DIVISION ONE
DURHAM
Captain Paul Collingwood Coach Jon Lewis
Last season
LV County Championship 5th Div 1 Royal London Cup Winners NatWest T20 Blast 6th North Group
Making predictions about Durham has been something of a mug’s game in recent seasons. Tipped to go down in 2013, they picked up their third County Championship title. Then, as defending champions last season, they needed a late summer surge to avoid relegation but still picked up silverware in the Royal London Cup. The Australian John Hastings returns as overseas player but recruitment has once again been minimal, with the club continuing on its path of homegrown talent under Paul Collingwood’s captaincy in the four-day game and Mark Stoneman’s in limited-overs cricket. England call-ups could be their biggest hindrance – Ben Stokes and Mark Wood miss the start of the season and Stoneman could push his claims soon – but the return of Graham Onions after back surgery in the winter is a boost.
Prediction 4th
HAMPSHIRE
Captain Jimmy Adams Coach Dale Benkenstein
Last season
LV County Championship 1st Div 2 Royal London Cup 9th Group A NatWest T20 Blast Semi-finalists
The batting looks solid, with the four-day captain, Jimmy Adams, and his white-ball counterpart, James Vince, and Will Smith enjoying bumper 2014s, but there are big question marks over the potency of Hampshire’s bowling. The attack that earned promotion last season is no longer, with Matt Coles returning to Kent – the club claimed they were disappointed at his failure to settle – and the South African Kyle Abbott unlikely to be available until the back end of the season. Andre Adams has come in as player-coach but at 39 is no spring chicken, while the West Indies cast-off Fidel Edwards jets in for the second half of the season. The left-armer Chris Wood offers hope.
Prediction 6th
MIDDLESEX
Captain TBC Coach Richard Scott
Last season
LV County Championship 7th Div 1 Royal London Cup 7th Group B NatWest T20 Blast 9th South Group
Middlesex suffered a huge blow in pre-season with a somewhat unexpected Test call-up for their 35-year-old Australian captain, Adam Voges, who had been signed as cover for Chris Rogers. To that end the director of cricket, Angus Fraser, will pursue another marquee batsman but can at least take solace from almost guaranteeing top-order runs from the returning Nick Compton from Somerset and wickets from Steven Finn, who could get a summer clear from England duties. The New Zealand all-rounder James Franklin, playing on an Irish passport, provides additional experience but last season’s narrow escape from relegation and disappointing limited-overs campaigns make them a hard team to tip for success in 2015.
Prediction 8th
NOTTINGHAMSHIRE
Captain Chris Read Coach Mick Newell
Last season
LV County Championship 4th Div 1 Royal London Cup Semi-finalists NatWest T20 Blast Quarter-finalists
Shrewd recruitment has been the hallmark of Nottinghamshire’s success as a top Division One club and once again they look to have bolstered their ranks in a way that suggests they will be challenging at the top come the end of the season. Whatever your views on Kolpak players, there is no denying that Brendan Taylor’s arrival on a three-year contract is a smart piece of business. The 29-year-old batsman showed his class for Zimbabwe during the World Cup and is in the prime of his career. Vernon Philander and Ben Hilfenhaus split the summer as overseas bowlers and with Alex Hales not picked up in the Indian Premier League, Will Gidman arriving after a profitable season at Gloucestershire and James Taylor looking to press his England claims, Notts appear stronger than last year, when they finished fourth.
Prediction 2nd
SOMERSET
Captain Marcus Trescothick Coach Matthew Maynard
Last season
LV County Championship 6th Div 1 Royal London Cup 6th Group B NatWest T20 Blast 5th South Group
Matthew Maynard wasted no time after arriving at Taunton as coach before signing Jim Allenby from his old club Glamorgan, with the all-rounder fresh from taking 54 wickets and enjoying strong returns with the bat last season. The Pakistan left-arm spinner Abdur Rehman returns for a second spell at the club, having taken 27 wickets in just four matches in 2012, while Chris Gayle, Sohail Tanvir and Corey Anderson will be along for spells in the NatWest T20 Blast. The Dutchman Tom Cooper looks another smart piece of business. No side played out more championship draws than Somerset’s 10 last season but Marcus Trescothick continues as captain in the four-day competition, with Alfonso Thomas in charge for their white-ball cricket. Craig Kieswetter misses the season as he recovers from an eye injury.
Prediction 7th
SUSSEX
Captain Ed Joyce Coach Mark Robinson
Last season
LV County Championship 3rd Div 1 Royal London Cup 8th Group B NatWest T20 Blast 7th South Group
The winter dealings at Hove have centred on a beefing-up of the bowling attack, with Tymal Mills arriving from Essex and the former England seamer Ajmal Shazhad from Nottinghamshire. Mills in particular has been talked up in pre-season, while Steve Magoffin, last season’s leading wicket taker in Division One, returns as overseas player. The batting will once again rely on Chris Nash, Luke Wells and Ed Joyce, who was last season’s leading centurion with seven. Topping their third-placed championship finish last summer could prove tough, while their white-ball cricket simply has to be improved upon. Mahela Jayawardene, now retired from Sri Lankan action, will play their first seven games of the NatWest T20 Blast.
Prediction 5th
WARWICKSHIRE
Captain Varun Chopra Coach Dougie Brown
Last season
LV County Championship 2nd Div 1 Royal London Cup Runners-up NatWest T20 Blast Winners
The Warwickshire machine has undergone minimal tinkering during the winter, with the New Zealand captain, Brendon McCullum, for Twenty20 duty, their only recruit. But the question is, has the team stood still at Edgbaston following a season in which they tasted Twenty20 glory and finished runners-up in the other two competitions? Or is it primed for challenges on all fronts again? In Sam Hain they have one of the most exciting young batsmen in the country but Jonathan Trott’s England return, if sustained, will leave a big hole in their lineup after his bumper second half to last summer.
Prediction 3rd
WORCESTERSHIRE
Captain Daryl Mitchell Coach Steve Rhodes
Last season
LV County Championship 2nd Div 2 Royal London Cup 7th Group A NatWest T20 Blast Quarter-finalists
Steve Rhodes has made no bones about the fact that avoiding relegation is the club’s primary focus this season after Saeed Ajmal spun them to promotion in 2014 ahead of Essex, taking 63 wickets in nine matches. The Pakistan mystery spinner will not arrive until June and, with a remodelled action, there are no guarantees over his potency this time around. The Sri Lankan Sachithra Senanayake, another to battle queries over the legality of his delivery recently, deputises in his absence. The captain, Daryl Mitchell, at 31, appears in his pomp right now with the bat having averaged just shy of 60 last year, while the youngster Charlie Morris will hope to build on a 50-wicket return with the ball in his breakthrough campaign.
Prediction 9th
YORKSHIRE
Captain Andrew Gale Coach Jason Gillespie
Last season
LV County Championship 1st Div 1 Royal London Cup Quarter-finalists NatWest T20 Blast 5th North Group
Much has been made of their six England absentees for the first month of the season but the champions have depth and their bowling – bar the leg-spinner Adil Rashid – remains unaffected. The head coach, Jason Gillespie, has kept recruitment to a minimum but has three quality batsmen in Cheteshwar Pujara, Aaron Finch and Kane Williamson taking a chunk of the summer each in the overseas berth. Look out for the former England Under-19s captain Will Rhodes, an all-rounder of considerable promise, and expect Alex Lees to shine once more at the top of the order. The captain, Andrew Gale, who was unable to lift the trophy at Trent Bridge last September and completes his four-match ban in the campaign opener at Worcestershire, is determined to get his moment this summer. Despite the early season problems, it still feels hard to see past the White Rose.
Prediction 1st
DIVISION TWO
DERBYSHIRE
Captain Wayne Madsen Coach Graeme Welch
Last season
LV County Championship 4th Div 2 Royal London Cup Quarter-finalists NatWest T20 Blast 9th North Group
Derbyshire have recruited two players with points to prove after missing out on promotion last season. The highly rated batting all-rounder Shiv Thakor arrives from Leicestershire, hoping a finger injury and a poor season with the bat are now behind him. And the seamer Wayne White returns from Lancashire permanently, having spent the latter part of last summer on loan. The captain, Wayne Madsen, will once again be the batting linchpin while the left-arm seamer Mark Footitt leads the attack, having found himself on England’s radar following a 104-wicket summer in 2014. Expect Derbyshire to challenge at the top.
Prediction 2nd
ESSEX
Captain James Foster Coach Paul Grayson
Last season
LV County Championship 3rd Div 2 Royal London Cup Quarter-finalists NatWest T20 Blast Quarter-finalists
The Essex head coach, Paul Grayson, made no secret of the fact he felt his side were robbed of promotion last summer by the refusal of umpires to call the Worcestershire talisman Saeed Ajmal for chucking. Eight points proved the difference between second and third but, despite coming close, the county have not strengthened during the winter, instead losing Ben Foakes to Surrey and Tymal Mills to Sussex. That said, there remains quality in the Essex squad and they should compete once more, even if Ravi Bopara and Ryan ten Doeschate miss the first six weeks of the season while playing in the Indian Premier League. The latter captains in limited-overs cricket this summer.
Prediction 4th
GLAMORGAN
Captain Jacques Rudolph Coach Toby Radford
Last season
LV County Championship 8th Div 2 Royal London Cup 5th Group B NatWest T20 Blast Quarter-finalists
The spinner Dean Cosker drew a laugh at the launch of the county summer with a deadpan description of Glamorgan as having “homegrown talent – and some South Africans”. With Mr Reliable Jim Allenby now at Somerset, it feels imperative that the new captain, Jacques Rudolph, and the Kolpak signing Colin Ingram – both among the latter category, of course – deliver with the bat. But Allenby’s medium pace will also be missed and the hope is that Craig Meschede, who has travelled in the opposite direction on a season-long loan, can fill that gap. The Australian seamer Michael Hogan heads the attack after passing 60 championship wickets in his previous two summers.
Prediction 9th
GLOUCESTERSHIRE
Captain Geraint Jones Coach Richard Dawson
Last season
LV County Championship 7th Div 2 Royal London Cup Quarter-finalists NatWest T20 Blast 8th South Group
To lose one Gidman may be regarded as misfortune; to lose two looks like carelessness. But for the first time in 14 years neither Alex – top scorer last season – nor brother Will, their leading wicket-taker, will take the field for Gloucestershire, having departed for Division One clubs. Their absence leaves two big holes but experience has at least arrived in the shape of the new captain, Geraint Jones, who at 38 is four years older than the coach, Richard Dawson, himself a winter appointment. Michael Klinger arrives in June for a third summer as overseas player – having finished second highest run-scorer in Australia’s Sheffield Shield – and is joined by his fellow countryman the highly rated batsman Peter Handscomb, who plays on a British passport.
Prediction 8th
KENT
Captain Rob Key Coach Jimmy Adams
Last season
LV Championship 6th Div 2 NatWest Blast 7th South Group Royal London Cup Semi-finalists
Amid an otherwise stagnant summer in 2014 came an encouraging run in the 50-over competition, which propelled the wicketkeeper Sam Billings into the public consciousness. With Daniel Bell-Drummond passing 1,000 first-class runs last season and the off-spinner Adam Riley impressing with the ball, there is reason to believe the future is bright at Canterbury. Both the opener Joe Denly and seamer Matt Coles have returned to the club to bolster the ranks further, with the captain, Rob Key, and the veteran all-rounder Darren Stevens once again providing the experience – all of which may well manifest itself in a promotion challenge.
Prediction 5th
LANCASHIRE
Captain Tom Smith Coach Ashley Giles
Last season
LV Championship 8th Div 1 NatWest Blast Finalists Royal London Cup 8th Group A
Since being crowned champions in 2011, Lancashire have turned into something of a yo-yoing club and will now look to the new captain, Tom Smith, and head coach, Ashley Giles, fresh from his England exit last year, to get the trajectory back to upwards. Their batting order will be built around two South Africans in the returning Ashwell Prince and Alviro Petersen, while Giles has freshened up the bowling with the signings of George Edwards from Surrey and Nathan Buck from Leicestershire. The club demand Division One status and could give the veteran seamer Glen Chapple the perfect send-off in his last season.
Prediction 1st
LEICESTERSHIRE
Captain Mark Cosgrove Coach Andrew McDonald
Last season
LV County Championship 9th Div 2 Royal London Cup 5th Group A NatWest T20 Blast 5th North Group
Another side attempting something of a reboot. The new chief executive, Wasim Khan, has gone for an Australian approach, with the captain, Mark Cosgrove, the coach, Andrew McDonald, and the overseas fast bowler Clint McKay all arriving at Grace Road during the winter. When you have spent the last two seasons rooted to the bottom of the championship having not won a match, the only way is up, of course. The talk in the dressing room, we are told, is of how to win games now, as opposed to avoiding defeat. Ireland’s Kevin O’Brien joins his brother Niall for the Twenty20 competition, with New Zealand’s World Cup star Grant Elliott coming in as the second overseas player.
Prediction 6th
NORTHAMPTONSHIRE
Captain Alex Wakeley Coach David Ripley
Last season
LV County Championship 9th Div 1 Royal London Cup 6th Group A NatWest T20 Blast 7th North Group
To rise again Northants must erase memories of a nightmare 2014, in which they were relegated without a win and suffered eight innings defeats. Josh Cobb arrives from Leicestershire while the South African Richard Levi has signed as a Kolpak player to give their batting an aggressive edge. Alex Wakeley returns after a season out with an achilles injury and takes over the captaincy from Stephen Peters, with Shahid Afridi and Rory Kleinveldt due for appearances in the NatWest T20 Blast. The batsman Ben Duckett and the fast bowler Olly Stone are two youngsters to watch but bouncing back looks a huge task for the club as a whole.
Prediction 7th
SURREY
Captain Gareth Batty Coach Graham Ford
Last season
LV County Championship 5th Div 2 Royal London Cup 9th Group B NatWest T20 Blast Semi-finalists
Promotion to Division One is the obvious demand for a club of Surrey’s off-field strength and with Kevin Pietersen hoping to push his England claims through a weight of runs, and Kumar Sangakkara committed to two seasons and seemingly evergreen, there is little doubt Surrey, on paper at least, possess the most potent batting in the division. The veteran off-spinner Gareth Batty takes over the captaincy after the Graeme Smith experiment, while the promising wicketkeeper-batsman Ben Foakes arrives from Essex to compete with Gary Wilson for the gloves. The bowling attack, led by youngster Matt Dunn, looks the only area where they can come unstuck.
Prediction 3rd
