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Top Stories 2006 Twenty20 Cup Preview  The 2006 Twenty20 Cup gets under way tomorrow night with the Lancashire Lightning looking to go one better then last year after losing in the Final against the Somerset Sabres.
They begin their campaign at Derby, the match starting at 1900 BST and scheduled to finish under floodlights. Somerset and Leicestershire both have home starts, at the more conventional time of 1730, while Surrey make the short trip north of the river to take on Middlesex at Lord's. The popularity of the tournament is such that some counties (Sussex, Durham and Warwickshire) report their best season yet in terms of advance sales. But with the competing attentions of the football World Cup and the tennis at Wimbledon, some report a slight downturn in advance ticket sales. Essex's Greg Lansdowne said: "We are slightly down on this time last year but we feel the national promotion for the tournament has started a little later." That said, the two day-night matches at Chelmsford are still expected to sell out early.  Somerset veteran Andy Caddick is looking forward to another big campaign from the Sabres, after they stunned Lancashire in the 2005 final. He told ecb.co.uk: "We had a young side. We had a very good leader in Graeme Smith and a bit of self-belief to give it a go and see how it came out. "The approach to the game is that you give it all you have. If you have got the guts to try then you will win it. "This is where Smith was very good last year, making sure everyone was giving their all."
"We've got Cameron White and we've got Justin Langer coming in who are going to be key players. We need an injection of enthusiasm and a bit of spunk to get stuck in again. "We have still got a good chance. You put your hand up and give it a go and hopefully we'll make it to finals day." The counties are split into three zones and play eight matches with the top two from each section qualifying for the quarter-finals on 24 July, plus the two best third places. The winners of the quarter-finals will advance to finals day at Trent Bridge on 12 August, where there will be two semi-finals and the final. Derbyshire Derbyshire reached the quarter-finals by finishing third in the group last season but with the quality of teams in the North group a repeat of this suprise may be out of their reach. Star player Michael Di Venuto - elegant Aussie left hander capable of chasing any score One to watch: Ian Hunter - tall, pacy youngster with bags of ability 2006 Prediction Group Stages Durham With evergreen Dale Benkenstien featuring with both bat and ball and a mixture of youthful players Durham will hope to improve on last years group finish. Star player Dale Benkenstein - evergreen, wily South African who'll be there or thereabouts with bat and ball One to watch: Gary Pratt - if only Ricky Ponting has read this before last year 2006 Prediction Group Stages
Essex look the most likely challenger to Surrey's supremacy and it will be interesting to see if they can translate their one-day form into the even shorter format. Batsman Andy Flower is the king of the improvisers and Essex will fancy chasing down even the largest of targets, although given their relatively weak bowling they may have to. Star player Ravi Bopara - growing in stature all the time and becoming a key man for the east enders One to watch: Ryan Ten Doeschate - emerging Dutch all rounder 2006 Prediction Quater Finals Glamorgan Glamorgan have the opportunity to turn their desperate season around, but without Mark Cosgrove who is away on Australia A duty it is difficult to see them figuring beyond the group stage. Star player James Franklin - swing king of the Kiwis. Can bat a bit too One to watch: Nicky Peng - talented batsmen aiming to resurrect his career in Wales 2006 Prediction Group Stages Gloucestershire Limited overs specialists Gloucestershire, who have Twenty20 power house Ian Harvey back at the club, will be looking to improve on last season's fifth-placed finish in the group. Star player Ian Harvey - has three Twenty20 centuries to his name One to watch: Alex Gidman - the time has come for potential to be turned into end product 2006 Prediction Group Stages Hampshire Without influential captain Share Warne Hampshire will pin their hopes on star player Sean Ervine to go one better then lasy year and make it into the quater finals. Star player Sean Ervine - daring Zimbabwean- excels at the shorter format One to watch: James Bruce - wicket grabbing opening bowler 2006 Prediction Group Stages Kent With the late arrival of Tyron Henderson, Kent hope to fill the big shoes of Justin Kemp who will be missing from their Twenty20 squad, he may be a hard task. Star player Justin Kemp - big-hitting batsman who loves to clear the boundary rope One to watch: Neil Dexter - textbook all-rounder who can give it a whack 2006 Prediction Group Stages Lancashire Lancashire head the North group challenge with the aim of going one better than last season when they were beaten finalists. Even without injured duo Andrew Flintoff and Glenn Chapple, the Red Rose county possess enough talent to suggest they are a good bet to reach finals day and possibly win the title, with the explosive batting of Mal Loye likely to be one of the highlights of the competition. Star player Mal Loye - classy batsman with the ability to dominate any bowling attack One to watch: Tom Smith - upcoming 20-year-old all rounder. Outside tip for World Cup 2007 2006 Prediction Winners Leicestershire Leicestershire boast a fine pedigree in the competition having reached the finals day in every year, including a famous victory over Surrey in 2005. On paper, the Foxes lack the big names to worry the leading sides, but as ever, are likely to get the most from their limited talent and a fourth consecutive finals day appearance cannot be ruled out. Star player Dinesh Mongia - versatile Indian left hander whose innocuous looking spin can also cause problems One to watch: Stuart Broad - pacy 6ft 7" strike bolwer hoping to impress the England selectors 2006 Prediction Quater Finals Middlesex Middlesex made the quarter-finals in 2005 with Owais Shah's batting pyrotechnics providing one of the highlights of the season - hopefully we can expect the same again to wake up some of the snoozing MCC members in the Lord's pavilion. Star player Owais Shah - runner-up in last year’s sixes league One to watch: Nick Compton - classy young batsman following in uncle Dennis' footsteps 2006 Prediction Quater Finals Northamptonshire Northamptonshire finished top of the group with four wins in 2005 and, despite the all-round skills of Lance Klusener and batting power of Sourav Ganguly their small squad will be stretched to the limit to repeat that feat. Star player Lance Klusener - explosive all rounder dubbed 'Zulu' - don't take your eyes off the action when he's at the crease! One to watch: Riki Wessells - tidy young keeper with an appetite for big runs 2006 Prediction Group Stages Nottinghamshire
Star player Stephen Fleming - New Zealand's captain fantastic One to watch: David Hussey - powerful brother of Aussie star Mike 2006 Prediction Group Stages Somerset Last season's winners Somerset only scraped through the group stage in third place, and the Mid/West/Wales once again looks to be the strongest region. The Cidermen's success was built around captain Graeme Smith, and although the South African is not at the club this time around, big-hitting Victorian Cameron White is the ideal replacement. However, the loss of Ian Blackwell through injury is a major blow even with the addition of Australian Test star Justin Langer to an already power-packed batting line-up. Star player Justin Langer - classy Australian opening batsman One to watch: James Hildreth - big hitting youngster with a bright future 2006 Prediction Semi Finals Surrey Surrey were the Twenty20 pioneers in 2003, and have continued to impress during the two subsequent editions, reaching the finals day on each occasion. Once again they are the team to beat in the South group with Mark Butcher leading a side that contains a particularly strong batting line-up. Star player Ali Brown - holds record for highest ever one day score- No one in the crowd is safe. One to watch: James Benning - youngster shining with both bat and ball 2006 Prediction Quater Finals Sussex Despite tasting success in the County Championship Sussex have always struggled in the Twenty20 Cup never qualifying for the knock out stages, this year might be different. Star player Mushtaq Ahmed - crafty Pakistan leg-spinner One to watch: Luke Wright - talented all rounder with a big future 2006 Prediction Semi Finals Warwickshire After falling at the quarter finals stage last Warwickshire will look to maintain their 100% record of qualifying for the knock out stages. Star player Neil Carter - big hitting top order batsman One to watch: Jonathan Trott - aggressive batting-all rounder. Qualifies for England this summer 2006 Prediction Losing Finalists Worcestershire After a disappointing finish in last years group stages Phil Jaques and the evergreen Graeme Hick will spearhead Worcestershire's strong top order batting in an attempt to qualify for the knock out stages. Star player Vikram Solanki - another chance for the wristy, elegant batsman to force his way back into England squad One to watch: Steven Davies- talented 19 year old wicketkeeper. Geraint Jones beware 2006 Prediction Group Stages Yorkshire Yorkshire have yet to embrace the Twenty20 competition with the same enthusiasm as most counties, and their ageing Australian overseas duo Darren Lehmann and Jason Gillespie appear unsuited to the demands of this type of cricket. Star player Darren Lehmann - streetwise, hard hitting batsman in the best form of his career One to watch: Tim Bresnan - tall all-rounder hoping to build on his first taste of the big stage 2006 Prediction Group Stages source - bbc.co.uk |
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