The One Day Cup 2015 preview

Who is in with a chance of winning ?

Current champions Durham are an obvious choice to try to retain their title. The Northern team have had a great start to all competitions, that said, they seem to have lost form winning only one in seven games* in all competitions. However this could be down to losing three players to international commitments as Ben Stokes and Mark Wood are playing for England in the Ashes, and Callum McLeod is in a T20 World Cup qualifying competition with Scotland. These three players are key players and could have proven to be vital to Durham’s success.

Last years runners-up is also an obvious choice as well. Warwickshire made both Limited overs finals last year and have once again they have had an excellent year in the T20 competition winning nine out of the 12*. These could be a dominant force in Group B as they only are missing one player  in Ian Bell, who is a brilliant player but Warwickshire can play to a good standard without him playing.

Yorkshire have been doing well in the County Championship but haven’t been the team that they were last year in the T20 blast. They are the worst hit team as they will be missing four players because of the Ashes. Also Yorkshire have just been given a massive blow as Ryan Sidebottom is out injured for 6 weeks and Aaron Finch is out for 12 weeks.

Nottinghamshire are another team that usually do well in these competitions. Last year they got beaten  in the Semi-Finals by the eventual winners Durham. Alex Hales and Michael Lumb will be big hitters in this competition and could prove to be vital players to success for Nottinghamshire. The only loss that they face is Stuart Broad, but bowlers like Harry Gurney and Luke Fletcher could make up for the loss of the English bowler who has been vital in the Ashes for England.

Glamorgan will find qualifying for the Quarter finals a tough job since they got deducted 2 points through having a unfit pitch in their game last year again Durham in this competition, so they will start the groups of with -2 points.

Matches you wont want to miss.

Durham vs Yorkshire-Durham Emirates ICG-Sunday 2nd August.  This match up will be an interesting one as both teams have lost to international comitments, but still these matches are always one to watch. This could also be a crucial match in group A if both teams are near the top of the group, which is probable.

Nottinghamshire vs Warwickshire-Welbeck Colliery CC-Saturday 25th July. This is another match up between two big teams but in group B. These two teams could easily be one of the four that goes through to the next round. With it being the first match of the competition , both teams will want to try and get off the mark as quick as they possibly can.

Full fixture can be found by clicking here

*all statistics are correct up to 11:11 21/07/2015