County Cricket / Will Smith / 12 August 2011 /

With the season nearing its end Durham's Will Smith talks us through the Friends Life T20 competition, plus his thoughts on his own side's chances of winning some silverware this season.

The eternal debate about which geographical section of the Friends Life Twenty20 competition is more superior will finally be answered at Edgbaston on August 27th. An all North semi-final and an all South semi-final will produce a North v South final. Of course, in reality, it is not that simple. And not for a minute do I think that it will provide the sought after settlement of the argument. (To follow Will on Twitter please follow this link: https://twitter.com/#!/Willysmudge)

It is a shame that Durham could not provide the North group with three representatives in the final four, but we were out-tossed and outplayed by a Hampshire team very much at home on their surface. Everyone will point to the spin triumvirate of Shahid Afridi, Imran Tahir and Danny Briggs as the crucial factor, but without Neil McKenzie's incredibly skilful knock of 56 they would not have had a total to work with. Talented and experienced, it wouldn't surprise me if he is the leading man on finals day, just as he was in the final last year.

Hampshire have to overcome Somerset first, and while their batting does hinge on McKenzie a little, they have enough other good players to make a defendable total on what will be a good Edgbaston surface. Then, of course, they will unleash their spinners. Should Somerset win the toss, they would surely bat - while they have set or chased targets with equal aplomb in the group stages, they would surely favour racking up a large total and then asking McKenzie and Co to chase it down. As a Twenty20 side Somerset seem to have the perfect blend. Strong, powerful batting (not just Marcus Trescothick , but also Kieron Pollard, Jos Buttler, Peter Trego, James Hildreth), the canny spin of Murali Kartik, and the highly-skilled bowling of Alfonso Thomas. It is very hard to look beyond them.

The earlier semi features the two teams that ended the North group in the best form - Leicestershire and Lancashire. Both finished with a flourish, Lancashire in particular, winning their last six games. They then beat Sussex impressively at Hove in the quarter final.

Both counties are the epitomy of the word 'team'. It could be argued that their sum is greater than that of the constituent parts. But that would be doing a disservice to the talented players on each side.

Lancashire have a determined batting line-up and two good slow left-arm spinners in Gary Keedy and Stephen Parry. But without doubt the catalyst for their blistering form is Junaid Khan. Brilliance at the death of an innings can sway games either way, and he has swayed it Lancashire's way more often than not. Having been called up to the Pakistan national team, his availability for Finals Day is in question. Should he not be available, Leicestershire would feel their chance of progressing to the final is just a tad greater.

This Leicestershire side are reminiscent of the one that won the competition in 2004 and 2006. The odd star performer - for Brad Hodge and Darren Maddy then, read Andrew McDonald and Abdul Razzaq now - but generally a team of very accomplished players with well-defined roles. It is match that is very hard to name the winner. The presence or otherwise of Junaid Khan on the team-sheet could well be the difference. Either way, it will be an absorbing semi-final.

Durham's loss at the Rose Bowl leaves us with two competitions in which to earn some silverware. While it would be great to win both, if we had to settle for one, in my mind it would definitely be the County Championship. Though at the moment, the weather is doing its best to put a spanner in the works. Whether there is enough time left in the current game against Hampshire to gain a positive result is open to debate. What is clear is that we need to win two or three of the four remaining games (including Hamps) to have a good chance. It is at such times that the tough players stand up and put in match-winning performances. Plenty of hard work has been done to get into this position, and we are under no illusion that just as much will be needed to get over the line. It is an exciting time for sure.

The CB40 sees us in with a great chance of qualifying for the semi-finals. With three group games remaining, two wins would probably see us either top the group or ensure that we are the best second-placed team from the three groups.

We won a Lord's final in 2007, in what was a historic few days for Durham, as it was the first piece of silverware in the club's short first-class history. I have some memorable things on my cricketing CV, but playing in a Lord's final is not yet on it. I would swap a lot for one of those days, but perhaps not a third Championship triumph with Durham...it is a hard call to make!

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