Team Manchester are the 3 to 1 favourites to defend the title they won in 2011. They have only lost once on England shores! They had a superb run in the LMS World Championship in Cape Town. They narrowly lost to Kings 8 (world champions) from Pretoria in the semi final! Team Manchester have taken LMS standards in England to a new level. They keep the game simple and teams can learn a lot from watching them play! They begin their UK Champs title defence at 16:30 on the Saturday the 22nd of September (on Nestons main oval). A big crowd is expected in for this game. They will play an unbeaten team so this should be a cracking game!

 

AON All Stars secured their seat at the final with three comfortable wins in the regional play offs. They were written off by @LMSLondon on twitter but @LMS_England always knew they would be a force this year! Aon All Stars have been playing LMS since 2007 and in 70 games they have only lost 11 times. AON All Stars look to be peaking at the right time! They are definitley the form team and on their day they can beat anyone. Yesterday they were trading at 9 to 1 but a few big bets have been placed on them this week and they are now trading at 6 to 1.

 

Dominate & Penetrate secured their spot in finals weekend thanks to the wild card system. The Kiwis are currently ranked number 3 in England. They dont have any super stars in their side but they dont have any weaknesses either! They have a long batting line up and 5 reliable bowlers. They are a consistent outfit and a real threat! They had Team Manchester under pressure in the 1/4 finals of the national champs last year and if they had played any other team in the 1/4 final they probably would have made it through to finals day. They have a tough match against Colin Hiron's (who will enjoy their underdog status) but they should be good enough to qualify for the 1/4 finals in the afternoon. They did bottle it against Old Lesbians CC in the regional play offs and this has raised some question marks about their ability to stay calm in knockout games! There have been unconfirmed reports of a waitress at the Sheperds Bush Walkabout backing them at 7 to 1.

 

UBS were the first team to secure a spot at the final table at Neston CC (Merseyside)! Since this result the derivatives desk at UBS has been trying to sell them at 9 to 1 (its a complex bet that includes a Cap and a Floor)! The credit and market risk teams at UBS are monitoring the traders activities and it sounds like they will be trading at 13 to 1 by tomorrow morning! The UBS victory, over Ezat Consulting, in the London corporate league final summed up everything good about LMS! Ten runs were required off the last ball of the match and the spectators at Cheam CC could be excused for thinking the fielding team had the game in the bag! The experienced Ajit Kumar was on strike for UBS and he managed to clear the ropes with a towering 6 over long off! The UBS seat at the final table was secure - thanks to the trade mark home run rule! Much of the same will be required in Liverpool on finals weekend.

 

Abby's Diner have a few star players in their line up and if they come off they could go all the way and become crowned new national champions. The Rotherham based outfit are backing themselves at 8 to 1 but bookies in Sheffield and Doncaster are a little more generous! The best odds can be found in Barnsley where a local bobby and an IT expert are backing them at 12 to 1. This looks to be fair value for a side that is currently unbeaten.

 

AZ Sports have not even come close to losing this year! They are also backing themselves at 8 to 1 so it should be a cracking game between Abby's Diner and AZ Sports! This will be the first major test for both sides! The Guildford based outfit will be hoping to prove that LMS in the South is stronger than the LMS in the North! There are confirmed reports that a ticket tout outside the Oval has sold Ashes tickets and used the income to back AZ Sports heavily at 12 to 1. (this could be a good bit of business!)

 

Old Seagullians were the second team through to finals weekend. There has been some speculation regarding the nationallity of the Old Seagullians side! Are they Scottish, English or British? Andy Murray has faced similar speculation but he proved he was British when he won the US Open a few nights ago. Old Seagullians are a steady team and wont make mistakes. They have loads of experience when it comes to LMS knockout cricket! Andy Murrays' mom is backing them at 12 to 1. The Mathematics and Statistic dept at St. Andrews university are less optimistic. They have done a study that has taken the age, skill and fitness leves of Old Seagullians into consideration and the outcome of the study suggests they should be trading at 37 to 3!  Buy them at this price!

 

Taurus pulled off an emphatic victory over Bardsey at Headingley on Sunday. Bardsey are a solid outfit and Taurus have managed to beat them twice this year! Local bookies in Bradford are not allowing anymore bets to be placed on Taurus! They are unbeaten and online bookies abroad could be hit with big losses if they persist with the current price of 13 to 1 on Taurus. Taurus have one of the best top orders in the country but they will need their top four to fire if they are to go all the way! 

 

Speedline Super Stars were trading at 17 to 1 on Monday but a recent tweet by one of their players @IshtiaqSiddiq directed at @LMS_England went as follows: "Team Manchester wont get passed the quarter final stage this year but if they do then it will be a good game"!  The trading floor at UBS were the first to react to this show of confidence and Speedline Super Stars shares were selling at 2 to 1 on Tuesday morning! A sense of calm has since been restored to the market and SSS shares are now trading at 13 to 1. Speedline Super Stars are a very talented side and there run of results in the Midlands regional play offs has given them a lot of confidence going into national finals weekend. 

 

MK United are arguably a better side than Speedline Super Stars but for some reason the market is not reflecting this at the moment. At 27 to 2 we expect a lot of money to be placed on them this week. Much will depend on how they cope with a 7:45 kick on Saturday the 22nd. They went unbeaten for 9 games on the trot before losing to SSS last Sunday. This is their first season of LMS but they are serious contenders for the title! The LMS Stats Machine is forecasting big things for them in the Team World Rankings over the next 12 months. 

 

Colin Hirons XI are 5 to 1 favourites to win the team spirit award. They are 3 to 1 for the plate event and 15 to 1 to be crowned national champions. A lot will be expected from their overseas player Josh Barret from New Zealand! Their opposition in the 1st round, Dominate & Penetrate (Kiwis in London), have been quoted in the London NZ times as saying  "Josh Barret would not make our academy side"! Colin Hirons XI are bringing a squad of 22 plus their mascot. They have asked LMS to build them up as underdogs but don't right them off until you see Colin Hirons with a beer in his hands!

 

Karokoram Express have secured one of the Wild Card positions. They are the most improved team in LMS history. They started off in the Regents Park Sunday division 2 a few years ago. Since then they have been promoted a few times. They are now one of the best teams in London and proud to be ranked in the top 20 teams in the World. The are a naturally gifted side and if their key players come off they could cause a few upsets! They are currently trading at 16 to 1 but if they get through their 1st game game against MK United we expect to see them trading at around 7 to 1.

 

Bardsey will be looking to bounce back from a disappointing performance against Taurus at Headingley. They have national finals day experience and a brilliant team ethic. They have a solid bowling attack and the best fielding coach in the country. Their batting line up relies heavily on the top four. Sameer Manjrekar is an LMS Super Star and when he comes off they are hard to beat! They were trading at 10 to 1 last week but have since faded out to 16 to 1 off the back of their loss to Taurus.