Trading Talk - 2009 County Championship

As the football season draws to a close, the County Championship gets underway to the delight of cricket spread bettors up and down the country. Spread punters will pay much attention to Division One's new boys, Warwickshire and Worcestershire, and of course a large chunk of the money wagered on Sporting Index's Championship win index spreads will be in support of Durham, the 2008 champions.

Buyers of Durham's spread will be counting on the return of star player Shivnarine Chanderpaul, who had an excellent winter helping the West Indies to a series win over England, and who contributed four half-centuries for Durham last year plus a fantastic 138 against Sussex.

Sellers however will have noted that Chanderpaul along with another of their high-profile players, Paul Collingwood, will be missing for much (if not all in Collingwood's case) of the season due to their participation in the IPL and Test matches.

Sussex have been the most successful side in the Championship since the formation of two divisions in 2000, and have won three times in 2003, 2006 and 2007. Buyers of their Championship index spread for this year should be excited about the return of Peter Moores, as the man credited with turning Sussex from also-rans into Champions.

All-rounder Dwayne Smith, currently representing the Deccan Chargers in South Africa, will make his return to County cricket in 2009 and buyers of any of his player spread markets throughout the summer will be wishing for something close to the form he has previously reserved for Twenty20 matches - his best being an outstanding 72 from 27 balls in the Twenty20 Cup against Hampshire.

Those same buyers of his player spreads will be equally impressed by his last first-class appearance for Barbados, when he scored an impressive second innings 87.

For the first time in several years, Lancashire have not started as favourites on Sporting Index's County Championship spreads, and while buyers of their index will have been pleased by Jimmy Anderson's display in their first game against Sussex, sellers of the spread will be thankful that he is soon to depart to join England's Test preparations.

Against expectation, Lancashire have not been named Champions since 2000, although they did top the second division in 2005 immediately after relegation from the top division in 2004. Whilst they have largely disappointed of late, sellers of their Championship index spread might be surprised that Lancashire have not once finished bottom in over 100 years of the Championship, since expansion to 14 teams in 1895.

Lancashire's arch-rivals Yorkshire lay claim to the label of most successful County side ever, with 30 Championship titles since 1890. Buyers of Yorkshire's Championship spread will hope they are able to better their 2008 seventh-place and may or may not feel a twinge of guilt in hoping that Michael Vaughn avoids a call up to England and is able to lead the side's charge for a successful summer this year.