There was a time when a competition like the Royal London One-Day Cup would have produced plenty of excitement.
It has its roots in the Gillette Cup, first staged in 1963, which was revolutionary in its time. Back in the Sixties, limited-overs cricket was an unknown concept. The traditionalists didn’t like it in much the same way they decry T20 nowadays and will fight tooth and nail to prevent the proposed The Hundred getting off the ground in 2020, though I must admit I don’t see why the England and Wales Cricket Board should go down the same route as India and Australia in making the latter an inter-city tournament and, let’s be honest, if you can’t maintain a spectator’s interest throughout the duration of a T20 game, shaving four overs of each innings is unlikely to make much difference.
However, I digress. The Royal London One-Day Cup has evolved through the Sunday League, NatWest Pro40 and Friends Provident Trophy to its current incarnation. Alongside T20 Blast and the County Championship, it is one of the keystones of the English domestic season and there have been four different winners since its inception in 2014. The County Championship is suspended while the group stages take place.
The group stages are regionalised into North and South. There are nine teams in each and they will all play each other, staging four matches at home and travelling in the others. The top four teams in each section go into the seeded quarter-finals with the carrot of a final at Lord’s at the end of the season.
Worcestershire won the North Group last year and are a general 20/1 to win the tournament itself this year. It will be a nice distraction for a team that is struggling badly in the longer version of the game this year. Essex Eagles won the South Group in 2017, losing just one of their eight matches. They did, of course, go on to capture the County Championship Division One title but lost in the semi-finals of the Royal London Cup to eventual winners NOTTINGHAMSHIRE OUTLAWS.
The Outlaws are only a best 13/2 with Betway to defend their crown but have a side more than capable of dominating white-ball cricket in England again this year. They’ve added New Zealand’s Ross Taylor, Chris Nash and all-rounder Paul Coughlin to an already strong squad and Alex Hales, who pretty much won the final single-handed last year, now only plays limited-overs cricket so will be available for pretty much the whole campaign.
It’s difficult to see any team matching Notts when the chips are down, though Surrey will be determined to finally end the run of luck which has seen them beaten in the final in the last three years – Surrey are a general 9/1. The Northamptonshire Steelbacks could go a long way at the 25/1 with Coral if they get the rub of the green and Ben Duckett decides he’s going to show England what they are missing. Yorkshire Vikings’ young squad will probably also make a bold bid but are only a best 8/1 with 888sport and consistency and batting have not proved strong points of Andrew Gale’s squad in the County Championship so far.
Royal London One-Day Cup 2018 Outright Betting
Nottinghamshire Outlaws 13/2, Yorkshire Vikings 8/1, Surrey 9/1, Warwickshire Bears 10/1, Hampshire 11/1, Sussex Sharks 14/1, Essex Eagles, Middlesex, Lancashire Lightning and Somerset 16/1, Kent Spitfires, Glamorgan and Worcestershire 20/1, Durham and Northamptonshire Steelbacks 25/1, Gloucestershire 28/1, Leicestershire Foxes and Derbyshire Falcons 33/1 (Odds correct at 11am May 16)
