BEAT THE DUKE: WITH RICHARD MARSHALL

With the County Championship taking centre stage once again, it is time to look for the man at Nottinghamshire who will have the best knowledge to predict correct scores. However, First Team Scorer Roger `The Duke’ Marshall will be looking to prove his worth after not getting one correct answer in the last round of fixtures.

Ahead of each round of fixtures, he will be pitched against a Nottinghamshire illuminary in a prediction challenge. You can join in by tweeting your predictions with the hashtag #beattheduke with prizes on offer for competitors and champion tipsters. 

This week Derbyshire will play host to Sussex in which the home side will be looking to put their batting woes to bed. Surrey are the visitors at Trent Bridge with both sides looking to kick start their season. Somerset, another team at the wrong end of the table, play host to the impressive Middlesex and finally the surprise in-form team of the past few rounds, Yorkshire, travel to injury-prone Warwickshire looking to continue their good form.

The Challenger - Richard Marshall

The feature takes a different twist this week as The Duke is pitched against his son, Richard Marshall. Richard is a groundsman at Trent Bridge and has been itching at the chance to take on his dad at the predictions. This week he has his chance and looking at both of the sets of predictions, it could come down to one result.

The Challenger's Predictions

Derbyshire v Sussex

I will go for a draw as both sides are rather similar at the moment and I believe the weather will intervene.

Nottinghamshire v Surrey

I will back Nottinghamshire on this one as I think the loss of their captain Graeme Smith will be a big blow for Surrey.

Somerset v Middlesex

This one might well be a draw due to the weather intervening and the flat tracks that are normally found at Taunton.

Warwickshire v Yorkshire

This one will also be disrupted by the weather as there always seems to be some around at Edgbaston. Draw.

The Duke's Predictions

Derbyshire v Sussex

Neither side are doing that well at the moment but with the frailty of Derbyshire’s batting, especially in the second innings, Sussex should be too strong. Sussex win.

Nottinghamshire v Surrey

Losing captain Graeme Smith will be a big blow to the chances of Surrey. A lot depends on the bowling in this clash and weather permitting I am going to go for a Nottinghamshire win.

Somerset v Middlesex

Middlesex aren’t having the best run of late compared to their early season flourish. However, having said that if the pitch is like a normal Taunton pitch, this one should be a draw.

Warwickshire v Yorkshire

Yorkshire are performing above expected and in my mind their will be a flat track at Edgbaston. This could lead to big first innings scores for both sides and with Warwickshire light on bowling due to injury, a draw is inevitable.

Previous Round

Last week neither Roger or Bilal were able to predict a correct score.

League Table