Cricket betting tips: T20 Blast outright preview and best bets

Cricket tips: T20 Blast

1pt Derbyshire Falcons to win the T20 Blast at 33/1 (General)

1pt Derbyshire Falcons to reach T20 Blast Finals Day at 8/1 (Unibet)

3pts Derbyshire Falcons to finish in the top four in North Group at 9/4 (Unibet)

1pt e.w. Birmingham Bears to win the T20 Blast at 16/1 (General 1/2 1,2)

Sky Bet odds | Paddy Power | Betfair Sportsbook

Ahead of a T20 Blast season with so many unknowns and unanswered questions, a year which has a wide-open feel to it, DERBYSHIRE FALCONS rate a thoroughly solid proposition and headline the staking plan at 33/1.

Many of those unknowns and unanswered questions surround player availability as many of the ‘bigger counties’ try to lure high-profile overseas stars grappling with more attractive commitments elsewhere. Ultimately, it just doesn’t make many of the market leaders in the outright betting appeal as viable propositions.

Such a scenario once again underlines the quite ridiculous scheduling across the English domestic game, a serious issue which is in danger of eventually killing off county cricket, and one must feel for supporters having to deal with daily e-mail drops trying to persuade them to buy tickets for a match between two clubs that don’t yet know themselves the make-up of their playing squads.

It must be said, this doesn’t happen in the Indian Premier League, and I wouldn’t be prepared to buy a ticket in advance without knowing what exactly I was paying for. Put it another way – would you write a cheque for a new car without knowing the make, model or age of the purchase? Of course you wouldn’t. Yet again, the ECB really must do better.

This might put some punters off striking a bet in the outright market, but I’m of the opposite view. Many of the sides that will be affected by the revolving door of overseas players are those at the top of the betting, while there are a few lower down that have established squads already and promise to be much more reliable – if not boasting quite the same star quality that a short-term, big-name star signing will offer.

Solid Derbyshire set for strong Blast campaign

Derbyshire are the perfect example of this. While their playing squad might not be glitz and glamour, it features some fine domestic cricketers who have enjoyed much success in this competition over the years, along with a couple of new recruits with international pedigree on the biggest stage.

Luis Reece is one such player who has always delivered in the Blast, and his dynamic batting at the top of the order earned him a contract with London Spirit in The Hundred last summer. Another is Wayne Madsen, who was limited to only a single game in this competition in 2021 due to injury, and whose return to fitness and form this summer should see him enhance his already impressive T20 CV.

Alex Hughes and Jacobus du Plooy are two more consistent operators who add further depth to the batting – and the latter made 395 runs at an average of 39.50 in this competition last year – though the star turn at the top of the order promises to be Shan Masood.

The former Pakistan opener is a terrific player, particularly of quick bowling, and he has begun his Derbyshire career by amassing 844 runs in only six County Championship fixtures this spring. Masood’s T20 credentials are equally impressive, and he finished as the third highest runscorer in the latest edition of the Pakistan Super League.

Derbyshire’s bowling is similarly plucky. Former Sri Lanka seamer Suranga Lakmal brings bags of experience to the table and he is sure to be well supported by Sam Conners, who has taken 25 wickets in country cricket already this term. Look out too for youngsters Nick Potts and Anuj Dal who both rate excellent prospects. Dal is an all-rounder by trade, and his fielding is exceptional.

Perhaps the biggest positive for the bowling, however, is the return of Scotland international Mark Watt, who took last year’s T20 World Cup in the UAE by storm, and his miserly economy rate and ability to bowl dot balls in the middle overs is sure to prove a big asset to Derbyshire.

Arthur experience cannot be underestimated

All in all, this has the makings of a very sound squad that ticks plenty of boxes, and crucially, has enjoyed a good start their four-day campaign under the tutelage of new head coach Mickey Arthur.

Derbyshire have generally punched above their weight in the Blast, making the County Ground something a fortress and playing a fearless, aggressive brand of cricket. Last season was quite the opposite, suggesting things had become a little stale, and Arthur’s appointment promises to freshen things up.

Arthur is one of the most decorated coaches in world cricket, having achieved great things with South Africa and Pakistan across all formats, and guiding the latter to ICC Champions Trophy success in 2017 only served to underline his qualities as a coach. For Derbyshire to acquire his signature in the winter was quite the coup.

More recently, Arthur enjoyed a successful stint with Sri Lanka, overseeing marked improvement and the development of a young side that won plenty of admirers at the T20 World Cup. Not for the first time, Arthur left things in a much better state than he had found them.

Regular readers of these pages will know I’m a huge fan of Arthur’s coaching, but putting that aside for a moment, the early signs have been encouraging and given his strong white-ball credentials, and a solid, young squad to work with, I’d be surprised if better were not to come from Derbyshire in the Blast.

At 33/1 in the outright betting, they are worth a spin, while Unibet once again offer some interesting specials markets. Derbyshire to make Finals Day at 8/1 appeals, though not as much as the 9/4 about Arthur’s outfit finishing in the top four in the North Group.

• CLICK HERE to back Derbyshire Falcons with Sky Bet

Birmingham on the up as batting takes shape

Sticking with the North Group, it is worth pointing out that last year’s four Finals Day participants all qualified from the South Group, with Kent Spitfires eventually going all the way and lifting the title.

Assuming Sam Billings doesn’t jump to the top of Ben Stokes’ list for England’s Test wicketkeeper this summer, I wouldn't want to make too strong a case against the defending champions, whose bowling attack was brilliant under pressure on Finals Day, and in the quarter-finals when derailing what should have been a comfortable run chase for BIRMINGHAM BEARS.

Kent’s chance is there for all to see again, and 10/1 possibly underestimates their prospects of a successful title defence, but I’m siding with Birmingham, on the basis that the current county champions are a club thriving at present, and that they have made some excellent decisions in the off-season to improve their white-ball cricket.

To begin with, it was Birmingham’s batting that held them back in this format last summer, so signing the aggressive Alex Davies from Lancashire is a terrific move, as is the pick-up of veteran Irish batsman Paul Stirling who was so destructive in the PSL just a matter of months ago. That pair will open the batting for the Bears, a partnership that promises plenty.

That will allow the ever-dependable Sam Hain to marshal a middle order that will feature the exciting Chris Benjamin, Will Rhodes and new captain Carlos Brathwaite, whose wealth of experience in this format and excellent death bowling proved so useful last term.

Injuries to Olly Stone and Chris Woakes are a blow, but neither featured much last year and the bowling remained the Bears’ strongest suit as Jake Lintott shot to prominence and helped form a potent spin pairing with Danny Briggs.

There are plenty of options in the seam-bowling department as well, helping shape a formidable and well-rounded squad that wasn't far away a year ago, but looks better stocked now and makes plenty of appeal at 16/1.

• CLICK HERE to back Birmingham Bears with Sky Bet

The best of the rest from the North Group would appear to be Nottinghamshire Outlaws, winners in 2017 and 2020, but they weren’t quite as good last year and I’m not sure they’ve yet replaced Harry Gurney properly.

Australian Dan Christian returns for another season, but he might be finally slowing down now and were Joe Clarke to force his way into the England Test side – with Rob Key now suggesting he will be considered for selection – Nottinghamshire's squad suddenly wouldn't look as powerful as it once was.

I can leave them alone at 7/1, similarly Lancashire Lightning who will be shorn of pace spearhead Saqib Mahmood for the whole of the season and might at some stage be without England test hopeful Matt Parkinson, given his strong form in county cricket so far this summer.

Tim David is a brilliant signing, and he could easily light up the competition, but Old Trafford took plenty of spin last year and if their new recruit has one weakness, it appears to be against high-quality spin.

There are just too many question marks with Lancashire to be backing them at this stage, and as I said at the top of this piece, more solid options are available elsewhere.

Yorkshire and Hampshire in the mix

Don’t discount Yorkshire Vikings who have an improving, young squad that really should have beaten Sussex in the quarter-finals last year. However, they are shorter in the betting than Birmingham and I don’t see them as the better side right now, in any format.

Given how well the South Group fared last year, Sussex are sure to prove popular. But it’s worth noting that Jofra Archer has now been ruled out of the whole of the Blast, and that Chris Jordan and Phil Salt left the club at the end of last season.

They look too short priced up at single figures, as do Surrey who will be without the Curran brothers, Jason Roy and Ollie Pope for various stages of the competition due to international commitments. Sunil Narine is a shrewd capture, Kieron Pollard less so if his recent IPL struggles are anything to go by.

Hampshire narrowly lost to Somerset in a dramatic finish to their Blast semi-final last summer, and the first-named look big players again with Australians Ben McDermott and Nathan Ellis in their ranks.

At 14/1, Hampshire would just about be my pick from the South Group, but the Northern Powerhouse can hold sway this year with Derbyshire and Birmingham the two picks for Blast glory.

Published at 1700 BST on 23/05/22

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