Law's Lancashire can win again.
LIGHTNING CAN STRIKE TWICE
By Dave Tickner
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The latest round of county championship matches gets under way on Tuesday as form side Lancashire continue their bid to finally land the County Championship crown after a wait of over 70 years.
They currently lie fifth, but so tight is the top division this year that victory over Hampshire this week could well see them top the table.
And Lancashire to beat Hampshire is a confident selection even at a best price of just 8/15.
We're not usually in the business of tipping up such short-price selections, but there's plenty of evidence that Lancashire represent some value even at these odds.
Since the Twenty20 swing, Lancashire have played two matches and won both; Hampshire have played three and lost the lot.
And one of those matches was the reverse fixture between these two at the Rose Bowl less than two weeks ago.
On that occasion, Lancashire conceded a first-innings lead but then blew the Hampshire batting apart for just 130 in the second innings en route to a six-wicket victory.
With home advantage this time, the impressive Stuart Law's side will be confident of continuing their push for the title with another victory over the Hawks.
Of course, since that match Lancashire have lost Andrew Flintoff to England but their bowling line-up remains a formidable one for county cricket even without the talismanic all-rounder.
Glen Chapple, Dominic Cork and Saj Mahmood have all been in the wickets in recent weeks, while Gary Keedy remains a wily spin option.
Even the infamous Manchester weather looks to be on our side, with no rain forecast for the coming week.
The other match in Division One features Lancashire's Roses rivals Yorkshire at Nottingham.
With Hampshire and Surrey looking adrift at the bottom, these two will be looking up from fourth and seventh. Both will still harbour title ambitions.
Yorkshire have faltered recently, losing their last two matches, but Nottinghamshire's last game was a disappointing draw at strugglers Surrey.
That performance is enough to put us off at 4/6.
In Division Two, Warwickshire look sure to win promotion following last week's crushing victory over Middlesex.
But there are six teams bunched up behind them looking for the second promotion spot.
Two of those sides clash at Lord's where fourth-placed Middlesex take on second-placed Worcestershire.
Middlesex were in cracking form a couple of weeks ago, but a 23-over partnership from Gloucestershire's last pair denied them victory and they've struggled since.
That crushing Championship defeat against Warwickshire was followed by a comprehensive Pro40 defeat against Durham.
With the potential of reaching the money-spinning Champions League at Twenty20 Finals Day next Saturday, their minds might just be elsewhere against a dangerous Worcestershire team.
With Simon Jones making a bold case for an England return after swapping Sophia Gardens for New Road, Worcestershire are a team going the right way.
Kabir Ali has struck up a fine new-ball partnership with Jones, while all the batsmen are contributing: they managed to rack up 457-8dec in their last match, against Glamorgan, without a centurion.
Worcestershire went on to win that match by 10 wickets to go second in the table, and it's surprising that they're priced up as outsiders here.
The New Road outfit have lost just once this season - against Middlesex's three - so odds-against on draw-no-bet is worth an interest.
The other matches are Essex v Gloucestershire and Northants v Leicestershire. The home sides are understandably short prices in both, so we'll leave them alone.
Preview posted at 1540BST on 21/07/2008.
