County Cricket / Editor / 15 August 2008 / Leave a comment

Richard Douglas talks us through all the team news and betting as Essex and Kent clash in the final of the Friends Provident Trophy. Kent skipper Robert Key and hard-hitting Graham Napier are both more than capable match-winners as Richard explains.

Two sides who missed out on the riches of the Twenty20 Champions League go head-to-head on Saturday as the curtain comes down on domestic one-day cricket for this season.

Kent perhaps have the psychological edge having knocked out Essex in the short form Semi-Final at the Rose Bowl. However Robert Key's side then failed to live up to their limited-overs reputation by allowing unfancied Middlesex to swipe the swag from under their noses.

Kent at [1.84] are warm favourites for the 50-over final. They have quality batsmen in Key and Darren Stevens plus some pyro-technicians in the form of Joe Denley, Justin Kemp and, the tournament's highest run-scoring this season, Martin van Jaarsveld. There is also the big-match experience gained from successive Twenty20 Finals.

This season, they pipped Essex to win the Friends Provident South Group - sharing a victory each along the way. In the knockout stages they accounted for Somerset and holders Durham with relative ease. Both times they set challenging totals and took regular wickets to strangle the chase. Spinner James Tredwell the main neck-wringer.

Essex [2.14] are less experienced and have had a tendency to blow good opportunities in their showpiece games in recent years.

They nearly lost their way in the group stages after winning their opening three games. But they hammered Leicestershire by 118 runs in the Quarter-Final and Yorkshire by 87 in the Semi-Final. Talent is not the issue however temperament could be.

Mark Pettini is in his first full season as captain and leads a side of emerging players buoyed with old heads in the form of Jason Gallian, David Masters and Grant Flower.

They do have matchwinners. Pakistani leg-spinner Danish Kaneria was essential to their back-to-back Pro40 titles in 2005 and 2006. And, ever since he smashed a world record 16 sixes against Sussex in the Twenty20 Cup, Graham Napier has been box office.

He followed that with 61 off 34 balls, including six sixes, in the Friends Provident Semi-Final against Yorkshire. However both those games were at Chelmsford, a famously small ground. While not wishing to detract from his magnificent achievement, when he bludgeoned his incredible 154 not out, the boundary had been brought in a couple of yards on an already tight ground. Lord's will be bigger.

Nasser Hussain, former Essex captain and now a Sky pundit, has argued Napier's decision-making is still his downfall. That was certainly the case when these two sides met in the Twenty20 Cup Semi-Final at the Rose Bowl in July. The all-rounder holed out after only five balls.

Napier (+0.5runs) [2] is paired against Ravi Bopara (-0.5 runs) [1.76] in the Betfair batting market. The latter has been to the crease eight times in the tournament this year. On half of those occasions he has returned with 50 or more and, at Leicester in the Quarter-Final, he became on the fifth man in domestic cricket to hit a one-day double hundred.

That was a day when Essex blew very hot. They did the same thing in their third group game when Pettini and Gallian shared an opening stand of 268 as Essex posted 391-4 against Surrey, the highest one-day total in their history.

However they can blow equally cold aswell. Their three group defeats were by eight wickets, eight wickets and 108 runs respectively.

Kent are [1.56] to have their opening partnership outscore Essex's opening pair ([1.83]). In their last five games, Key and Denley have made between 45 and 96 on each occasion. Essex hit 61 in the Semi-Final and the aforementioned 268 but apart from that they have not exceeded 32. However, with Alastair Cook available after England duty, Pettini is likely to bat at No 3. It could change the dynamic of this market.

But then so will the toss. Years ago, when this final was held a little later in the year, the 10.45am start meant the captain who called correctly would not hesitate to field. The early morning dew meant there was a good chance of quick wickets. That is still a factor - albeit a lesser one - these days.

Essex can triumph if they control their nerves when they are controlling the game. However, overall, Kent make a more compelling case.

Tags: Friends Provident Trophy, Graham Napier