Twenty20 / Editor / 22 June 2007 /

Saturday sees Sky's cameras visit Trent Bridge for the Nottinghamshire Outlaws clash with the Lancashire Lightning on the second day's play in the Twenty20 Cup.

Lancashire were the 8.4 favourites in the outright market for this competition ahead of Friday's opening game with Friends Provident Trophy finalists Durham at Old Trafford, as they look for a return to the sort of form that guided them to the 2005 final, when they were crushed by the Somerset Sabres.

Nottinghamshire have been in far more impressive form this season after they were ousted on the final day of FPT Conference play, with six wins from nine games, yet they can be backed at 12 in the win market.

Maybe the difference comes down to the way the two sides are built, as Lancashire do look on paper the sort of team that could adapt well to the thrash and bash of the 20-over game, despite their poor performance in 2006.

The real problem for the Lightning last season was their batting, with Stuart Law scoring most runs on 225, but that was not good enough for a place in the top 25 batsmen and the average of 32.14, also a team best, saw him land 39th among all batsmen, nearly 35 runs an innings less than table-topper Cameron White of Somerset.

The likes of Nathan Astle (average 16) and Mal Loye (a lowly 12.5) were huge disappointments and if Brad Hodge cannot do better than Astle managed in 2006, further struggles could be on the cards, but it is to Loye that Lancashire will be looking for a spark early in their innings.

The veteran performed well for England in his brief chance to shine over the winter and his oddball selection of shots should be ideal for this form of cricket with the cow-corner slog, he will hope, proving especially effective even though most of the countries' opening bowlers will now be expecting it.

Sadly for the Lightning, the story has been too familiar this season with only Hodge having had any success in the one-day game, scoring 428 runs in the FPT at an incredible average of 142.66 thanks to a trio of unbeaten knocks.

Apart from that, none of their regular batsmen averaged over 35 - with Loye at 26 and skipper Mark Chilton again showing his dislike for the one-day game by scoring only 62 runs in his seven completed innings. Law has also been missing from the side through injury, although he should be fit for Twenty20 action after returning to the County Championship side last week.

But the wildcard for the Lightning is international superstar Sanath Jayasuriya, who signed specifically to play in this competition as a replacement for Muralitharan who is away on international duty with Sri Lanka in Bangladesh.

Jayasuriya is nothing short of a one-day master and although he is not the most consistent six-hitter, his variety of strokes is perfect for this form of the game. Expect him and Steve Croft, now he has been raised in the order, to combine with Hodge and Law for a fantastic middle-order when they are on form.

Bowling has been just as big a problem for the Lightning, who will need some heroics from James Anderson in the absence of Sajid Mahmood and Muralitharan, and none of their attack took more
than Mahmood's nine wickets in the FPT regular season.

They have already been beaten once by the Outlaws this season, falling by 37 runs in a Duckworth/Lewis decided FPT match, in which only Croft (63) impressed with the bat.

And their bowlers failed to bowl out the batsmen as Will Jefferson, now looking likely to earn himself a call into the England one-day setup at some point this season, and David Hussey putting on an unbeaten 101 to lead Nottinghamshire home with plenty to spare.

Jefferson played only in that game during the FPT season, scoring 60, but will be in the Outlaws' Twenty20 squad to boost a line-up that has plenty of threats, replacing Jason Gallian, who like last season sits out this speedy version of the game.

Gallian was one of five of their FPT regulars to average over 40 in that competition, but it could be two of their bigger hitters who prove the key in this style of game, Samit Patel and Graeme Swann.

Swann has opened at times in Twenty20 and Patel is the most extravagant stroke-player in their middle-order, but an average of 26.55 last season will confirm that he can be hit-or-miss. The more reliable performers are skipper Stephen Fleming and David Hussey, both of whom were in the top six in batting average in last year's competition, but all that does is make for a crowded top batsman market.

Swann has also been one of their most successful bowlers this season, and spinners like him do traditionally have more success in Twenty20 than pacemen, but look out also for veteran all-rounder Mark Ealham, who took 16 wickets in the FPT and whose slow medium-pace should also prove harder to score off.

'.$sign_up['title'].'

'; } } ?>