# 2008 Friends Provident Trophy

The 2008 Friends Provident Trophy was an English county cricket tournament, held between 20 April and 16 August 2008. The tournament was won by Essex.

## Format

Unlike in 2007, the 18 English counties, Ireland and Scotland were divided into four groups of five, based on geographical location. Each side played the other four teams home and away, with the top two sides from each group progressing to the quarter-final stage. A spokesman for the England and Wales Cricket Board, which instigated the changes, explained that the changes "provides [sic] more local derbies and less travel for players". The recommendations of the Schofield Report; an investigation into England's 5–0 Ashes defeat, were also cited as a cause for the changes.

## Group stage
### Midlands Division

| Team | Pld | W | T | L | NR | Pts | NRR |
| Leicestershire Foxes | 8 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 11 | +0.692 |
| Nottinghamshire Outlaws | 8 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 10 | +0.017 |
| Northamptonshire Steelbacks | 8 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 10 | +0.569 |
| Warwickshire Bears | 8 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 2 | 6 | -0.145 |
| Ireland | 8 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 1 | 3 | -0.862 |

### North Division

| Team | Pld | W | T | L | NR | Pts | NRR |
| Durham Dynamos | 8 | 5 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 10 | +0.432 |
| Yorkshire Carnegie | 8 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 10 | +0.544 |
| Derbyshire Phantoms | 8 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 9 | -0.141 |
| Lancashire Lightning | 8 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 8 | +0.243 |
| Scottish Saltires | 8 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 1 | 3 | -1.090 |

### South East Division

| Team | Pld | W | T | L | NR | Pts | NRR |
| Kent Spitfires | 8 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 11 | +0.647 |
| Essex Eagles | 8 | 4 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 9 | +0.310 |
| Middlesex Crusaders | 8 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 8 | +0.064 |
| Surrey Brown Caps | 8 | 3 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 7 | -0.627 |
| Sussex Sharks | 8 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 3 | 5 | -0.534 |

### South/West Division

| Team | Pld | W | T | L | NR | Pts | NRR |
| Gloucestershire Gladiators | 8 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 11 | +0.705 |
| Somerset Sabres | 8 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 9 | +0.307 |
| Worcestershire Royals | 8 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 8 | -0.121 |
| Hampshire Hawks | 8 | 3 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 7 | -0.431 |
| Glamorgan Dragons | 8 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 3 | 5 | -0.219 |

## Knockout stage
### Quarter finals

* 4 June 2008
| Nottinghamshire Outlaws 188 all out (47.2 overs) | v | Durham Dynamos 189 for 9 (49 overs) |
| Samit Patel 114 (113) Callum Thorp 2/20 (9) | | Michael Di Venuto 70 (86) Samit Patel 3/27 (10) |
* Durham Dynamos won by 1 wicket Riverside Ground, Chester-le-Street Umpires: George Sharp and John Steele Player of the match: Samit Patel (Nottinghamshire)
* 4 June 2008
| Gloucestershire Gladiators 201 all out (45.2 overs) | v | Yorkshire Carnegie 205 for 4 (44.1 overs) |
| Steve Adshead 71 (73) Tim Bresnan 4/31 (10) | | Craig White 55 (107) Jon Lewis 2/21 (10) |
* Yorkshire Carnegie won by 6 wickets County Ground, Bristol Umpires: Barry Dudleston and Nigel Llong Player of the match: Tim Bresnan (Yorkshire)
* 4 June 2008
| Essex Eagles 350 for 5 (50 overs) | v | Leicestershire Foxes 232 all out (41 overs) |
| Ravi Bopara 201* (138) Dillon du Preez 2/60 (10) | | Paul Nixon 62 (64) Ryan ten Doeschate 2/32 (7) |
* Essex Eagles won by 118 runs Grace Road, Leicester Umpires: Rob Bailey and Ian Gould Player of the match: Ravi Bopara (Essex)
* 4–5 June 2008
| Kent Spitfires 259 for 5 (50 overs) | v | Somerset Sabres 222 all out (45.5 overs) |
| Neil Dexter 101* (113) Ben Phillips 2/55 (10) | | Craig Kieswetter 90 (119) Yasir Arafat 3/23 (8) |
* Kent Spitfires won by 37 runs County Ground, Beckenham Umpires: Richard Illingworth and Neil Mallender Player of the match: Neil Dexter (Kent)
* Reserve day used

### Semi finals

* 4 July 2008
| Kent Spitfires 301 for 4 (50 overs) | v | Durham Dynamos 217 all out (43.1 overs) |
| Martin van Jaarsveld 122* (93)Joe Denly 102 (125) Steve Harmison 4/47 (10) | | Dale Benkenstein 79* (89) James Tredwell 3/37 (10) |
* Kent Spitfires won by 84 runs Riverside Ground, Chester-le-Street Umpires: Richard Kettleborough and Neil Mallender Player of the match: Martin van Jaarsveld (Kent)
* 5 July 2008
| Essex Eagles 285 for 8 (50 overs) | v | Yorkshire Carnegie 198 all out (42.5 overs) |
| Alistair Cook 95 (127) Rana Naved-ul-Hasan 2/41 (10) | | Andrew Gale 64 (84) Ryan ten Doeschate 3/30 (7) |
* Essex Eagles won by 87 runs County Ground, Chelmsford Umpires: Peter Hartley and Nigel Llong Player of the match: Graham Napier (Essex)

### Final

* 16 August 2008
| Kent Spitfires 214 all out (50 overs) | v | Essex Eagles 215 for 5 (48.5 overs) |
| Ryan McLaren 63 (71) David Masters 2/34 (10) | | Grant Flower 70* (97) Robbie Joseph 3/40 (10) |
* Essex Eagles won by 5 wickets Lord's Cricket Ground, London Umpires: Nigel Llong and George Sharp Player of the match: Grant Flower (Essex)