Previously known as the C&G Trophy, the Friends Provident Trophy is a highly prestigious competition played in the one-day format between the eighteen English first-class teams, along with Scotland and Ireland. Up until 2006, this used to be a straight knock-out tournament but the current format is to have two leagues of ten teams split between North and South Conference with the winners of each division playing each other at Lords.

Therefore it follows that there can only be one ‘Northern’ and one ‘Southern’ team in the final, with Durham and Hampshire contesting the trophy in 2007. Each-way backers should therefore take note of any oversight on the bookmaker’s part; for example, their first three teams in the betting market may all be placed in the same Conference where only one of them can progress to the final.

Hampshire boast the best recent record in this competition, winning in 2005 and a place booked in the final for 2007. However, in the last ten years, Gloucestershire have been the team to beat, victorious in 1999, 2000, 2003 and 2004. It’s worth noting that they didn’t reach the final in any other years, demonstrating their ability to perform at the business end of this competition.