BEAT THE DUKE: WITH COLIN HAZELDEN

With rounds of Championship fixtures coming thick and fast, First Eleven Scorer Roger 'The Duke' Marshall is working overtime to get correct predictions together. Hopefully he has sharpened his pencil, and hopefully his mind, to try and secure a full house in this week’s predictions.

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 Nottinghamshire host struggling Durham looking to get their first win at Trent Bridge. The two promoted sides, Yorkshire and Derbyshire, face off with both looking for the win that will kick start their season. Sussex hope Warwickshire in a match between two of the highest scoring teams of the early season. Finally, Middlesex host Surrey with the home team having a good chance to make it three out of three.

The Challenger- Colin Hazelden

Best known for his work at the BBC as presenter for East Midlands today, he has been seen all over the country covering any sport he can. One of his self-proclaimed best moments was when he was on work experience at a paper and was given the back page to produce whilst the sports writer was away. He was shouted at by Martin O’Neill for an article he wrote and that’s when he felt he had made it.

Much-loved around Trent Bridge for his matchday announcing and voice-over contributions to the staff christmas party, Hazelden was a brief YouTube star when an on-air slip of the tongue led him to instruct Dame Tanni Grey-Thompson to 'run away' from a carnival dragon and he once had to break into his own house with a wine bottle.

Being no stranger to the LV= County Championship circuit, and Nottinghamshire in particular, puts him in a good position to take on the Duke for this week’s matches. 

The Challenger’s Predictions

Nottinghamshire v Durham

This is a relatively straight forward one to predict. Durham have had a rather bad start to the season and look in a state. I am going for a Notts win.

Middlesex v Surrey

Middlesex have looked comfortable at the start of the season and with the game being at HQ I can’t see anything past a Middlesex win.

Sussex v Warwickshire

Both teams look capable of batting forever. There early season scores show their capability to bat long and I am going for the high-scoring draw.

Yorkshire v Derbyshire

These are two of the teams that are having a nightmare at the beginning of the season. Yorkshire look to be in a state but Derbyshire are showing signs of getting something together. It goes without saying that Chanderpaul is key and if they can get a few other batsmen to bat with him, Derbyshire could be in a good stead. I am going with a Derbyshire win.

The Duke’s Predictions

Nottinghamshire v Durham

I am going to go for a Nottinghamshire win as I would be blamed for being unfaithful if I said otherwise. On top of that with the batting looking good and the bowling coming along, Notts should be too strong for the visiting Durham.

Middlesex v Surrey

This is a juicy local derby and with Surrey not having looked as good as they should so far, I believe Middlesex will edge this one.

Sussex v Warwickshire

The pitches down at Hove are favourable for batting and as Colin says both teams have been batting big so far this season. I am going for a draw.

Yorkshire v Derbyshire

This will be a close one out of the two promoted teams from Division Two last season. As Yorkshire should still have Test players around I am going for a home win. 

Previous Round

Last week Roger Marshall predicted two correct scores whlie Rob Dorsett only predicted one. On Twitter @Joel_Lamy correctly guessed three results while @Smiggy88 and @Bracecricket correctly guessed all four results and have won signed Nottinghamshire Shirts. 

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