This year's edition of The Hundred begins on Tuesday, so be sure to check out Richard Mann's preview which features a strong bet in the outright market.
Cricket betting tips: The Hundred
3pts Oval Invincibles to win The Hundred at 5/1 (Sky Bet)
Love it or loathe it, The Hundred will be rammed down the throats of English cricket fans for the next few weeks as the ECB’s shiniest toy once again takes centre stage.
The men’s tournament will begin on Tuesday as 2023 winners OVAL INVINCIBLES host Birmingham Phoenix, when the defending champions kick off what is expected to be another successful campaign.
The Invincibles were deserving winners 12 months ago, topping the league table in emphatic fashion before beating Manchester Originals in the final – and I reckon they will be just as strong this time around, if not stronger.
Losing South African batsman Heinrich Klaasen is a blow, but he only played seven matches last season and countryman Donovan Ferreira is a solid replacement who knows English conditions well having impressed for Yorkshire in this season’s T20 Blast.
After a modest campaign last term, Jason Roy has gone and in comes Dawid Malan, leading runscorer in The Hundred in 2022 and with 420 runs at an average of 42.00 in the Blast season so far this year. That is a definite upgrade at the top of the order and Malan’s partnership with the outstanding Will Jacks promises much.
The Curran brothers are two very fine all-rounders at this level, Tom the hero of last year’s final with 67 not out, and they will help beef out a middle order that also features Ferreira, Sam Billings and Jordan Cox. Billings comes into this year’s competition on the back of a fine run of form for Kent in the Blast.
It’s hard to think many teams will be able to match that quality and depth with the bat, and the bowling shapes up very well, too.
The Currans will be front and centre again, but Spencer Johnson lit up the early part of The Hundred last year and the Australian paceman returns for another stint having helped Brisbane Heat win the Big Bash in the winter.
Spin is covered through Adam Zampa, Nathan Sowter, who claimed 11 wickets last year, and Wild Card pick Mark Watt who has vast experience from his time with Derbyshire and Scotland. Jacks is very handy with the ball, too.
I’m struggling to pick holes in this squad and, as we have seen so many times in franchise competitions all around the world, tournament pedigree counts for so much. This is a successful side already, with winning bred into their culture, and I can’t believe there isn’t more to come.
Last summer, Surrey’s excellent Blast season carried into this competition for the Invincibles, with their strong Surrey contingent at the core of this squad. At the time of writing, Surrey are going great guns in the Blast again and currently sit top of South Group.
Every which way you look at this, the omens look good for the Invincibles and with 4/1 readily available, and Sky Bet dangling the carrot at 5/1, they look worth betting to claim back-to-back titles.
The Originals once again look strong. Jos Buttler and Phil Salt lead a powerful batting unit, but losing Laurie Evans could really hurt and the bowling might just come up short if the pitches at Old Trafford don’t spin.
I'm happy to swerve them, even with 11/2 available in a couple of places, and I’d make Southern Brave the main threat to the defending champions.
They enjoyed a solid campaign to finish third in the regular season last year, and the batting, which needed beefing up, looks stronger this time around.
James Vince remains the headline act, but new recruits Evans and Kieron Pollard promise to give the middle order some real finishing power, while Leus Du Plooy is a very good player, far better than the one who struggled in 2023.
How many games the ECB permit Jofra Archer to play will have a big impact on their overall chances, but there is a real Sussex flavour here with Tymal Mills and Chris Jordan helping form a dangerous and experienced pace attack. The canny Danny Briggs and Akeal Hossein could link up in a potentially exciting spin pairing.
I like this squad a lot, just not as much as Invincibles, at the prices. The Brave are 7/1 shots with most firms.
A better showing from London Spirit might be in the offing this season. Two wins from eight summed up a poor 2023 campaign, but they do have the potential to take a big step forward.
West Indians Andre Russell and Shimron Hetmyer have been brought in to bolster a batting line-up from which nobody managed close to 200 runs last season, while we can expect to see much more of batsman Micheal Pepper who plundered 120 not out in the Blast recently.
The bowling boasts bags of experience and genuine pace from Olly Stone and Richard Gleeson.
Elsewhere, I’m struggling to muster too much enthusiasm about the remaining squads.
Looking at their potential best XI, Northern Superchargers look capable of challenging any side on their day. It will be fascinating to see how captaincy sits with Harry Brook and the prospect of him and Nicholas Pooran batting together is quite something.
Matthew Short should really have played more cricket for Australia than he has managed thus far, so the batting has big potential, less so the bowling for this shorter format, with Reece Topley needing to stay fit and Adil Rashid expected to carry a heavy burden on a Headingley surface not really suited to spin these days.
Winners in 2022, Trent Rockets can again boast some big names, chiefly Rashid Khan and Alex Hales, but last season was a bit of a mess, and I’m not sure they look any stronger 12 months on.
The truth is, you can look through all these squads and find potential match-winners galore, as is the case with the Phoenix who boast a number of England internationals and some exciting batting talent with a blend of experience and youth.
But you can also pick holes aplenty, less so with the Invincibles who have found a winning formula down at the Oval and look to have assembled squad which retains much of the star quality that powered them to title glory last year.
Excuse the cheap pun, but there might even be an air of invincibility about this team judging on Surrey's current Blast form, and I fancy the Invincibles will take an awful lot of stopping once again.
Posted at 1520 BST on 20/07/24
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