The NatWest T20 Blast is now a mainstream domestic competition to rival both the County Championship and One-Day Cup but it certainly wasn’t in this first few years when some professionals and commentators regarded it as a joke tournament and one in which they would avoid if given half the chance.
Nowadays, the rewards are great and the format attracts specialists who will travel from country to country as the calendar dictates and not see a red ball from one year to the next. England’s Alex Hales and Adil Rashid don’t play red-ball cricket any more and their form has probably benefited as a result.
Betting for the 2018 NatWest T20 Blast has a typically open look about it but the usual suspects are at the head of the market.
NatWest T20 Blast Previous Winners
| Year | Winner | Runners-up |
| 2003 | Surrey | Warwickshire |
| 2004 | Leicestershire | Surrey |
| 2005 | Somerset | Lancashire |
| 2006 | Leicestershire | Nottinghamshire |
| 2007 | Kent | Gloucestershire |
| 2008 | Middlesex | Kent |
| 2009 | Sussex | Somerset |
| 2010 | Hampshire | Somerset |
| 2011 | Leicestershire | Somerset |
| 2012 | Hampshire | Yorkshire |
| 2013 | Northamptonshire | Surrey |
| 2014 | Warwickshire | Lancashire |
| 2015 | Lancashire | Northamptonshire |
| 2016 | Northamptonshire | Durham |
| 2017 | Nottinghamshire Outlaws | Birmingham Bears |
Sussex have only won the T20 Blast once in their history but you could argue that the Sharks have the most potent bowling attack in the competition this year. T20’s headlines are usually captured by batsmen but a game is half-won if a bowling attack can restrict the amount of runs they concede and Jason Gillespie’s team have Jofra Archer, Chris Jordan and Tymal Mills, all tried and tested in the IPL, as well as spinner Danny Briggs, Will Beer and Rashid Khan. It will be fascinating to see how the Afghan teenager copes with English pitches. The Sharks are 8/1 to be outright winners in 2018 with Coral.
Hampshire, completely dominant in the Royal London One-Day Cup just ended, can be backed at the same odds. Victory this year would put Hampshire alongside Leicestershire at the top of the table regarding wins in the competition. Colin Munro and teenage sensation Mujeeb Ur Rahman are their overseas players this year and James Vince has been in sensational form in limited-overs cricket since discarded by England so a second trophy of the campaign is no forlorn hope.
Essex had qualified from the group stages five times in a row until last season’s blip but the standards are raising year on year and the Eagles have not been in great form in any from of cricket so far this year. Though in attendance at finals day on four occasions, they’ve never reached the final let alone won the T20 Blast and Chelmsford is no longer the fortress it once was so Ryan ten Doeschate and his men look worth opposing at the general 14/1.
Were Yorkshire able to call on all of their key men in the group stages, the White Rose county would probably much shorter than the 10/1 with Coral. But Joe Root, Jonny Bairstow, David Willey, Adil Rashid and Liam Plunkett will mostly be on international duty, at least until the knockout stages. They will have to rely on their youngsters and might struggle to get out of the northern section.
I’ve been waiting for Ben Duckett to regain some form but getting himself sent home for the Ashes Tour seemed to have affected his confidence and, even though Northamptonshire have been one of the most successful county of recent years in the T20 Blast, the Steelbacks are 25/1 with Coral this year. Defending champions Nottinghamshire head most lists at a best 7/1 but no side has ever successfully defended their title and, if Hales doesn’t fire or play often enough, there looks a shortage of run-makers.
Derbyshire Falcons were second to the Outlaws in the Northern section last year so it’s a surprise to see them at a general 33/1. In runs scored, they were right up there with the section winners last year but their bowling has been weakened by the loss of Imran Tahir and Matt Henry. At the same odds, Leicestershire Foxes would make more appeal. They have something to prove having failed to do themselves justice in the Royal London One-Day Cup but their squad contains more than it’s fair share of talented white-ball players who could spring a surprise or two along the way.
NatWest T20 Blast Current Best Odds
Nottinghamshire 7/1, Sussex, Hampshire and Surrey 8/1, Yorkshire 10/1, Birmingham 12/1, Essex, Somerset and Middlessex 16/1, Kemt and Lancashire 18/1, Glamorgan 20/1, Gloucestershire 22/1, Northamptonshire 25/1, Worcestershire 28/1, Derbyshire, Durham and Leicestershire 33/1
