Friends Life T20 Competition 2012

So it’s that time of the year again in County Cricket circles when the County Championship is pushed to the background and the crowds take cover as the counties biggest tournament gets under way. In this post I’m going to look at 4 teams that I think have a fantastic chance of going on to big things in this competition and could definitely be there come finals day.

Somerset

Always the bridesmaids and never the brides they seem to spend most of the last few seasons doing really well and getting to the big final occasions and then losing repeatedly. They have a fantastic team (even without injured skipper Marcus Trescothick) and will look to players such as Jos Buttler and the spin duo of Max Waller and George Dockrell to lead the charge. They have such a fantastic team and so much raw talent that I honestly think that they will win it this year.

Surrey

Another team that has a young squad that is full of talent and they should do very well. Obviously they have been the victim of a terrible tragedy in the last few days and without a doubt they will want to make sure that this season they do their utmost to wind something so they can dedicate the victory to Tom Maynard. Unfortunately I think they will need another year or two before they become the side that everyone else is trying to beat.

Essex

A brilliant one day team that is ridiculously hard to beat at Fortress Chelmsford as they know the angles of the ground so well for both the batting and fielding aspects and play fantastic cricket there. The biggest problem Essex seems to have is when they go away from home they seem to struggle a lot more. When you consider that they have a fantastic team and they are so good at one day cricket you wonder how they haven’t won more but for me I think they will lose in the Semi-Finals this year.

Nottinghamshire

Another fantastic team with the likes of Alex Hales and James Taylor (two young players that have played for the England team and are very highly rated for the future). When you add in to this team people like Michael Lumb and Samit Patel you have a fantastic team that should do very well. As long as the groups work out and the next round draw I think that they will lose in the final to Somerset.

England say goodbye to easy Test Matches and Hello South Africa

Well apart from the weathers interference the test match series went exactly as most people thought that it would with a comfortable win for England and a few good performances from West Indian players that were good but on their own were never likely to challenge this England side.

Steven Finn and Graeme Onions were added to the test match players in the final match of the series and it seemed as if everyone was either for it or against it. I personally was very much for it but not for the reason of resting the other two players but so that if the worst was to happen and James Anderson or Stuart Broad were injured then the player coming in would have recent test match experience.

We now have the One day series and not a lot has changed apart from Kevin Pietersen’s retirement from the shorter forms of the game and Ian Bell being recalled to the team. I think again that we will win all the games that are played as I can only see us being stopped if Chris Gayle (recently returned from the IPL) bats most of his sides 50 overs to get them a big score.

The biggest test is when South Africa arrives here on our shores later this summer. They are the number 2 in the world at test match cricket (behind us) and they will want to make a big statement. They have a fantastic batting line up including Graeme Smith, AB De Villiers and Jacques Kallis and a bowling attack which includes Dale Steyn and Morne Morkel which is definitely not something to be taken lightly.

That series should provide some of the best test match play since the ashes series of 2005 and hopefully we will finally get some good summertime weather and we can play all the sessions of all the test matches and finally find out for real just who is the best test match team in the world South Africa or England.