Round 3

More surprises and big turnarounds characterized this latest round of matches in the county championship.

Role Reversal

Somerset slipped to their second innings defeat of the season at the hands of Lancashire who went top of the table with their second win from two. Looking at the Lancashire squad at the start of the season I struggled to see how they would do anything other than struggle in division one this year, how wrong I have been so far. A lot of the credit has to go to their coach Peter Moores, he seems to have moulded a team with no outstanding individuals into a competitive team. I’m not sure i’d like to pay to watch any of the Lancashire batsmen at present but they seem to be fighting hard and are mentally strong. Somerset on the other hand look mentally shot already, struggling to deal with the hangover from last season and dealing with the pressure of being preseason favourites for every competition going this season. As yet Marcus Trescothick has failed to fire yet and so much of what happens at Somerset tends to lead from the performance that Trescothick puts on. By some accounts his captaincy in the first game of the season was muddled and inconsistent, a couple more losses with no upturn in form for Trescothick may see him pass over the reins possibly to James Hildreth, who captained the England lions over the winter.

Youngsters come good

Sussex, another team I fancied to struggle in division one managed to defeat Durham in a game where Sussex scored the highest innings of the match batting last chasing down 308 to win by two wickets. Monty Panesar had a good game taking 7 wickets; it will be interesting to see how he fares in what is his first season playing in the first division. Early signs are good as he has bowled economically and taken a solid haul of wickets. It was the two youngsters Luke Wells and Ben Brown who shone chasing down the target, Wells scoring a maiden first class hundred and Brown coming out of his early season woes and playing attractively to make 61.

Hale Gale but defeat for Yorkshire

At Headingly a final day collapse by Yorkshire allowed Nottinghamshire to continue their winning start of the season. There were a couple of noteworthy performances by English batting prospects during this match. Alex Hales was the only Nottinghamshire player to look comfortable throughout the match as he played fluently and powerfully scoring at nearly a run a ball as wickets fell at the other end. It had looked like his efforts would all be in vain after Andrew Gales fine first innings 145, Gale exploded once he was joined by the no.11 adding 82 vital runs for the last wicket, Gale scoring 78 of the runs. In all truth Nottinghamshire completely lost it bowling too short and straight allowing Gale to feast on his favoured leg side but again it was another indicator of a strong mind, Gale seems to find runs when the rest of the team is struggling. Yorkshire collapsed on day 3 chasing a measly 145, the loss of Jacques Rudolph looks more and more costly by the week and it seems Yorkshire won’t quite score the runs needed for a good run at the championship.

Miracle Chopra

Another young English batsman was prospering at New Road as Warwickshire produced a memorable turnaround to take back to back wins at the start of the season. For Worcestershire this defeat will be particularly hard to take, as for the second game running they were the better team for the majority of the match before falling away to defeat on the 4^th day. The young batsmen making the headlines was Varun Chopra, making his second double hundred of the season in only his second game. As Worcestershire coach, Steve Rhodes put it ‘The miracle was Chopra's innings. It's unbelievable that he batted for eight hours on that pitch. He played very well.’ Much heavier run scoring by Chopra at this point in the season and you may even hear his name being mentioned as a potential test player this summer, a thought at the start of the season you would think was laughable. Whatever Chopra did over the close season seems to have worked miracles and for the short period that Jonathan Trott and Ian Bell are available for Warwickshire this season, it really will be a formidable batting order, possibly a line up of

Chopra – super early season form

Porterfield – Proved at the world cup that he is a decent opener and sound captain

Trott – Current No.4 and No.7 bat in test and odi cricket respectively

Yousuf – Formerly ranked best batsmen in the world

Bell – No.21 in test rankings. Ever Improving

Clarke – Has started season very well. Bowls with pace and has contributed vital runs

Ambrose – 11 Tests and one hundred for England as WK

Woakes – Takes lots of wickets, career has been injury free so far, more than competent batsman

Carter – 2010 PCA player of the season. Takes lots of wickets and scores plenty of runs from the tail.

Botha – Possible weak link, handy with the bat, average spin with the ball

Rankin – Ireland WC starter, bowls with pace and gets good carry from his tall stature.

Rarely has there been a batting order of such strength in recent years in the county championship and their fast bowling attack looks strong also albeit the spinner in Botha probably is the one weak spot. The top 10 all have first class hundreds and average 20+, sadly for Warwickshire fans this may happen only a couple of times or maybe never. If a team of this compilation or similar does appear this season it will be a must see for county fans.

Random Observations

Middlesex to steamroll second division?

Middlesex look good for a second win in two in the second division after day 1 of their game today. The way the schedule is set out if a team finds form early in the season they can power into a very strong position, and can simply coast for the rest of the season. Middlesex will be looking to put a sustained run of wins together whilst their form is good and the fixture list crowded.

Dead ball or rule change needed?

Whilst watching the IPL today (yes really) I was witness to Ramesh Powar bowling to Eoin Morgan. The ball slipped out of Powers hand just as he was about to deliver the ball and the ball looped off behind himself. It was given dead ball quite correctly under the rules of the game but surely this needs to be looked at. For instance, if the ball only slips slightly out of a bowlers hand and is a full toss to the batsmen it is counted as a legitimate delivery. Surely when the ball is released from the bowlers hand when he is past the stumps at the bowlers end it should be counted as a delivery and in such an instance as what occurred today the ball deemed a no-ball.

 

Zander de Bruyn- transfer of the season?

Zander de Bruyn made a hundred today for Surrey and I must say his move from Somerset to Surrey went relatively unnoticed this preseason but already it’s looking an extremely shrewd piece of business on the part of Surrey. Surreys batting with the exception of Mark Ramprakash (who is currently out with a serious injury) is talented but inexperienced. De Bruyn has already added solidity and experience to the batting order and Chris Adams will hope that he continues to provide anchor for the others to bat around. Somerset on the other hand have already missed the stability he brings to the middle order.

Conflict of interests?

Nottinghamshire today clearly made a concentrated attack on Adam Lyth with a sustained spell of short bowling. Lyth was eventually out caught at deep backward square leg off Luke Fletcher. Normally this would be no more than a normal plan of attack once other avenues have proved unsuccessful. The fact that the Nottinghamshire coach Mick Newell was also the England Lions coach over the winter is the intriguing aspect. Newell has obviously come back after the winter with an in depth knowledge of all the players in the Lions squad, one of which was Adam Lyth. It’s an interesting situation with Newell obviously having a potential conflict of interests.  I’m sure Newell did everything to improve his players whilst away with the England Lions line up but the advantage he has gained from look at close quarters at the impressive young players gives himself and Nottinghamshire a distinct advantage.

Round 2

Another week of the season has gone and as always there has been plenty to talk about. Whether it’s the return of Graham Onions to the Durham team or the title favourites Somerset succumbing to a defeat of monstrous proportions there is plenty of action to salivate over.

We’ll start with Division One and Headingly where Onions on his return after 15 months of injury torment led Durham to victory with 6 wickets. It’s great to see Onions back to full fitness and he seems to have given Durham the lift they needed after week 1’s disappointment where they couldn’t force a victory and Steve Harmison broke down in both innings. Young English prospects Ben Stokes and Adil Rashid both had quieter games that last week with bat and ball, Dale Benkenstein continued his early season form with an unbeaten hundred and Michael Richardson deputising for Phil Mustard behind the stumps contributed vital fifties in both innings. Lack of runs by the Yorkshire top order has been their undoing so far for them this season, they seem to be missing the consistency of Jacque Rudolph and as yet no one has found much form to replace him.

Elsewhere in Division One champions Nottinghamshire got their season of to the perfect start with a comfortable victory over Hampshire. Andre Adams went a long way to proving last year’s form wasn’t an anomaly as he proved the difference between the two teams taking 11 wickets in the match. It’s been a difficult start to the season for Hampshire with one defeat and one draw and they don’t seem to be living up to my billing as dark horses for the championship, their fast bowlers already have succumbed to various ailments and their batting has been inconsistent.

The biggest surprise potentially of the season (already??) came at Taunton where Warwickshire produced their biggest victory of all time and the 6^th biggest in all county cricket winning by an innings and 382 runs. There were a number of star performers for Warwickshire as you would expect. Varun Chopra compiled his highest first class score of 210 as he continued his impressive preseason form and all signs point to this been the season he breaks through properly onto the first class stage. From an early age he has been touted as a potential England player but he has struggled so far moving from Essex to Warwickshire in 2009 and this was only his 3^rd first class hundred which makes Chris Woakes’ 4th first class hundred from no.8 all the more impressive. Woakes stroked a run a ball 129 and then ran through Somerset in both innings, narrowly missing out on a 10 wicket match to add to his hundred. For all that Warwickshire were good, Somerset were equally bad. Ajantha Mendis struggled on debut especially on day one bowling countless no balls and dropping short consistently; the batting was awful with no real application shown. Somerset lost their first two games last season and so nearly won the championship but a hammering of this magnitude is something else and has to put doubt into players and pundits alike on Somerset’s chances this season.

There were four fixtures in division 2 with victories for Glamorgan, Derbyshire, Middlesex and Northants leaving Essex as the only team with two defeats from their first two games. I was expecting a better start to the season for Essex with Ravi Bopara and Alastair Cook been available from the start of the season but both have failed so far. The only consolation is the emergence of 17 year old left arm pace bowler Reece Topley who has taken 5 wicket hauls in his first two first class games. On England watch in the same match Steve Finn started the season well for Middlesex taking 5 cheap wickets and contributing with the bat.

At present Division 2 looks wide open with every team capable of winning games, Gloucestershire look the weakest but any of the others in my opinion on this initial viewing look capable of challenging for promotion.

Round One down

And so the first round of county championship matches are over and there has already been a number of impressive performances around the county circuit by both individuals and teams.

Ben Stokes had a first round to remember. Stokes taking career best bowling figures of 6-68 and then smashing 135 of 145 balls including five 6’s in a row, but Durham could not push for victory on the final day as Hampshire batted out the final day without much trouble. Durham were left regretting the injury proneness of Steve Harmison who only bowled 3.2 overs in the whole match. Spinners Ian Blackwell and Scott Borthwick both bowled long spells but could only attain 4 wickets between them as another England Lion Jimmy Adams got his season going with a steadfast hundred after his first innings golden duck.

Adams at 30 had his best year last season by some distance. His style is more attritional rather than fluent as he plays in an old fashioned manner building an innings, his first fifty usually coming slowly before gently accelerating. He seems capable of making really big contributions from the top of the order and last season also seemed to make a lot of runs when the rest of the team weren’t which is the real indicator of a good fighter who is resilient and strong mentally. It Seems unlikely at 30 that he will get a chance with England with Cook and Strauss settled at the top of the order at present and a number of other strong batting candidates at a younger age but expect him to continue to score important runs for Hampshire and be the man on which the rest of the team bats around. He has shown an ability in the one day game to open up his game having had great success in 20:20 competitions in recent years, last year he was the top scorer with 668 runs at 39.29 @ 132.27 and had a successful spell in New Zealand with Auckland in the winter where he made a match winning contribution in the final of the regional 20:20.

Adil Rashid was another with outstanding first week credentials and had match figures of 11-114 in Yorkshires cruise to victory over Worcestershire. By all accounts Worcestershire were awful as they succumbed second time around but Rashid’s figures nonetheless are brilliant and he seems to have found both greater consistency and has more variations taking a number of wickets with sliders and offspinners to compliment his normal legbreaks. Rashid this winter had a successful spell with South Australia in the 20:20 Big Bash and many of his variations are noticeable in this clip. 

A general trend in Rashid’s bowling seems to be that he can drop early short and if you can get after him you can hit him out of the attack, let him settle and he will eventually get you out. It is noticeable in the clip that he takes a number of wickets caught on the boundary. In Australia the boundaries tend to be the longest in the world and you wonder how Rashid would do on the shorter boundaries especially in India.

Gloucestershire took an early step to proving the critics wrong, including myself, by winning their first game of the season and going top of division 2 albeit against the equally poor Derbyshire. It was quite some achievement with 5 men making first class debut with impressive performances by Liam Norwell, David Payne, Ian Cockbain and Will Gidman all on debut.

Leicestershire got off to a good start in the second division as they beat Glamorgan by 89 runs. Leicestershires bowling attack looks quite varied and skilled, Buck and Hoggard are accomplished opening bowlers, Naik and Henderson are contrasting spinners but the backup probably isn’t so experienced and as with so many teams in the second division so much may depend on the fitness of the first xi.

Glenn Chapple dispelled my fears about his fitness and Lancashire’s chances as they soundly destroyed Sussex winning by an innings and 55 as Chapple took 9 wickets and Sussex putting up a poor effort collapsing second time around, which doesn’t exactly bode well for the rest of their season. 

Credit must go to the BBC and the ECB for their coverage of the county season. The BBC’s regional radio stations produce live coverage of most games and the ECB have brief highlights of each days play.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/cricket/counties/7992843.stm

www.ecbtv.co.uk/

3 Days in

We're into the third day of the county championship season and already there are a number of good stories to talk about.

Gloucestershire had 5 players making their first class debuts.  Kane Williamson and Hamish Marshall stuck in New Zealand with visa problems and wedding problems respectively. Somehow Gloucestershire are strong favourites to win their first game of the season. The 19 year old Liam Norwell took 6-46 in the first Derbyshire innings.

Steve Harmison lasted two balls into the season before picking up an injury, fortunately for Durham Ben Stokes took 6 wickets with his medium pace. Scott Borthwick continued his seemingly random movements around the Durham batting order, batting at 8 in the first innings and opening the batting in the second.

Adil Rashid bowled 29 overs and took 6-77 on the first day of the season, Yorkshire fought back from 155-7 to gain a first innings lead against Worcestershire thanks to Gerald Brophy and Ryan Sidebottom. Worcestershire were in a very good position but a lack of penetration and variation meant they couldn't quite kill off Yorkshire and now Yorkshire look like they're  in good position to get their season of to a winning start.

Alastair Cook and Ravi Bopara both failed for Essex in their evenly poised game against Kent. There must be a good chance Cook may struggle again this summer just as he did last year, with the ball swinging around and Zaheer Khan a fine exponent of the art touring with India.

21 Names that could shape the future of English Cricket (and to follow this county season)

Chesney Hughes, 20, Derbyshire

Born in Anguilla, a British Overseas territory Hughes broke into the Derbyshire team last year and was the bright light in another season poor season from Derbyshire. Build strongly and equally adept against spin and pace Hughes is a real prospect. At this stage it is unclear whether he will plump for the England or the West Indies. Hopefully the English hierarchy show some interest and he chooses England as he is an exciting prospect and if he was to make it into the England side would be a good role model for British West Indians and rejuvenate their presence in the English county game.

Scott Borthwick, 20, Durham

A genuine allrounder and as yet it isn’t clear which is his stronger suit. He has been utilised all around the batting order so far at Durham and his leg spin should complement the left arm spin of Ian Blackwell. Will get the opportunity to develop his game around more experienced pros but with Durham likely to be in the championship race it will be interesting to see how he deals with the pressure. Is still off the radar of England selectors but a breakout season may be on the cards with plenty of opportunities on offer.

Ben Stokes, 19, Durham

A powerful middle order batsmen who broke into the Durham line up last season Stokes gained recognition this winter with a Lions tour at only 19. Can only learn by play in a championship challenging team and will have the responsibility of contributing lots of runs in an average looking first division batting line up. Also bowls useful medium pace. He has failed so far in one day cricket where his freescoring style should prosper. Is unlikely to get a look in this season for England but is at a good county to get recognised.

James Harris, 20, Glamorgan

The main man already at Glamorgan at the ripe age of 20. Harris is the leader of the attack and with 63 first class wickets last season it’s a sure bet that he’ll already be on the national selectors radar. A decent batsman with a first class average just shy of 20, he has worked hard on his batting over the close season in a bid to become a genuine bowling allrounder.  England are not short in quality fast bowlers at present and Harris will have to have another brilliant season, potentially leading Glamorgan to promotion if he wants to find his way into an England team.

Danny Briggs, 19, Hampshire

A slow left armer born on the Isle of Wight, Briggs is an exciting prospect for English cricket. The biggest success story of the Lions tour of the West Indies, Briggs took 33 wickets in 5 matches whilst outperforming the senior Rashid. Hampshire has brought in Imran Tahir for the season as overseas player and it will be bitterly disappointing for English cricket if Briggs misses out as a result. A more tantalising situation is the two of them bowling in tandem tearing division one batting attacks to pieces. May get a call up to a one day squad for England this summer to compliment the right arm off-spin of Graeme Swann but is still really young and maybe left to develop further on the county circuit.

James Vince, 20, Hampshire

A technically correct middle order batsman, Vince had a tougher second season of county cricket but still averaged in the mid thirties. Vince is part of a strong looking Hampshire squad that should be pushing for the championship. Under this pressure it will be interesting to see how he develops. Yet to score the weight of runs to warrant higher honours but Vince has quality players around him that should help him to flourish.

Nathan Buck, 19, Leicestershire

Went toe to toe leading the attack with Mathew Hoggard last year at Leicestershire taking 49 wickets to Hoggards 50 in his first full season in county cricket. Went away with the lions through the winter and has represented England at various youth levels. Known for his consistency and smooth bowling action another long season awaits and hopefully he can avoid injury. If he continues to improve and add pace to his action he will surely get continued recognition with the lions but he will have to do something outstanding to make an England squad this summer.

James Taylor, 21, Leicestershire

Still only 21 but continues to consistently score a heavy weight of runs in all forms of the game. If he wants to really push forward into the England team he is going to have to go even further than previous seasons upping his average from early 40s into the 50’s due to the fact that England’s batting at present is strong and he is playing second division. May need to move to a first division club in the future or help Leicestershire get promoted to really ram his way into the England set up, especially as 4 day cricket is his forte and England’s inclination is to blood youngsters into the ODI set up first where there is already a surplus of technically correct players. 

Greg Smith, 22, Leicestershire and Durham University

Will miss the first half of the county season due to his ongoing university education.  When Smith came back last year he shone with the bat scoring 508 runs at 84.83 in 5 first class games from the top of the order. Any player who can step out of a university term to score those figures must have a future. Continuing strong performances at university and back at Leicestershire and once smiths education is over he may find himself earmarked for a lions tour next winter.

Steve Finn, 22, Middlesex

Some might say this is a strange selection given Finn has already played 11 tests for England but for this season at least he is likely to have a sustained spell in county cricket given the strength in depth of English bowlers. If Finn does make a full season, expect carnage in the second division and he may almost singlehandedly bring promotion to Middlesex. His time will certainly come again for England, how long it takes is up for discussion.

Luke Fletcher, 22, Nottingshamshire

At 6’6’’ Fletcher will tower over many players on the county circuit and with the loss of Ryan Sidebottom to Yorkshire and the likely unavailability of England players Stuart Broad and Graeme Swann there is a big vacancy in the Nottinghamshire side. Also a more than capable batsmen who can give the ball a big hit this should give him a slight edge over fellow young fast bowler Andy Carter. Big responsibility on Fletchers shoulders to step up if he succeeds he will be on England’s radar.

Alex Hales, 22, Nottinghamshire

A rangy top order batsman, Hales is carrying a big weight on his shoulders this year as he looks to score the runs to propel Nottinghamshire to back to back championships.  It is perhaps in one day cricket where hales has produced some of his best form so far, with his fast scoring and powerful hitting hard not to notice. Is at a high profile team and if he is successful this season it is not out of the question that he may get a surprise call up to an England one day squad, but has as yet been somewhat hit and miss in his career, with big scores been  punctuated with a run of low scores.

Jos Buttler, 20, Somerset 

A prodigious talent who outshone Kieron Pollard in the T20 semifinals last year and has excelled in the one day format of the game. A capable keeper who broke into the first team last season he may play solely as a batsman this year with Craig Kieswetter likely to take the wicketkeeping gloves. A powerful hitter but with a solid technique to back it up. If he continues to prosper in one day cricket he may find an early call up to an England ODI squad.

James Hildreth, 26, Somerset

The oldest of the group I  have selected but Hildreth had his best season yet last season with Somerset and captained successfully(as well as scoring another boatload of runs) the England lions during the winter. Potentially jostling with Ravi Bopara and Eoin Morgan for the final batting position in the England test squad. If he doesn’t quite make the test team, he should find himself at least in an ODI squad.

Jade Dernbach, 25, Surrey 

Called up to the England World Cup squad as a replacement after a hugely successful Lions tours where he was singled out as the star performer. Dernbach has surpassed many of his rivals seemingly coming from nowhere to within range of international honours. Bowling at a brisk pace with many variations, including swinging both the old and new ball. Dernbach has plenty of confidence and has bowled lots of overs in his career so far on the flat decks at the oval. Last year was his breakthrough season and continued success should lead to a chance in an ODI squad but competition for fast bowlers is fierce at present.

Jason Roy, 20, Surrey

A freescoring and talented middle order batsmen Roy played only a handful of first class games last season but is likely to find more chances this season and will hope to cement his place in the surrey side. A hundred of 57 balls in a 20:20 games Roy is known for his big hitting and is certainly exciting to watch, still a rookie on the county scene it will be interesting to see how Roy develops.

Rory Hamilton Brown, 23, Surrey

The final selection of the surrey quartet and you’d hope with all these promising figures in their squad they’ll gain promotion in the four day game. Much of this may come down to RHB, who will continue the captaincy of one of the fallen giants of the county game. His ultra attacking batting style certainly makes for good entertainment, one of the players to watch on the circuit RHB may need to look for more consistency and solid defence if he continues to bat in the top 5 in four day cricket. It is in one day cricket where England maybe watching, a good eye and clean hitting at the top of the order, he was successful last year in the 40 over competition averaging in the mid fourties at a strike rate of 150. Couple that with athletic fielding and useful off-spin bowling and with a good first half of the season may get a surprise call up to a 20:20 or ODI squad for England.

Ben Brown, 22, Sussex

Broke into the Sussex first team last year and seems set to continue his emergence this season with Matt Prior away on England duty. An attacking batsman who was good enough to play solely as a batsmen last year, his glovework is also very good and is another wicketkeeping batsmen to keep a firm eye on. The least experienced of all the wicketkeeper batsmen listed in this list he is a name to watch for this season, but unlikely to be making any England squads soon.

Chris Woakes, 22, Warwickshire

Already an England international, Woakes should continue to progress this season and will likely feature in ODI cricket but probably is quite some way from the test team at this moment due to the strength in depth of English bowlers.  What will delight the England set up is the fact that Woakes is a more than proficient batsmen with three first class hundreds and an average a shade under 30. Couple that with the 54 wickets at 21.57 in the first division last year and you really have a multifaceted cricketer who already has had the experience of been the main player in a county side at the ripe age of 22. 

Jonathan Bairstow, 21, Yorkshire

Son of David, already a firm favourite with the Yorkshire public, Johnny already has a Lions tour under his belt this winter and will be looking to continue his progress this season with Yorkshire. Another of the breed of batsmen wicketkeepers to fall of the conveyor belt of English cricket Bairstow has plenty of competition for best young wicketkeeper batsmen in the country. Like many of the others Bairstow has featured solely as a batsman where his traits are for hard hitting and calmness under pressure but he will be looking to add a hundred to his 15 first fifties. Still a long way from England recognition, his keeping appears still a long way from international standard, may have to concentrate solely on batting.

Adil Rashid, 23, Yorkshire

It seems like Rashid has been around for years, and every year he probably takes up more column inches than any other player in county cricket with his name constantly linked with the England set up. The fact is that he probably isn’t good enough for either form of the international game at present. That’s not to say that he isn’t a pivotal member of the Yorkshire side, in the county championship he bowls hundreds of overs and adding useful contributions with the bat and at 23 is a key team member. With Swann been a mainstay in test cricket he may find it easier to break into ODI cricket, unfortunately his bowling isn’t suited to one day cricket and he bats as low as 9 or 10 in one day cricket due to his lack of strength.  Hopefully Rashid gets another season to improve his consistency in county cricket, maybe with a promotion up the batting order in first class cricket to develop his batting.

Many names have been listed, many have been missed out. What is a lot of the fun with county cricket for observers is the fact that the season is so long and every year a few players emerge from nowhere as genuine players of quality.

County Championship Division Two Preview

Derbyshire - A squad short on talent most likely will struggle again. Much will depend on overseas players Usman Khawaja and Martin Guptill to provide runs. Chesney Hughes is an exciting prospect but only in his second season it is a lot to ask to provide the runs required for Derbyshire to make any kind of push for promotion. Luke Sutton returns as captain but one of the more established names Graham Wagg has left for Glamorgan.

 

Prediction: Challenge for wooden spoon. Youngsters may show some improvement having gained another years experience but don’t expect miracles. 8th

Essex - Having being relegated last season, Essex will be looking to bounce back immediately and look in good condition to do that. Alastair Cook and Ravi Bopara are both available to play from the start of the season, and with so many fixtures in April and May should build a big lead. Owais Shah signed in the close season and with Ryan Ten Doeschate should return from the IPL when Cook leaves for England duty. The bowling does look lightweight and lacking penetration with Danish Kaneria not returning and may be their weakness.

Prediction: Should get promoted but a couple of injuries to bowlers and there attack looks threadbare and lacking quality. 1st

Glamorgan  - Star performer and overseas player Mark Cosgrove has left and left a gaping hole (literally) but has been replaced by South African Alviro Pietersen who has taken over captaincy duties. Glamorgan are likely to be challengers for promotion again this year after last years near miss. In James Harris they have a quality opening bowler who bowls lots of overs. The arrival of Graham Wagg should give them more options in both bowling and batting and Jim Allenby may have to recreate his heroics of last season.

Prediction: Likely will be close to promotion, may depend on an odd result here or there and Harris staying injury free. 4th

Gloucestershire - I have a confession, Gloucestershire are my county, unfortunately this year anything other than the wooden spoon will probably be a decent achievement. Last year their bowling was first division standard whilst their batting was of minor county standard. Well now their bowling attack has been decimated by moves away from the club, their batting is also weaker. The experienced players that are left are average and not wanted by other counties; the youngsters who will play are playing through necessity rather than their quality. Kane Williamson is the overseas pro and should be available for the whole season, he is young and talented, but he will be expected to score thousands of runs and the burden may prove too much. On a personal note I hope they surprise a few and some youngsters come through the cracks and put in decent performances but it is hard to see any light this season at least.

Prediction: Wooden spoon; not competitive; hugely demoralising. 9th

Kent - Financially Kent have taken a real battering, with squad cuts and no overseas players, last season was a disaster. There is genuine quality in the squad, some of it too good for second division cricket but if there are injuries the threadbare squad will be shown up. Rob Key had an awful 2010, one double hundred apart, and it’s hard to see him performing so badly again. 

Prediction: First xi is easily the strongest in the second division, unfortunately for them injuries will happen in any season and a middling position is more likely than promotion. 5th

Leicestershire - The winter has been a continuation of the 2010 summer ructions with plenty of political decisions happening off the pitch with not much change on the pitch. Thankfully for Leicestershire they have plenty of reasons to be cheerful on the pitch thanks to the plethora of quality young players in the squad coupled with a sprinkling of experienced pros. James Taylor is a run machine and will be needed to continue to produce runs in what is an otherwise average batting line up. The bowling looks strong, Nathan Buck and Mathew Hoggard are quality opening bowlers, Claude Henderson and Jigar Naik are competent spinners and overseas pro McDonald should play more than last year even with IPL commitments.

Predictions: Will be in the melting pot for promotion at the end of the season and have plenty of young players to watch. May just miss out through lack of experience and expect an exodus of some of their exciting talents at the end of the season if this happens. 2nd

Middlesex - A terrible season last year but there may be signs of improvement burgeoning this season. Chris Rogers is the new overseas pro and is used to scoring tonnes of runs for poor teams and is available for the whole season. Steve Finn may play more than expected with England having strength in depth in fast bowlers, and Corey Collymore will add depth and experience to the bowling line up. The batting does look thin with Owais Shah having left and Eoin Morgan unlikely to play much.

Prediction: Expect a much better season, Rogers will continue to plunder county attacks and if Finn gets in anywhere near to a full season they might be a surprise pick for promotion. 6th

Northamptonshire - A squad that doesn’t exactly evoke excitement will do well to even challenge for promotion. If someone had told me that David Sales and Mal Loye had retired I wouldn’t have batted an eyelid but these two are still around the team along with other gnarled pros such as Andrew Hall, Steven Peters and David Lucas. An experienced line up but is there the motivation needed for a promotion campaign? Chaminda Vaas is the overseas pro and should fit in with the rest of the geriatrics; you have to wonder how he’ll make it through a full county season? They have blooded a few younger players in recent seasons without much success, they will need one or two to step up and help the senior players if they are going to run the opposition close this year

Prediction: Unlikely to figure at the end of the season, neither batting nor bowling is particularly strong with no standout performers. 7th

Surrey- Plenty of talent and the bookies favourites to go up Surrey have underperformed for years and there is big pressure on them this season to return to division one. There is plenty of young talent involved, many of whom may push for higher honours in the future. Much of the pressure will be upon the shoulders of the captain, 23 year old, Rory Hamilton-Brown to mould a team together. With players such as Jason Roy, RHB and Stephen Davies there is plenty of extravagance in the batting, hopefully another season of Mark Ramprakash should mould the three into more consistent performances. Much of the bowling will rely on Jade Dernbach and Chris Tremlett if available, who are probably two of the best in the division.

Prediction: With young talented players it’s tough to predict exactly what happens, inconsistency may prove their undoing. If Dernbach and Tremlett get full seasons in though, they should make promotion. 3^rd

County Championship Division One Preview

Durham – Much will depend on the returning Graham Onions and Steve Harmison and whether they can remain match fit throughout the season. If so, the duo could destroy many a batting line up. A more likely scenario is that Onions struggles to find form after his career threatening injury and Harmison remains injury plagued. It will be interesting to see how Ben Stokes, a hard hitting middle order batsmen and Scott Borthwick, a leg spinning all-rounder continue to develop and Stokes may push for a place in a England odi squad if as expected they make changes.

Prediction – Probably won’t quite have the capability to win the championship unless Harmison and Onions put in a whole season, if they do, look out everyone else.  3^rd

Hampshire - A quality squad with talent throughout should perform substantially better than last year and should challenge for the championship. The only weakness is the fast bowling attack, an archaic Dominic Cork, and the permanently injured pair of Simon Jones and Kabir Ali should on paper look a brilliant threesome, but although all are fit at this time it seems unlikely that they will remain so throughout the season. The backup fast bowlers are no better than adequate, but the talent in the rest of the squad is undoubted. Quality English openers in Jimmy Adams and Michael Carberry, a strong middle order with the youth of James Vince backed up by the experience of Sean Ervine and Neil McKenzie and quality spinners in Imran Tahir and Danny Briggs. It will be a massive shame if Briggs who was so successful over the winter with the lions and the performance squad is pushed out of the team in favour of Tahir. A more likely scenario is that the wickets at the rose bowl are prepared to take spin which should negate their lack of fast bowling depth. 

Prediction – Should have enough talent to easily avoid relegation this season, my outside picks for the championship. They may have to get lucky with injuries but a combination of Tahir and Briggs late in the season may bring them a late surge for the championship. 2nd

Nottinghamshire – Last year’s winners will do well to replicate that success this year. Ryan Sidebottom has rejoined Yorkshire, Stuart Broad and Graeme Swann will most likely play less that last year and it’s hard to see Andre Adams and Paul Franks replicating the form of last season. Luke Fletcher and Andy Carter are both exciting fast bowling prospects and one may have to step up for Nottinghamshire to challenge this season. The batting looks potentially a little short of runs and much will rely on the shared overseas burden of Adam Voges(first half) and David Hussey(second half) to provide the weight of runs required. It will be interesting to see how Alex Hales continues at the top of the innings, and Samit Patel in the middle order. Both are potential England players of the future and with England looking to change things around in one day cricket the selectors will be watching.

Prediction: Still a strong squad but will do well to challenge for the title but should easily avoid relegation. Will be interesting to see how the youngsters develop. 5th

Lancashire – To a casual observe Lancashire’s squad looks weak. Glen Chapple their star performer last year is another year older at 37 and surely will begin to feel the burden of leading the bowling attack. The rest of the bowling is average by first division standards; the batting probably isn’t even that.  There are no individual stars in the team, no players pushing for England selection. If they are going to have a good season it will be a team effort by and large. Even the overseas player, Farveez Maharoof, is far from a household international name but he should offer good contributions with both bat and ball and Lancashire should have the benefit of Maharoof been available for the whole season.

Prediction:  Lack of quality catches up with them in a strong first division with relegation likely to add to the financial trouble they are already suffering. 8th

Somerset – Many people’s favourites and it’s obvious to see why. Already a strong squad they have strengthened the seam attack with Gemaal Hussain and Steve Kirby moving from rivals Gloucestershire. Weight of runs is never a problem with the prolific Marcus Trescothick and James Hildreth finally delivering on his talent. Murali Kartick is again the overseas player and should continue to take piles of wickets. There aren’t two more exciting young players in the county game than Jos Buttler and Craig Kieswetter, both wicketkeepers, both freescoring batsmen. It will be interesting to see how Buttler develops and whether Kieswetter can regain his place in the England odi team.

Prediction: A very strong squad should be right there at the death of the championship and is unlikely to be affected by international call ups. Maybe this is the time for last year’s bridesmaids to become brides.1st

Sussex – There has been a heavy changeover of players in the close season at Hove and at this point it will be hard to determine the makeup of the team. The triple signing announced on the same day of Naved Arif(29), Lou Vincent(32) and Kirk Wernars  Naved Ul Hasan is a shrewd resigning as overseas pro for the first half of the season with Wayne Parnell taking over the second half of the season. Much will depend on these two in addition to Monty Panesar to provide the bulk of the wickets. The batting last year was disappointing and more will be expected of Ed Joyce to help ease the burden on Murray Goodwin.

Prediction: Have made a desperate attempt to retain division one status by recruiting from afar but will probably struggle. May stay up but a lot is dependent on the availability of Matt Prior, Luke Wright and Yardy. 7th

Warwickshire – Having just avoided relegation last year, they will be looking for an easier ride this season but with Ian Bell and Jonathan Trott probably missing all but a couple of games and Imran Tahir moving on it’s hard to see anything but another fight for Warwickshire this season. The one shining light is likely to be again Chris Woakes who continues to improve into a quality bowling allrounder.  Younis Khan seems a strange choice as overseas player at this point. There is no doubting his talent but he has struggled in the English county game before and at 33 seems to be waning on the international stage.

Prediction: If Khan fires it will be a masterstroke, if he fails relegation is a near certainty. Woakes and Neil Carter will contribute with both bat and ball but any injuries to any of these three and it’s unlikely Warwickshire will be safe. 6th

Yorkshire – A young and talented squad, Yorkshire fans have plenty of reasons to be cheerful for the forthcoming season. Young English batsmen in Adam Lyth, Andrew Gale and Jonny Bairstow are a pleasure to watch. Adil Rashid will surely continue to take bags of wickets and make useful contributions with the ball and there is plenty of strength in depth with the bowling. A massive loss is Jacque Rudolph who was so prolific last year, a consolation is the return of Ryan Sidebottam who should add experience and variation to the attack .Yorkshire will hope the strength in depth and continual development of the youngsters will lead them to championship success.

Prediction: Likely to be close to winning the championship when the season ends, plenty of young talent to watch with an eye on England. Maybe dependent on how much Ajmal Shahzad and Tim Bresnan play and if Lyth and Gale can improve on last years batting to make up for the loss of Rudolph. 4th

Worcestershire - Returning to the first division after one year away Worcestershire look worse off than when they left. Big cuts were made one season ago and the squad remains threadbare. What this has allowed is for youth to develop and flourish, Moen Ali and Alexei Kervezee are two attractive young batsmen who will be looking forward to the challenge of first division cricket after success in 2010. Daryl Mitchell leads the team and they will need his rearguard actions with the bat if they have any chance of avoiding relegation. The bowling is steady rather than penetrative and relies heavily on Alan Richardson.

Prediction: Unlikely to have enough quality to stay up. If they do, a couple of their players are going to have breakout seasons. 9th