I knwo that Nelly has fast become the go-to cricket expert in these parts, but I thought I would chance my arm!
The Masters T20 competition starts in the UAE in a few days time over a 2 week period, and I have been having a look at it.
The squads are mixed with legends of the game and players who are still playing, with notable abscentees in the likes of Chris Gayle and co, and, for me, the team that stands out is the Gemini Arabians (terrible names all round in this tournament)
Gemini Arabians - 3/1They boast a squad with, in my opinion the most batting fire power, in the competition, with Virender Sehwag captaining them, they also have Kumar Sangakkara, Jaques Rudolph, Shiv Chanderpaul, Richard Levi, Brad Hodge in their batting lineup.
Obviously, Sangakkara stands out immediately, he is an all time great batsman, who is still playing around the world in limited formats and scores runs for fun. They also have Richard Levi, a huge hitting South African opening bat, averaging 28 in t20 mathces with a top score of 117, who I fancy to get stuck in to some of the more ageing opening bowlers who will be playing.
Bowling, they have Rana Naveed and Graham Onions, Onions obviously still playing to a high standard for Durham, Justin Kemp who is a former international all rounder, and a plethora of spin options, including Muralitharan, Hodge, Paul Adams (known for having his bowling action described as being like a frog in a blender) and Saqlain Musthaq.
For me, this is the strongest squad of any team in the contest, certainly with the bat, and with a bowling team that can be competitive too, we have seen how spin bowlers have come increasingly to the fore in T20 cricket.
Virgo Superkings - 11/2Led by former South Africa captain Graeme Smith.
Batting they have Smith, Owais Shah and Mohammad Yousuf that really stand out, with all-rounder Jacob oram providing some big hitting in the middle order and millitary medium pace with the ball. They have Dirk Nannes and Brett Lee with searing pace at the top of their bowling unit, and Murali Kartik and Gareth Batty to provide spin options.
They are the betting outsiders for this one, but i think they have an ok team, but not as much quality in their current players as they should have.
Libra Legends - 3/1Captained by Indian great Soutav Ganguly, they have what looks to good batting team, which may be slightly light on high quality bowlers.
The batting lineup will include current players Michael Lumb, Sean Irvine and Jaques Kallis (still playing T20 cricket) and hard biffing all rounder Ryan Ten Doeschate, with older players like Marcus North, Brad Hogg and ganguly to back them up. They should be able to be competitive with that lot.
Bowling, they are relying more on experience. Ryan Sidebottom is in their team and will offer control first up, and Shaun Tait will put some fire in the attack. After that, they will be relying on the spin of Graeme Swann and Hogg, along with the nouse of Kallis to get them by.
You never know how the older bowlers are going to fair in this kind of contest, and if people manage to get after the likes of Swann and Tait, they will find keeping scores down difficult in my opinion.
Capricorn Commanders - 7/2Paul Collingwood is the skipper and the squad seems to be fashioned in his no frills approach to cricket.
Lacking any real superstar names, they are made up of solid pros and older stalwarts.
Michael Vaughan (possiby my favourite batsman of all time, what a cover drive he had!) Chamara Silva and Ashwell Prince are the main batting threats along with Collingwood, and they will get support from allrounders Andrew Symonds, Ryan McClaren and Rikki Clarke.
Bowling, they have no outright pace, lots of allround medium pace dibbly dobbly nonsence, but Jeetan Patel will be a huge player for them. The Kiwi spinner will be their main source of wickets.
Think 7/2 is far too short for them.
Leo Lions - 11/2Possibly one of the 3 greatest batsmen that ever lived, Brian Charles Lara, captains a team that sounds like it was named by a 6 year old.
Theya re another team who seem to have gone for experience over younger players.
Lara will be joined in the batting lineup by the fantastically entertaining (back in the day) Herschelle Gibbs, Brendan Taylor and Hamish Marshall in needing to score the bulk of the runs. After them, it i another plethora of allround options, with the likes of Heath Streak being relied upon to get them if the top order fail.
Bowling will rely heavily on Fidel Edwards to provide pace up front, after which Johan Botha and Robin Peterson will be looking to take wickets in the middle overs with their spin.
Overall, another team that shouldnt provide too much of a threat this year.
Sagittarius Strikers - 5/1The Strikers have gone for a gun batting lineup this year, with Adam Gilchrist (c) Mahela Jayawardene, Phil mustard, alviro Petersen, Jonathon Trott and Michael Carberry providing what looks like a high powered batting attack.
Bowling wise, they arent looking very clever though. Daniel Vettori will be the pick of them, a great one day bowler who never goes for many runs, he will be needed to roll back the years if they are too have any success here. Tino Best, Nathan Hauritz and the legend that is Mushy Ahmed are the pick of the rest of the bowlers, and this is the reason why they will probably not do as well as their batting lineup suggests they should.
In my opinion, the best bet for this year would be the Gemini Arabians.
I know 3/1 arent massive odds, but i think they are big enough to take. Their bowling lineup possesses quality spinners and some very good pace options, and they have possibly the top batsman in the competition in Sangakkara with more than capable back up.
It is a short format, and I can see them doing well in it.
http://www.oddschecker.com/cricket/masters-champions-league/winnerRecommend £50 on Gemini Arabians to win the Masters Champions League at 3/1
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