Ahead of the T20 Blast I am assessing the chances for each team as well as the way each side is likely to lineup in their early matches. Multiple England stars are available for the start of the tournament including Eoin Morgan, Jos Buttler, Jonny Bairstow and Ben Stokes. Note that I haven't included overseas players arriving for the later periods of the competition or players currently in the England test squad in likely XIs.
NORTH GROUP
Birmingham Bears
Prediction: 6th in North Group
Last season: 3rd in Central Group
Key player: Adam Hose
Young gun: Henry Brookes
Birmingham Bears are a side in transition but have several experienced all-rounders to start the tournament with Chris Woakes, Carlos Brathwaite and Tim Bresnan. However, I'm a little worried their top order is overly reliant on Adam Hose and Sam Hain with Ed Pollock explosive but inconsistent. Danny Briggs is a good addition but I wouldn't be surprised to see them having to chase some big scores with that bowling attack.
Possible XI:
Pollock
Hain
Rhodes
Hose
Burgess
Brathwaite
Woakes
Bresnan
Brookes
Briggs
Lintott
Derbyshire
Prediction: 9th in North Group
Last season: 6th in North Group
Key player: Wayne Madsen
Young gun: Sam Conners
Derbyshire have had two mixed years, they were outstanding in 2019, reaching their first ever finals day but struggled in 2020. Whilst their batting looks strong on paper, I have concerns about the bowling attack and I think they may find things tough this season.
Possible XI:
Godleman
Reece
Madsen
Du Plooy
Critchley
Hughes
Hudson Prentice
McKiernan
Van Beek
Conners
Cohen
Durham
Prediction: 9th in North Group
Last season: 4th in North Group
Key player: Ben Raine
Young gun: Matthew Potts
I worry a bit about Durham's chances this year. Looking at the batting lineup, there isn't much to excite apart from Ben Stokes who will likely only play a handful of games. The bowling attack also looks a little limited in the white ball formats, although Brydon Carse has impressed this year in the red ball and could offer some much-needed extra pace.
Possible XI:
Clark
Stokes
Bancroft
C Steel
Bedingham
Burnham
Trevaskis
Coughlin
Raine
Carse
Potts
Lancashire
Prediction: 1st in North Group
Last season: Semi finals
Key player: Liam Livingstone
Young gun: Tom Hartley
This season, Lancashire look an even stronger outfit than previously in T20. In recent years they have regularly reached finals day but this has often been on the back of their impressive bowling. This year they have Jos Buttler for six matches and the exciting Finn Allen, meaning their batting looks stronger than ever and this could allow Liam Livingstone to drop down the order.
Possible team:
Buttler
Allen
Davies
Livingstone
Vilas
Croft
Lamb
Wood
Mahmood
Parkinson
Gleeson
Leicestershire
Prediction: 5th in North Group
Last Season: Quarter Finalists
Key player: Colin Ackermann
Young gun: Ed Barnes
Leicestershire surprised a few teams last season and almost knocked Notts out in the quarter final with only a couple of misfields letting them down. I expect them to impress again this year, espcially with the eye-catching additions of Naveen Ul-Haq and Josh Inglis. I think they will just miss out this year, mainly because of the strength of some of the other teams, who have England players available for more of the competition than in recent memory.
Possible XI:
Inglis
Steel
Lilley
Ackermann
Swindells
Hill
Barnes
Mike
Parkinson
Naveen
Griffiths
Northamptonshire
Prediction: 7th in North Group
Last season: 2nd in Central Group
Key Player: Ricardo Vasconcelos
Young Gun: Emilio Gay
I like the top 3 of Northants and the two overseas all-rounders offer a lot to this side too with both ball and bat. However, I feel that the depth isn't quite there in other areas. Northants have caused a surprise before so you can never write them off however.
Possible team:
Levi
Vasconcelos
Cobb
Gay
Keogh
Zaib
Nabi
Parnell
Taylor
White
Buck
Nottinghamshire
Prediction: 2nd in North Group
Last season: Winners
Key player: Alex Hales
Young gun: Lyndon James
Last season's winners haven't changed a lot, although Imad Wasim and Dan Christian could be a big miss and it will be interesting to see if they are replaced. Another concern they may have is other teams such as Lancashire and Yorkshire being strengthened with England regulars this year but I still think this is a squad that will cruise through the groups.
Possible team:
Hales
Duckett
Clarke
Moores
James
Mullaney
Patel
Paterson
Fletcher
Carter
Ball
Worcestershire
Prediction: 4th in North Group
Last season: 6th in Central Group
Key player: Ed Barnard
Young gun: Dillon Pennington
I really like this Worcestershire team and I expect that last season will turn out to be just a blip. The additions of Dwarsius and Sodhi should strengthen the bowling whilst Moeen Ali is one of the best players you could have in the Blast due to his ability to captain the side, open the batting and bowl four overs in each match.
Ali
Wessels
Libby
D’Oliviera
Whiteley
Cox
Barnard
Dwarshius
Sodhi
Brown
Pennington
Yorkshire
Prediction: 3rd in North Group
Last season: 5th in North Group
Key player: Adam Lyth
Young gun: Harry Brook
Yorkshire are the perennial under achievers in this format but with the side they have available for the first few games there are no excuses this year. They had made a decent start last year before four players were ruled out with Covid and Joe Root was called for England but fell apart after. Jonny Bairstow and Adil Rashid are two of the best in the world in their disciplines whilst Lockie Ferguson is a much needed addition to the bowling attack which has been poor for the last few years in this format.
Possible XI:
Bairstow
Lyth
Kohler Cadmore
Malan
Brook
Fraine
Willey
Thompson
Rashid
Poysden
Ferguson
SOUTH GROUP
Essex
Prediction: 8th in South Group
Last season: 5th in South Group
Key player: Simon Harmer
Young gun: Michael Pepper
Essex won the competition in 2019 but look a much weaker side now with Ravi Bopara and Cameron Delport leaving their batting short and Dan Lawrence unable to play the first few games. The seam bowling for this season looks a little one paced too.
Possible XI:
Westley
Chopra
Wheater
Pepper
Walter
Ten Doeschate
Neesham
Harmer
Cook
Porter
Quinn
Glamorgan
Prediction: 9th in South Group
Last season: 5th in Central Group
Key player: Colin Ingram
Young gun: Dan Douthwaite
The top six looks strong for Glamorgan but they will have to be at their very best regularly as the bowling attack looks a bit thin. Whilst the county have several spin options, there looks to be a lack of pace bowling options in the squad.
Possible XI:
Lloyd
Labuschagne
Ingram
Carlson
Cooke
Root
Douthwaite
Taylor
Van der Gugten
Salter
Carey
Gloucestershire
Prediction: 4th in South Group
Last Season: 1st in Central Group
Key Player: Benny Howell
Young Gun: Tom Lace
Gloucestershire were the dark horses of last season's competition and I expect them to be very strong again this year, particularly with their pace off options at Bristol. The addition of Glenn Phillips adds more talent to an already strong top four. The only concern you would have for Gloucester is that after their top four they look a little short of runs.
Possible XI:
Hammond
Dent
Phillips
Cockbain
Lace
Higgins
Howell
Taylor
Worrall
Smith
Payne
Hampshire
Prediction: 7th in South Group
Last Season: 6th in South Group
Key player: James Vince
Young gun: Brad Wheal
Last season was definitely one to forget for this injury hit side and this season's side seems to lack in key areas, such as a finisher and a strike bowler. D'Arcy Short's addition makes the top three a strong proposition but it looks a little light after, at least until Colin De Grandhomme arrives.
Possible XI:
Short
Donald
Vince
Alsop
Northeast
Dawson
Fuller
Wheal
Abbott
Wood
Crane
Kent
Prediction: 3rd in South Group
Last season: 3rd in South Group
Key player: Joe Denly
Young gun: Jordan Cox
Kent look one of the top three sides in this group this year for me due to their very strong batting depth with Zak Crawley, Darren Stevens and Jack Leaning also available in addition to the top six I have selected. The addition of Qais Ahmed is a very exciting one and I'm very intrigued to see how he does. The question mark with Kent is if the rest of the bowling attack is strong enough.
Possible XI:
Bell Drummond
Cox
Denly
Kuhn
Robinson
Blake
O’Riordan
Klaasen
Qais
Milnes
Stewart
Middlesex
Prediction: 6th in South Group
Last season: 4th in South Group
Key player: Steven Finn
Young gun: Max Holden
I can't see Middlesex's bowling being quite strong enough this season to qualify but that top five will win them matches. When Eoin Morgan isn't available however, the batting depth to replace him looks a bit short. Middlesex have some strong spin options but I think they lack a seam bowler or two.
Possible XI:
Stirling
Holden
Gubbins
Morgan
Simpson
Andersson
Green
Helm
Finn
Sowter
Bamber
Somerset
Prediction; 5th in South Group
Last season: 4th in Central Group
Key player: Lewis Gregory
Young gun: Tom Lammonby
Somerset in recent years have often performed better with the red ball than in T20 and I think that may continue this year. Whilst possessing talented white ball players, this group is a strong one and they lack the bowling depth of teams like Surrey and Sussex particularly without Craig Overton. When Devon Conway arrives, they may become the neutral's team to watch as they will likely score a lot of runs but also concede a fair few.
Possible XI:
Banton
Davies
Hildreth
Abell
Byrom
Lammonby
Gregory
Van Der Merwe
De Lange
Sale
Waller
Surrey
Prediction: 1st in South Group
Last season: Finalists
Key player: Will Jacks
Young gun: Jamie Smith
This side appears to have most boxes ticked, with an experienced top 3, hitters all the way down the order and both quick bowling and spin options in abundance. The biggest test they will have is having to change their team significantly when Roy and the Curran's go on international duty.
Possible XI:
Roy
Amla
Evans
Jacks
Smith
S Curran
J Overton
T Curran
Batty
Moriarty
Dernbach
Sussex
Prediction: 2nd in South Group
Last season: Quarter Finalists
Key player: Luke Wright
Young gun: Delray Rawlins
This side oozes quality with the top six all either former internationals or international prospects for the future. Add that to the batting depth Garton and Jordan provide, plus the multitude of bowling options and Sussex have to be one of the favourites for the tournament. Rashid Khan will arrive to bolster the bowling midway through the tournament to further boost their credentials.
Possible XI:
Salt
Wright
Head
Rawlins
Bopara
Wiese
Brown
Garton
Jordan
Beer
Mills
