DOMESTIC CRICKET - ONE-DAY FOCUS

Twenty20 / Editor / 25 April 2007 / Leave a Comment

If four-day county cricket is not your thing, Betfair has plenty of markets to keep the one-day aficionados happy this season, with three competitions of different length and timing due to keep interest going right the way through until September.

The first of the three competitions, the Friends Provident Trophy, has already kicked off play under its new sponsorship tag (formerly the C&G Trophy) and there were one or two clues as to sides that can probably be followed this season in the shorter form of the game.

The FPT has also changed format slightly, as last year's competition came under a great deal of criticism for only the two group winners going on to the final, meaning a lot of the later group games were played with nothing on them except player pride and the odd bet.

But this season there will be four qualifiers from the groups going into semi-finals in June, although again it seems rather strange that there will be two months between those final-four clashes and the finale at Lord's in late August.

The usual suspects will be at the head of the market as it unfolds and more games are played in the Northern and Southern Conferences, but most of the favourites seem to come from the tougher south, including Pro 40 champions Essex, Surrey and Sussex.

Don't forget this competition also sees Scotland and Ireland compete, with the latter sure to compete well after some excellent World Cup outings, although players like Boyd Rankin (Derby) and Niall O'Brien (Northants) will be unavailable.

Mid-summer will be Twenty20 season, with teams again sorted into geographical divisions to try and find eight quarter-finalists, with the final played on the same day as the semi-finals games on what should be an exciting first Saturday in August at Edgbaston.

And the Pro 40 returns for a second season, with two divisions, promotion, relegation and play-offs to keep, if last season is anything to go by, just about every match interesting right the way to the final set of matches in late September, by which time Betfair punters will have had hundreds of games to check out the form.

Division One champions Essex were superb last season in the one-day game, inspired by captain Ronnie Irani and new England star Ravi Bopara, but it seems the latter's performances in the World Cup may well see him lost to the Eagles for much of the summer, and the likes of Andy and Grant Flower and Dutch all-rounder Ryan ten Doeschate will have to carry the extra burden.

Their bowling attack looks solid, despite the fact that spin wizard Danish Kaneria always seems more at home bowling long spells in four-day matches, but the loss of Darren Gough will be tough and they have a lot of competition in their conference/divisions/groups - they open their FPT season against Hampshire on Sunday, facing a team who could be one of their toughest rivals this season.

Hampshire were easy winners over Middlesex in their first game, with Shane Warne taking three wickets to kick-off what could be a record-breaking season for the retired international leggie, who seems committed to playing in every game for the Rose Bowl-based side which has plenty of depth despite the lack of star talent around him.

If Chris Benham can repeat some of his one-day heroics from last season - few will forget the 158 he bludgeoned against Glamorgan to gain them promotion in the Pro 40 - and Michael Lumb's addition brings them sufficient runs, they will consistently bowl sides out with Warne, Stuart Clark, Chris Tremlett and Dmitri Mascarenhas available.

Surrey, with James Benning, Azhar Mahmood and Alistair Brown sure to provide plenty of runs, should also compete based on the win over Kent in which they reduced the Spitfires to 52-7 before having to chase 272 to win, something they managed with three balls to spare. Mohammed Akram should take bags of wickets at a low rate and Steve Magoffin is a dark horse to look at in individual match markets.

Inexplicably Surrey find themselves in Pro 40 Division Two this season after a dreadful end to 2006 - Benning was out injured which hindered them badly - but despite being favourites, the season will not be a cakewalk for them.

Many expect a lot from Yorkshire, with Younis Khan and Jacques Rudolph sure to bolster a strong batting line-up, but there have to be questions about their bowling attack despite Gough's return - it seems far better suited to the longer form of the game, and up-and-coming spinner Adil Rashid seems unlikely to feature fully, especially in Twenty20 games.

So it could well be an exciting Somerset line-up that provides the main danger, and most of the fireworks, with a tremendous side that includes Marcus Trescothick, Justin Langer, Cameron White and Ian Blackwell among others.

Their main trouble could come with the home pitch at Taunton, which seems to be even more of a batsman's paradise than usual in the early weeks of the season, and provided an incredible 1600-plus runs in four days in their opening County Championship match.

That will most likely mean a good season if they can win the toss often enough and bat first, as they did in their opening FPT win over Glamorgan; another game in which they scored runs (over 300) with ease.

The 2005 Twenty20 champions should also go well in that competition, but it may be a tougher season for the defenders Leicestershire, with catalyst Darren Maddy having departed for Warwickshire and keeper Paul Nixon a potential absentee with England. That will put a huge onus on HD Ackerman's shoulders after a brilliant 2006, but whether he has the support is another matter, especially if Stuart Broad is on international duty as well.

Talking of the Bears, they should be another team to keep an eye on in the shorter forms of the game this summer, with Maddy's addition to the top of an already-decent line-up a real boost especially in the Twenty20, where they will be keen to make it through the Midlands section with finals day on their home turf.

Add in Kumar Sangakkara, probably the second best wicket-keeper batsman in international cricket, and what should be plenty of wickets from Dale Steyn and they should be a very effective side, one for punters to follow.

Last season's other champions Sussex will again be one of the teams people will look to, although they did benefit from early-season conditions in the C&G Trophy to secure a place in the final - that competition could be their best avenue for one-day success again, as a probable County Championship title battle could prove their late-season priority.

There should be plenty of runs from the likes of Matt Prior, Chris Adams and Richard Montgomerie, though, and with the bowling line-up (Mushtaq Ahmed, Saqlain Mushtaq, Rana Naved-ul-Hasan among others) among the best in the country, it would be a real surprise to see them struggle in any competition and they should give punters a good run for their money despite the early season absence of Michael Yardy with a broken finger.