Morgan commits to Middlesex

Middlesex County Cricket Club (13/2 to win County Championship Division One 2013 with bet365) have received a massive boost with the news that Eoin Morgan has agreed a new long-term contract with the club.

The 26-year-old England batsman is an established international in the one-day and Twenty20 side and has been part of the Middlesex set-up at Lord’s for close to a decade.

Morgan, who has battled himself into the reckoning for the England Test side and is part of the squad currently touring India (England 4/1 to win Test series with bet365), was awarded an ECB central contract for 2013 and also plays for Indian Premier League for reigning champions Kolkata Knight Riders.

Now established as one of the best batsmen in the world, he offers a huge boost to Middlesex whenever he is available to them and the club are understandably delighted he has put pen-to-paper on the new deal.

Middlesex’s chief executive Vinny Codrington said: “With the exceptional talent he possesses Eoin is quite rightly regarded as one of the most gifted batsmen in world cricket today, and we are delighted that we can continue to call upon his services whenever he is available to us here at Middlesex.”

Morgan’s agreement to a new contract comes closely on the heels of Middlesex announcing that Chris Rogers will continue to captain them in the County Championship next season – they finished third in Division One last season.

Derbyshire reward Masden with new deal

Derbyshire have rewarded captain Wayne Masden for leading his side to the LV= County Championship Division Two title by handing him a new three-year deal to tie him to the club until the end of 2015 (Derbyshire – 20/1 County Championship Div One 2013 Outright).

Masden enjoyed a fine season for the county and helped them to their first trophy since 1993.

Derbyshire have made it clear they want him to lead the team in the top flight next term, where they will face stiffer competition from the likes of champions Warwickshire (10/3 Outright) and Somerset (5/1) and they have announced the 28-year-old has penned a new, extended contract.

Madsen was also Derbyshire’s leading run-scorer with 885 last season, with an average of 38.47 and recorded his career-best score of 231 not out against Northamptonshire.

Masden was delighted to stay on and is now looking forward to the future.

“What we achieved last year was incredible and this is a club that’s growing and moving in the right direction on and off the field,” he said.

“To lead this squad is a great honour, I’m so excited about where we are heading and we’re looking forward to challenging ourselves in Division One next season.”

Head coach Karl Krikken is a big fan of Masden, both on the pitch with the bat and also in the dressing room. He added: “The way he has led the side this season, in his first year in the job, has been absolutely magnificent.

“He’s got a great captaincy style and the example he sets the younger players in terms of his work ethic is fantastic. I’m delighted we’re continuing to work together to keep taking the club forward.”

Dhoni admits bowling concerns

Captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni admits he has concerns over his bowling attack as India prepare to launch their assault on the World Twenty20 title (India 9/2 fav Tournament Outright with bet365).

The Asian giants begin their campaign against minnows Afghanistan on Wednesday and are overwhelming favourites to take the points against a side containing no household names (Afghanistan 14/1, India 1/33 Match Prices with bet365).

But 20-over cricket is tailor-made for shocks and the Afghans will hope to catch the star-studded India side on an off-day to claim the spoils.

However unlikely that seems, Dhoni is not entirely happy with the players he has at his disposal and feels that his side’s strength lays away from the bowlers.

“Bowling has always been a bit of a concern,” he acknowledged. “If you compare our batting to our bowling, the bowling is slightly weaker than the batting.”

India are the current 50-over world champions and have an awesome-looking batting line-up, with Virat Kohli taking his game to a new level in recent times.

There is also Gautam Gambhir, Suresh Raina, Rohit Sharma and the returning Yuvraj Singh for the Afghan bowlers to deal with and it seems inevitable that, if they bat first, Dhoni’s men will reach a total approaching 200.

While that will be far too much for the non-Test-playing nation, India will then play England, and the defending champions will provide a much sterner test for the sub-continental side.

Any weakness in the attack will be exposed by Stuart Broad’s men, who have looked good in beating South Africa and Australia in two recent 20-over contests, although they made hard work of beating Pakistan in their final warm-up game on Wednesday but did somehow successfully defend 111.

Jayawardene wants to make history

Sri Lanka skipper Mahela Jayawardene is confident that his side can become the first host nation to win the World Twenty20 crown (Sri Lanka – 5/1 Tournament Outright with bet365).

The islanders will open the tournament against minnows Zimbabwe on Tuesday and are massive favourite to begin their campaign with a victory in Hambantota (Sri Lanka 1/10, Zimbabwe 6/1 – Match Prices).

Jayawardene has overseen a vast improvement in Sri Lanka’s fortunes since regaining the captaincy and they now have a confident, well-balanced side, who can mix it with the best in all forms of the game.

The captain himself has a decent 20-over record and, with players such as Kumar Sangakkara, Tillakaratne Dilshan and Lasith Malinga in the side, they can expect to reach the latter stages of the event.

No host side has won the tournament to date, with India claiming the inaugural event in South Africa, Pakistan triumphing in England and Paul Collingwood leading England to glory in the West Indies two years ago.

But that statistic does not faze Jayawardene, who wants to make sure the trophy remain in Sri Lanka on October 7.

“There’s always first time, isn’t it,” he said. “No one has done it, so maybe it’s our time to turn it around and make it first.”

Zimbabwe are not expected to cause the Asians too many problems despite an improvement in their form over the past couple of years and it would be a major shock if they qualified for the Super Eights.

Hales happy with England form

England began their warm-up for the World Twenty20 with a tight nine-run victory over arch rivals Australia, with the tournament proper set to get underway on Tuesday (England 15/2, Australia 13/2 – Tournament Outright with bet365).

Alex Hales (9/2 – Top England Tournament Batsman with bet365) provided the backbone of England’s competitive total of 172-6, scoring 52 off just 38 balls including seven fours.

Luke Wright (35) and Eoin Morgan (30) also got amongst the runs before Mike Hussey (25/1 with bet365 to finish as the tournament’s Top Batsman) almost single-handedly steered the Aussies to victory.

His innings of 71 – which included five sixes – was not quite enough as the Baggy Greens fell just short, despite Shane Watson’s powerful 37 at the top of the order.

Hales was delighted to have found some form going into the tournament and believes that the conditions will not be as bad for England as many pundits have anticipated.

“It’s a great way to start the warm-up to this tournament, and we also had that good win against South Africa in Birmingham last week ,” said Hales.

“It’s nice to get some runs under your belt in the first warm-up game,” he added. “It is a very different challenge to what we’re used to in England, but I think the deck was a lot better than everyone expected.”

England will complete their preparations in another warm-up against Pakistan on Wednesday, before they begin their title defence against Afghanistan on Friday.

Broad hails T20 talent

England skipper Stuart Broad says he believes his young squad have what it takes to retain the Twenty20 World Cup in Sri Lanka (England 7/1 T20 World Cup outright with bet365).

The defending champions flew out to the subcontinent this week to begin their preparations for the tournament off the back of an encouraging win over South Africa on Wednesday night.

The Proteas are 5/1 to win their first T20 World Cup, but England were able to tame their opponents as they won by 28 runs at Edgbaston.

Jos Butler and Craig Kieswetter proved to be the heroes of the hour in midweek and England will be looking for the young duo to make the step up in class again in Sri Lanka.

England have lost some big names since winning the World Twenty20 title in 2010, most notably Kevin Pietersen, who was man of the tournament in the West Indies two years ago.

Without Pietersen’s big hitting, England have been tipped to struggle but Broad believes the likes of Butler, Alex Hales and Jonny Bairstow have the quality necessary to mount a serious defence of their crown.

“I’ve got full belief in the squad,” he said.

“I see the guys in training every day and it’s frightening what they can do.

“We’re confident. We’ve got some talented players here, and played some really good Twenty20 cricket in the past year.”

England kick off their campaign on September 21 against Afghanistan before they face India two days later.

With the top two from each group going through to the Super Eight phase, Broad’s men will be expected to be in the shake-up in the knockout stages and can be backed at 7/5 to win the group.

Anderson earns England call

England pace bowler James Anderson has been called up to the Twenty20 side for their upcoming series with South Africa (England 1/1, South Africa 4/5 – Match Betting with bet365).

The Lancashire seamer has not played for the national side in the shortest form of the game since 2009 but has been brought into the squad to replace the injured Steven Finn.

A back injury looks set to keep Finn out of action for the three-game series with the Proteas, which has given Anderson the opportunity to claim a few more wickets against the southern hemisphere outfit this summer.

The 30-year-old has not been named in the Twenty20 squad for the World Cup which gets underway later this month in Sri Lanka, as England (6/1 – Twenty20 World Cup outright with bet365) look to retain their crown after their success two years ago in the Caribbean.

Anderson did not enjoy the best of form against South Africa at Test level in their recent series defeat and will be looking to get back to his best in the shortest form of the game, with the first match taking place on Saturday at Chester-le-Street.

Lightning target CB40 progress

Lancashire all-rounder Steven Croft is targeting a crucial victory in Sunday’s CB40 Group A clash with the Netherlands at Old Trafford (Match Betting – Lancashire 1/5, Netherlands 10/3 with bet365).

The Lightning have won six of their eight matches in the competition so far and are well placed to qualify for the semi-finals.

And they can move a step closer to qualification with victory over the Dutch on home turf tomorrow.

“The lads are really looking forward to the game. We have a week of training behind us, so we will be fresh and hungry,” said Croft, who made his first-grade debut for the county in 2005.

“We also owe them one for the away leg of the match and can’t wait to play them at Old Trafford. Another win will put us in a great position and hopefully from there we can get on a roll to a final spot.”

The Dutch triumphed when the two teams met in Rotterdam in May, with home batsman Michael Swart leading the way for the Dutch with 41.

But Lancashire have shown good form in the competition since the defeat and appear to have laid some demons to rest to rest following their exit from the T20 tournament (Sussex 9/4 favourites to win the T20 tournament with bet365).

The Lightning’s last outing came in the County Championship last week, when they drew with Somerset. Ashwell Price hit a century in that game and he will undoubtedly be keen to carry that form with him into the shorter format.

Harmison joins Tykes’ promotion push

Durham have given former England fast bowler Steve Harmison the green light to join Yorkshire‘s promotion push (12/5 To Win Division Two Outright with bet365).

The two-time Ashes winner has struggled to nail down a first-team place at Durham this season and will be given the opportunity to get some overs under his belt with Yorkshire.

The 33-year-old joins on an initial one-month loan deal and will ease Yorkshire’s bowling crisis while Ryan Sidebottom is injured and Mitchell Starc is away with Australia A.

“It’s been a frustrating first half of the season and I don’t want to be playing second-team cricket,” Harmison said.

“I’m pleased that I can be helpful to Yorkshire at this point, when they are struggling with their senior bowlers, and I’m looking forward to our first game on Wednesday.”

Harmison has taken only six wickets in three County Championship matches in 2012, but still has the potential to rip through batting line-ups, particularly in the second tier.

He played in 63 Tests during his international career, taking 226 wickets at an average of 31.82.

Yorkshire director of cricket Martyn Moxon said: “We’re pleased that Durham and Stephen have agreed to the loan. He still has a great presence on the field and we look forward to welcoming him into the Yorkshire dressing room.”

Harmison is set to make his Yorkshire debut in Wednesday’s Championship clash with Hampshire at Southampton.

He could also play a part in the county’s Clydesdale Bank 40 campaign during his time at Headingley (33/1 To Win Outright with bet365).

Broad looking to future

England’s Stuart Broad says it is time for his side to move on from the Kevin Pietersen era ahead of Sunday’s one-off Twenty20 match against the West Indies (England 10/11, West Indies 10/11 with bet365).

The big-hitting batsman recently announced his retirement from the shorter forms of the international game, in an effort to prolong his Test career.

He undoubtedly leaves a huge hole in the England batting line-up after playing a key role in the World Cup triumph in 2010, but Broad is unperturbed and says it is his job to find an adequate replacement ahead of the defence of their title later this year.

The 25-year-old, who captains his country in T20s, will be in charge of a number of youngsters for the match at Trent Bridge, with the likes of Jos Buttler and Alex Hales being handed rare starts.

However, Broad is confident they will step-up to the mark and is looking forward to the challenge of building a team for the upcoming tournament in Sri Lanka (England 7/1 Twenty20 World Cup outright with bet365).

“Kevin is a world-class Twenty20 player so of course it is disappointing that he is not with us, but it’s a great opportunity for someone else to put their hand up and stake a claim for that spot,” said Broad.

“We’ve got an exciting group of players in that changing room and everyone is really excited about getting on that field and doing the job.

“We have quite a short period of time and a short number of games until that World Cup  so you want to make as much use of that as possible when we do get the opportunity,” he added.