Cricket: Unlock some profit and side with Key; SPREADWISE.

Byline: Max Oram

SPORTING'S batsman first-innings runs matches are extremely volatile by nature, writes Max Oram.

But it usually pays in the long run to heed the saying that class is permanent and form temporary.

So seize the chance this morning at Hove to side with Kent captain, and England performance squad call-up Rob Key at 10-16 over Sussex opener Carl Hopkinson.

Key, who hit a calm 79 last week as his charges struggled to 162 all out in their Championship opener at home to Notts, is a regular compiler of sizeable scores on the county circuit and has a Test match double-ton to his name.

Hopkinson, bowled by Shane Bond for seven at the Rose Bowl last Wednesday, and caught in the slips for a scratchy 23 against the MCC at Lord's the week before, has struggled over the years to nail down a berth in the hosts' order.

For those wanting a trade with less exposure, and on similar lines, Sporting's bowler supremacy offer of 6-9 Mushtaq Ahmed/James Tredwell also looks value.

Recommendation

R Key/C Hopkinson

0.5pt at 10-16 Sporting

Sporting - batsman first-innings runs matches: 10-16 Ramprakash/Di Venuto, 0-6McKenzie/Butcher, 8-14 Trescothick/Loye, 0-6 Hodge/Langer, 10-16 Key/Hopkinson, 6-12 Goodwin/van Jaarsveld, 4-10 Vaughan/Carberry, 2-8 Rudolph/Crawley, 4-10 Rogers/Gallian, 12-18 Bopara/Telo, 12-18 Strauss/Hemp, 12-18 Joyce/Dalrymple, 2-8Maddy/Peters, 2-8 Sales/Trott, 0-6 Solanki, 6-12 Smith/Allenby; bowler wicket matches (10pts win, 3pts per wicket by): 3-6 S Harmison/Nicholson, 4-7 Onions/Collins, 1-5 ch Mahmood/Willoughby, 0-3 Chapple/Jones, 1.5ch Martin-Jenkins/Arafat, 6-9 Mushtaq/Tredwell, 1-4 Bond/Hoggard, 4-7 Nel/Lungley, 1.5ch Middlebrook/Doshi, 1.5ch Silverwood/Gillespie, 1.5ch Udal/Croft; 0-3 Daggett/Klusener, 5-8 Panesar/Botha.

CAPTION(S):

Robert Key's class is permanent