T20 Blast 2024 Predictions and Betting Tips: Talented Surrey backed to win

This summer’s T20 Blast gets underway on Thursday with the 18 English first-class counties set to battle it out for the four available places on Finals Day at Edgbaston in September.

Reigning champions Somerset will attempt to hold onto the title they won when defending a moderate total against Essex Eagles last year while Hampshire Hawks will be among the former winners bidding to knock them off their perch.

The competition has been a wide-open betting event since its inception with 13 different teams becoming champions in the first 21 years of the English domestic Twenty20 game.

Surrey have won three of the last five County Championship titles, but the Brown Caps have not been crowned white-ball kings in this format since it began in 2003.

Gareth Batty, who captained Surrey on their last appearance in the final four years ago, is now the coach at The Oval and will have the most talented domestic squad in the country at his disposal.

The offseason additions of England batter Dan Lawrence and Australian paceman Spencer Johnson can only strengthen their bid to better last year’s performance.

Surrey, who lost to eventual champions Somerset in a low-scoring semi-final at Edgbaston last July, will again be shorn of key players to England call-ups for most of the group stage.

Sam Curran, Will Jacks, Reece Topley and Chris Jordan will be part of England’s T20 World Cup defence in the Caribbean and the USA, but there is enough strength in depth there to stay in the hunt until they return.

And Craig Overton, who impressed in the Big Bash this year, is expected to bolster their ranks later this summer when he returns from injury in time for the knockout stages.

This year, there could be an opening for a team that has spent the past few years in the wilderness to sneak up on some of the more-fancied North Group contenders.

Last year’s winners Birmingham Bears have been struck by the injury curse this season and England call-ups will weaken Lancashire Lightning as Phil Salt, Jos Buttler and Tom Hartley head overseas.

The Yorkshire Vikings have not been as competitive as they should have been in the past few years, but they did record six wins from 12 completed Blast games in 2023 and only narrowly missed out on a quarter-final spot.

They can probably wave goodbye to all-formats England star Jonny Bairstow for the summer, but Dawid Malan should be available for the duration of the tournament after being dropped for the T20 World Cup. 

The Vikings have also recruited a good overseas player for this competition with South African batting all-rounder Donovan Ferreira known to be a powerful hitter who has played twice for the Proteas in this format.

The Hampshire Hawks might have defended their crown in 2023 had it not been for the dreaded Duckworth-Lewis-Stern method coming into play for their rain-affected semi-final against Essex.

The mainstays of last summer’s squad are back again with former England top-order batter James Vince aiming to emulate his competition-leading tally of 670 runs.

Overseas signings Michael Neser and Ottniel Baartman will bolster a fast-bowling battery that still includes Nathan Ellis and John Turner, who returned 44 wickets between them last season.

Australian wicketkeeper-batter Ben McDermott balances the side and brings the explosive hitting to a formidable opening partnership alongside the technically impressive Vince.

Hampshire are a well-drilled unit that don’t rely on one or two star names and will again be led by the astute and experienced Liam Dawson.