lone spinner. Essex have a strong side out which really could only be stronger should Alastair Cook have been available. Ravi Bopara is in the squad and will be eager to impress with an England one day squad being announced in the not too distant future. Ryan ten Doeschate is in sublime form with bat and ball at the minute and Danish Kaneria has recovered from his illness to take his place in the squad here. David Masters and Graham Napier will take the new ball. It's going to be so tough for Hampshire to back up here, even more so when they know they have a twenty20 game the day after this game finishes. There will be some tired Hampshire players when this one begins and Essex could seize the early advantage. If Hampshire have a disastrous 1st session the game could be over so I'll take Essex at odds against knowing they've had the better preparation.

[kevshat]

Re: Cricket: County Championship 2010 7 more wickets for Imran Tahir in this round of matches. When the Championship resumes and the pitches be even drier he's going to run through sides like nobody's business. Can't wait to have him back at the Rose Bowl next summer. Had we known Ajantha Mendis would be nowhere to be seen this summer I'm sure we'd have signed him for this summer as well :sad.

[kevshat]

Re: Cricket: County Championship 2010 The rain came at just the right time to save the Essex bet so I'm still +30.61pts. Championship cricket now takes a 3 week break for twenty20.

[kevshat]

Re: Cricket: County Championship 2010 Championship cricket resumes tomorrow.

Monday 28 June 2010	Home	Away	BPP
	Lancashire v Yorkshire (11:00 BST)	1.9	2.1	100.00 %
	Durham v Warwickshire (11:00 BST)	1.57	2.62	101.73 %

Monday 28 June 2010	Home	Away	BPP
	Gloucestershire v Middlesex (11:00 BST)	1.72	2.2	103.35 %
	Worcestershire v Leicestershire (11:00 BST)	1.83	2.2	100.00 %
	Derbyshire v Surrey (11:00 BST)	2	2	100.00 %

[kevshat]

Re: Cricket: County Championship 2010 Nothing for me in this lot. I remember getting into early strife in the twenty20 thread taking bets when teams were in Championship mode and the opposite is the case here. There's also the Lions squad to think about now too and teams lose players to that so a combination of the two makes me pass this week of matches over.

[kevshat]

Re: Cricket: County Championship 2010

Monday 5 July 2010	Home	Away	BPP
	Yorkshire v Warwickshire (11:00 BST)	1.61	2.5	101.90 %
	Essex v Nottinghamshire (11:00 BST)	2.62	1.61	100.00 %
	Hampshire v Kent (11:00 BST)	1.84	2.2	99.80 %

Monday 5 July 2010	Home	Away	BPP
	Northamptonshire v Glamorgan (11:00 BST)	2.1	1.84	101.97 %
	Wednesday 7 July 2010	Home	Away	BPP
	Sussex v Gloucestershire (11:00 BST)	1.57	2.5	103.64 %

[kevshat]

Re: Cricket: County Championship 2010 Just the one for me this week. Looking to take advantage of the Lions absentees. 3pts Hampshire to beat Kent 5/6 Ladbrokes This is a big game in the relegation situation with bottom of the table Hampshire hosting 7th placed Kent in a rare Championship game in recent weeks. Generally this is the time of the year where Hampshire come alive in four day cricket but they don't have Imran Tahir this season. Kent need a good end to the season too but key personnel are missing here. Twenty20 cricket isn't a particularly good form guide for Championship cricket but we've seen in the 20 over competition that Jimmy Adams, Neil McKenzie and Sean Ervine are in good nick for Hampshire with the bat while Dominic Cork and Danny Briggs are bowling well. Michael Carberry will return from his rest for this game while James Tomlinson will come back into the seam attack with Simon Jones not yet ready for 4 day cricket. Nic Pothas resumes the captaincy for the 4 day game. Kent will continue to be without Darren Stevens and James Tredwell. That's two big losses. Both are averaging well over 50 with the bat. Stevens is Kent's top scorer in first class cricket this season with 750 runs at over 80 a piece. Tredwell can also be expected to go well with the ball with the dry wickets certain to turn these days. van Jaarsveld, Key and Denly will need to be in the runs but Kent's attack looks a bit light in the absence of Makhaya Ntini although new overseas player Malinga Bandara could go well here. I think Hampshire will win this. Their batting lineup is more solid with Kent having to fill Stevens' hole with youngsters. I think Kent's seam bowling attack is weak whereas Hampshire have a good pace quartet in Cork, Tomlinson, Balcombe and Ervine. Briggs is bowling brilliantly at the minute and with a combination of a stronger batting lineup and a stronger bowling attack I'll take Pothas' men to move off the bottom by winning this one.

[PerryPFC]

Re: Cricket: County Championship 2010 A good day for Hampshire! Do you think Carberry was trying to send the Lions selectors a message?!? A well timed declaration and a good day with the ball should bring home the bacon.

[kevshat]

Re: Cricket: County Championship 2010 Interesting declaration 298 ahead. Got the earlier wicket of Key so it's justified. I don't see Kent hanging around for too long but I thought we'd have batted them out the game a bit more before we declared. In a good position though :ok.

[kevshat]

Re: Cricket: County Championship 2010 No need to worry about the timing of Hampshire's declaration as Hampshire have bowled Kent out a 2nd time to win by an innings and 111 runs. More than happy with both the win and the fact it's come in 3 days as a Hampshire fan as it means we get a day's break before 2 huge back to back twenty20 matches. +2.50 for the round so up to +33.11pts for the Championship season now.

[pakelly]

Re: Cricket: County Championship 2010 Good shout with hampshire mate :clap Now all i need is for bet365 to actually pay out on it :eyes

[kevshat]

Re: Cricket: County Championship 2010

Tuesday 20 July 2010	Home	Away	BPP
	Durham v Lancashire (11:00 BST)	1.8	2.25	100.00 %
	Essex v Yorkshire (11:00 BST)	2.4	1.66	101.67 %
	Somerset v Kent (11:00 BST)	1.58	2.62	101.39 %
	Warwickshire v Nottinghamshire (11:00 BST)	2.8	1.58	99.01 %

Tuesday 20 July 2010	Home	Away	BPP
	Surrey v Northamptonshire (11:00 BST)	2	2.04	99.02 %
	Wednesday 21 July 2010	Home	Away	BPP
	Derbyshire v Worcestershire (11:00 BST)	1.9	2	102.38 %
	Glamorgan v Leicestershire (11:00 BST)	1.72	2.2	103.35 %
	Middlesex v Sussex (11:00 BST)	2.62	1.61	100.00 %

[kevshat]

Re: Cricket: County Championship 2010 Two for me in the tomorrow matches. Division One is the focus of my attention. Not sure exactly how much play we'll get in these games but we'll have a go. 3pts Lancashire to beat Durham 5/4 Stan James Lancashire travel to Durham for this County Championship match which is a big game for both sides. Both sides are in need of the win in the hunt to chase down Yorkshire and Nottinghamshire at the top of the table. Lancashire are unbeaten in the LV County Championship this season. That's not the case for Durham who've lost two matches and changed their captain already this season. Durham have Paul Collingwood in their squad for this match which will be a boost. Michael di Venuto, Callum Thorp and Mitchell Claydon all return having missed the twenty20. Steve Harmison and Liam Plunkett are in the squad while Ian Blackwell is back from injury. Phil Mustard continues to skipper a side which is now without an overseas player with Albie Morkel only being contracted to the twenty20. Lancashire's new overseas player makes his debut in this game. It will be familiar surroundings for Shivnerine Chanderpaul on a ground which has been on his home ground for the past couple of seasons. Joining him in the squad is Jimmy Anderson who should go well on this Riverside wicket. Glen Chapple and Saj Mahmood will lead the attack with him. Stephen Moore, Paul Horton and Steven Croft continue to form the basis of the batting lineup. Peter Moores is a very tactically good coach in the longer form of the game and he's slowly turning this Lancashire side into a hard to beat, well drilled side capable of challenging for the title. Durham are packed with quality but for me the inexperience of Phil Mustard counts against them. I don't think there's a huge amount between these two so at 5/4 Lancashire are the call for me here. 3pts Essex to beat Yorkshire 7/5 Sportingbet Yorkshire are having a tremendous season under the leadership of Andrew Gale and they head to Chelmsford top of the tree. Essex are in mid table but will be full of confidence having beaten Nottinghamshire last time out in this competition and having secured home advantage in the twenty20. Yorkshire will want a win here to stay clear of the rest. Essex will have England duo Alastair Cook and Ravi Bopara available for this match. Ex-skipper Mark Pettini will be in the side too, a side which will also contain new skipper James Foster. Andy Carter makes his debut with the ball having joined on loan from Nottinghamshire. Chris Wright and Maurice Chambers will assist him with the ball. Danish Kaneria is with Pakistan while Napier and ten Doeschate are both injured. Scott Styris is only contracted to twenty20 so Essex will be without an overseas player for this game. Yorkshire will also have England personnel on show for them. Tim Bresnan and Ajmal Shahzad will both be in the Yorkshire squad which will be led by Andrew Gale. Adam Lyth is the leading runscorer in the country in Championship cricket this season and Jacques Rudolph is one of the finer talents in county cricket. Anthony McGrath returns for this match. Bresnan will lead the bowling attack with Shahzad and Tino Best. Adil Rashid is a very good spin option on a wicket reknowned for turning. Yorkshire have been brilliant this season but in Cook and Bopara, Essex have a couple of seriously good cricketers at this level. Their bowling attack may not quite match up to Yorkshire's but Essex do know their own conditions and play them so well. We always hear about Fortress Chelmsford and with Yorkshire under real pressure from the chasing pack, I'll take Essex to win this at a fair price.