2023 County Championship Tips – Round 6
Below you can find picks for Round 6 of the County Championship season from The Stats Zone's top Cricket tipsters. All times given are based on UK start times.
Thursday, May 11
Division One
Kent vs Hampshire – 11:00am BST
Lancashire vs Somerset – 11:00am BST
Northamptonshire vs Nottinghamshire – 11:00am BST
Surrey vs Middlesex – 11:00am BST
Warwickshire vs Essex – 11:00am BST
Division Two
Derbyshire vs Gloucestershire – 11:00am BST
Durham vs Yorkshire – 11:00am BST
Glamorgan vs Worcestershire – 11:00am BST
Leicestershire vs Sussex – 11:00am BST
Surrey vs Middlesex – 11:00am BST
Surrey will have been relieved to get out of Chelmsford with a draw against Essex, keeping them top of the Division One table with two wins and two draws from their opening four games. Returning to the Kia Oval, they’ll be expected to get back to winning ways against Middlesex in the London derby.
Whilst the visitors are coming off the back of consecutive victories, both were at home and both were against vastly inferior opposition than Surrey, who are likely to take 20 wickets against a Middlesex batting line-up that has flattered to deceive across the season. Throw in the likes of Ollie Pope with his record at the Oval, not to mention Will Jacks, who returned to action at Chelmsford following injury and getting enough runs to triumph over Middlesex shouldn’t be a problem, weather permitting.
Prediction: Surrey draw no bet
Warwickshire vs Essex – 11:00am BST
Warwickshire made a real statement in the last round of County Championship fixtures, destroying Hampshire by an innings on their own turf, bowling them out for 229 and 97 respectively, whilst racking up 410/8 themselves. Chris Rushworth’s magnificent seven-wicket haul in Hampshire’s second innings underlined his class and proved why his signing from Durham was one of the best transfers the Bears could have made.
Returning to Edgbaston with a point to prove following their loss at the hands of Surrey last time out at the ground, Warwickshire host Essex who have found Edgbaston a huge bogey ground in recent years. The Eagles have lost each of their last two County Championship fixtures in Birmingham, with their most potent bowling weapon in Simon Harmer so often nullified on what is usually a flat pitch offering very little bounce and turn for a spinner. With that in mind, it would be a smart play to back Warwickshire to complete a hat-trick of home red-ball wins against Essex in as many years.
Prediction: Warwickshire draw no bet
Leicestershire vs Sussex – 11:00am BST
Sussex were denied victory by Worcestershire in Steve Smith’s first match for the club, although rain having washed out the entirety of Day 3 was a big factor in Worcestershire’s survival. Ditto Leicestershire, who were extremely grateful to the elements for saving them against Derbyshire after being comprehensively outplayed.
With England bowler Ollie Robinson in such potent form, Sussex will always stand a chance of 20 wickets, as he showed at New Road and runs certainly aren’t a problem when taking into account the meaty contributions of captain Cheteshwar Pujara with the bat so far this season. Unless rain interferes once again, this may well prove the game in which Australian Smith earns his first red-ball triumph in county cricket.
Prediction: Sussex draw no bet
