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Good luck with those Blunkett I really like the odds on Key and am quite tempted myself with that one. The worry with Langer is that he’s playing in the IPL and will miss the first chunk of the season I don’t know the exact date of his return but in Andrew Hughes words he will be quite unavailable possibly until the first strawberries ripen.
edit; Wonderful news on Somerset website saying Langer will be available for the whole season so I think you’ve got great odds with him Blunkett
Gaelic Warrior Gold Cup Winner 2026
That was an absolute stroke of look to be honest, as I had completely forgotten about the IPL, and didn’t consider it.
I just feel that i’d rather be on Langer @ 12’s than Trescothick at 9/2.
I’ve had one final punt on top bat in division one.
1pt e/w Paul Horton @ 33/1.
Just looking this morning, and Langer is now 8/1 – probably with the news that he’s missed the IPL.
Horton got 96 yesterday in a friendly against Yorkshire at Old Trafford. Adam Lyth opened the batting for the White Rose, and made 15. I’ll be keeping an eye on his progress.
Interesting selections, Blunkett, some really good prices there.
Langer is one of my favourite cricketers. He puts me in mind of a farmer in some dusty old Western movie; an honest, knarled toiler reluctantly recruited from his homestead to go fight the bad guys. He is the kind of batsman we fondly imagine we could be, if we had only an iota of his grit, his enduring determination. At the crease, he is unremarkable; open-stanced, a little stooped with a perfunctory backlift that betrays a cautious nature. Courage is his defining quality as a batsman, the courage not to hide his average behind a watertight defence, but to go toe-to-toe with every bowler he faces. His runs are not counterfeit or inflated currency, they are honestly earned and the full blooded lash with which he launches straight deliveries over midwicket is a hearty pleasure. The news that he is available all summer is an Easter bonus to Somerset and all county cricket watchers.
Langer is one of my favourite cricketers. He puts me in mind of a farmer in some dusty old Western movie; an honest, knarled toiler reluctantly recruited from his homestead to go fight the bad guys. He is the kind of batsman we fondly imagine we could be, if we had only an iota of his grit, his enduring determination. At the crease, he is unremarkable; open-stanced, a little stooped with a perfunctory backlift that betrays a cautious nature. Courage is his defining quality as a batsman, the courage not to hide his average behind a watertight defence, but to go toe-to-toe with every bowler he faces. His runs are not counterfeit or inflated currency, they are honestly earned and the full blooded lash with which he launches straight deliveries over midwicket is a hearty pleasure. The news that he is available all summer is an Easter bonus to Somerset and all county cricket watchers.
Excellently wrote Andrew, perfectly sums up our Langer.
Gaelic Warrior Gold Cup Winner 2026
A couple of nice starts. Tremlett and Tomlinson a few wickets, and hopefully Langer is in the middle of a week long vigil.
Being totally biased here for once
Somerset 10/1 totesport for the Friends Provident. Grreat start last week with a comfortable win over Warwickshire, the batsmen will probably have to do the majority of work as i’m still not totally convinced about the bowling but i feel the batting is as good or better than anyone else’s. Blackwell might be gone but it looks like Hildreth and Kieswetter have been practising well over the winter.
Gaelic Warrior Gold Cup Winner 2026
Being totally biased here for once
Somerset 10/1 totesport for the Friends Provident. Grreat start last week with a comfortable win over Warwickshire, the batsmen will probably have to do the majority of work as i’m still not totally convinced about the bowling but i feel the batting is as good or better than anyone else’s. Blackwell might be gone but it looks like Hildreth and Kieswetter have been practising well over the winter.
Bummer!!! Very disappointing going out in the quarters after breezing through the group stage, I’m all for giving the younger guns the experience and opportunity up the order but at this stage in the comp thought Langer should of come in a lot sooner than what he did.
Gaelic Warrior Gold Cup Winner 2026
HALF TERM REPORT
Horton 383 runs
Langer 364 runs
Lyth 20 runs.May have a shout with Horton each way, but looks like the other 2 are dead – unless Langer scores mountains in the second half of the summer.
Onions 51 wickets
Tomlinson 15 wickets
Kruis 10 wickets
Tremlett 9 wickets.This is the one i’ve got high hopes for, although the figure above inculdes wickets at test level. Discount Onions’ test wickets (about 10 IIRC), and he still sits atop of the pile. Hopefully, he’ll avoid an Ashes call ups.
Key 87
Bopara 0Dead.
Murtagh 15
Khan 2Struggling with this as well.
Rudolph 538 runs.
Still confident that Rudolph will overhaul McGrath (596 runs) in the second half of the season.
If I can get the Onions and Rudolph bets up, then it’ll make a healthy profit.
Rob Key has strangely been in really bad form, but how he ever got in the twenty20 squad is an even a bigger mystery.
I hope Onions does not get a test call up as I’ve got Durham to win the title but id happily lose that bet if Somerset could muster a challenge.
Langers due a big innings and Somerset have played more away games, so he has a few more chances on the Taunton wicket so dont give up on him just yet.
Gaelic Warrior Gold Cup Winner 2026
Onions is probably not going to get much of a chance. He is behind Anderson, Broad and Sidebottom in the pecking order, probably wouldn’t be a replacement for Flintoff and with three spinners to choose from, England might also pick a couple of those instead.
Had a quick look at some of the odds on offer for the Ashes. 11-2(ish) on Betfair for the drawn series looks tempting. I’d certainly think at least a couple of these will be drawn, even without metereological intervention. You can get 13-2 on Betfair about an Aussie 2-1 win or 10-1 with many firms on an England 2-1 win.
Also, kicking off on Friday is the West Indies v India one day series, for which the Windies look worth considering at 3-1. India are at a low ebb, Dhoni is out of touch and they are missing Sehwag. Dwayne Bravo for top bat at 12-1 with Stan James looks fantastic value.
Blimey the summer has raced by.
Congrats to Andrew Strauss and his team. A different beast to the 2005 Ashes, but interesting nontheless.
Hopefully am going to be able to offer up a few cricket bets over the coming weeks and I’m starting with an old favourite – Daniel Vettori in the top bat market.
The hapless Black Caps are in Sri Lanka at the moment, got a pasting in the First Test and are in for more of the same in the Second this week. New Zealand do have a couple of batsmen in Taylor and Ryder and I suppose if McCullum were at his best, you could count him in. But their opening trio of Guptill, McIntosh and Flynn (the man who had his teeth rearranged by Anderson last year – yes, Anderson!) are too inexperienced and quite possibly just not very good.
Vettori does bat at 8, which obviously limits his chances, but taking all of this into account, I would still have him around teh 11-1 mark. So the 16-1 offered by Victor Chandler looks rather generous.
Yes a century is very nice Daniel, but next time, in the first innings, if you’d be so kind.
Yes a century is very nice Daniel, but next time, in the first innings, if you’d be so kind.
He probably will but at half the price.
Gaelic Warrior Gold Cup Winner 2026
Well that is of course entirely possible, but then I’m not sure when New Zealand play their next Test and by then this century should be all but forgotten about.
Seriously though, how he could ever have been 16-1 baffles me.
Interesting stat about the forthcoming T20 match – England have never won a T20 game without KP. Looking at the two line-ups, Australia should be favourites, but I’m not sure about 8-11 on in a volatile format like T20.
I may just watch this one with interest.
Manchester weather strikes again.
Watson and Warner looked to be really struggling with their timing and Clarke is playing Mr Sensible these days so am thinking of backing David Hussey in the top Aussie bat market on Tuesday. 11-2 at the moment, which I think is pretty good, given the aforementioned. 6-1 about Cameron White looks interesting too, but Hussey is a safer bet (once he gets over the nightmare of being fooled by Collingwood).
Also might have something on Mitchell Johnson at 33-1. I reckon he will bat at 7 and on a dodgy kind of wicket could find himself in earlier than expected and biff a quick 30 odd.
I also quite like the look of Warwickshire at Northants in the Pro40 tomorrow. They are minus Trott but plus Bell and their form is pretty good, having absolutely murdered Leicestershire in their only completed game. They have a crack at the title, whereas Northants are more or less out of it, have beaten only the poorest team in the league (Glamorgan) and were thrashed at Lancashire. Evens looks a decent price for the Bears.
Typical Warwickshire. 1 to win off 2. Couldn’t manage it. Still a decent effort from Northants, who scrapped to the finish. The Bears looked a little timid to me without Trott and I’ll know better next time.
Forecast for tomorrow’s T20 looks dire so bearing in mind the possibility of a rain-shortened game, I thought I’d leave the Johnson bet for the time being and concentrate on the top order. I still like the look of Hussey, but would probably want a little more than 11-2 given that he bats at four and the game may be shortened.
In the end, I went for Trott at 5-1 (Stan James) in the top England batsman market. Denly and Bopara probably won’t last long and the little South African/Englishman is full of confidence. Suggestions that he can’t play the short ball look a little out of date.
The match odds market looks about right, was slightly tempted by Australia at 8-11 but then again, a shortened match makes it even more of a lottery so I haven’t taken those odds.
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