Division One
Essex
Captain Ryan ten Doeschate
Coach Anthony McGrath
After last summer’s title success, England came knocking for the head coach, Chris Silverwood, to fill their bowling coach vacancy. Thus Anthony McGrath has stepped up from number two, with the popular Dimi Mascarenhas joining the staff. On the field they bring in Peter Siddle for early overseas duties, before Neil Wagner returns to send them down from mid-May. Matt Coles, from Kent, is their other significant addition. A blend of experience and youth suggests another challenge, especially if Simon Harmer and Jamie Porter pick up where they left off.
Last season:
County Championship first
Royal London Cup semi-finals
T20 Blast eight in South Group
Championship prediction second
Hampshire
Captain James Vince
Coach Craig White
Starting like a train last summer before grinding to a halt, Hampshire have since bolstered their batting by drafting in Hashim Amla as their early overseas player and winning the race to sign Sam Northeast from Kent. The latter appears primed for the step up to Division One and is freed from captaincy duties, so if runs flow then England chatter may well follow. Dale Steyn is due for a two-match stint in June and a possible return later in the season but much depends on his fitness. Reece Topley will be white-ball only and Mason Crane is out for two months.
Last season:
County Championship fifth
Royal London Cup sixth in South Group
T20 Blast semi-finals
Championship prediction sixth
Lancashire
Captain: Liam Livingstone
Coach: Glen Chapple
Durham were raided over the winter, with Keaton Jennings and Graham Onions bolstering a side that surpassed expectations last summer and appear to be shaping up for a title challenge. Onions replaces Kyle Jarvis, who has given up Kolpak status to return to Zimbabwe, but Shiv Chanderpaul returns in this capacity, aged 43, after averaging 51 last season. Liam Livingstone steps up as captain although he will be pushing for a Test place, while the experienced Australian seamer Joe Mennie arrives as overseas player. Haseeb Hameed, Alex Davies and Saqib Mahmood are due strong seasons.
Last season
County Championship: second
Royal London Cup: fourth
T20 Blast: seventh in North Group
Championship prediction first
Nottinghamshire
Captain: Steven Mullaney
Coach: Peter Moores
Notts’ return to the top-flight comes after a golden summer that saw both white-ball trophies lifted. The previous two times promotion has been achieved the title has followed but consolidation would be fine given the retirements of Chris Read and Michael Lumb, and Alex Hales going limited-overs only. In come the veteran Chris Nash from Sussex and Ross Taylor as the early overseas player. Tom Moores gets his chance with the gloves while Steven Mullaney steps up as captain. A long-term injury to Paul Coughlin, after the all-rounder signed from Durham, is a blow but Jake Ball returns from the Ashes with a point to prove.
Last season:
County Championship: second Division Two
Royal London Cup: winners
T20 Blast: winners
Championship prediction fifth
Somerset
Captain: Tom Abell,
Lewis Gregory (T20)
Coach: Jason Kerr
Last summer’s great escape followed a title challenge the previous year, so which way Somerset go this time around is tricky to gauge, especially as they are under new management. The pitch at Taunton – aka Ciderabad – will likely continue to be a strong asset although how much they see of Jack Leach will now hinge on England’s requirements. Jamie Overton’s return from injury and his twin Craig’s confidence from international honours are plusses, although Cameron Bancroft has seen his overseas deal scrapped for his role in the Australian ball-tampering scandal. Tom Abell just about survived his first year as captain and should be better for it.
Last season:
County Championship: sixth
Royal London Cup: quarter-finals
T20 Blast: quarter-finals
Championship prediction seventh
Surrey
Captain: Rory Burns,
Jade Dernbach (T20)
Coach: Michael Di Venuto
Rory Burns replaces Gareth Batty as captain and could push for England honours if the opener adds more centuries to his already consistent returns. Kumar Sangakkara’s departure leaves a 1,491-run hole to fill – Virat Kohli may possibly fill this for three matches – while their overseas deal for Mitchell Marsh has been scuppered by ankle surgery. Tom Curran has gone to the IPL but a reinforcement comes in the shape of Morne Morkel, signed on a two-year Kolpak deal. Vikram Solanki, Ryan Sidebottom and Chris Taylor have all joined the coaching staff.
Last season:
County Championship: third
Royal London Cup: runner-up
T20 Blast: quarter-finals
Championship prediction third
Worcestershire
Captain: Joe Leach
Coach: Kevin Sharp
The Pears are newly promoted but under new management, with the Steve Rhodes era now ended. In come Kevin Sharp and the former New Road favourite Alan Richardson to run the show. Steve Magoffin has arrived from Sussex to take the new ball (citing the latter as inspiration), while a fellow Australian, Travis Head, is their overseas player. Otherwise it is over to homegrown talent again, with Daryl Mitchell looking to replicate last year’s four-figure summer and Joe Clarke getting a chance to nudge the England selectors in Division One. Two away games to begin with are handy given the latest flooding to hit New Road.
Last season:
County Championship: first Division Two
Royal London Cup: semi-finals
T20 Blast: eighth North Group
Championship prediction eighth
Yorkshire
Captain: Gary Ballance
Coach: Andrew Gale
Geoffrey Boycott has already pooh-poohed the appointment of a sports psychologist to address falling returns from the batsmen in first-class cricket last year. But the diagnosis is at least accurate, with Gary Ballance’s average of 67 some 30 runs higher than the next best. Two old favourites return to share overseas duties, with Cheteshwar Pujara – Steve to his team-mates – signed up until June and Kane Williamson thereafter. To the annoyance of those in charge, David Willey and Liam Plunkett have been lost to the IPL at the 11th hour, while Adil Rashid has signed a white-ball only deal.
Last season
County Championship: fourth
Royal London Cup: quarter-finals
T20 Blast: 5th North Group
Championship prediction fourth
Division Two
Derbyshire
Captain: Billy Godleman,
Gary Wilson (T20)
Coach: Kim Barnett
(cricket advisor), John Wright (T20)
Last season’s extra focus on Twenty20 cricket, hiring John Wright as specialist coach, returned a second-place group stage finish only for Derbyshire be marmalised by Hampshire in the quarter-finals. Ravi Rampaul, on a Kolpak deal from Surrey, represents one of two additions to last season, with South African seamer Duane Olivier filling the overseas slot for the first half of the season. All-rounder Shiv Thakor has left following his conviction for two charges of indecent exposure. Runs from the top order and an injury-free season for Hardus Viljoen are needed.
Last season:
County Championship: eighth
Royal London Cup: seventh North Group
T20 Blast: Quarter-finals
Championship prediction 10th
Durham
Captain: Paul Collingwood, Tom Latham (50-overs)
Coach: Jon Lewis
Freed from the shackles of their draconian points deductions but having lost another three key first-team players, Durham will once again look to their production line of local talent under the stewardship of the evergreen Paul Collingwood. Aiden Markram, the palindromic South African opener, looks a shrewd signing until mid-May after a bumper start to his Test career, after which New Zealander Tom Latham arrives and will lead the 50-over side. The Indian spin-bowling all-rounder Axar Patel finishes off the season.
Last season:
County Championship: eighth
Royal London Cup: fifth North Group
T20 Blast: ninth North Group
Championship prediction fifth
Glamorgan
Captain: Michael Hogan,
Colin Ingram (limited overs)
Coach: Robert Croft
The arrival of Shaun Marsh as overseas player for the season, fresh from reasserting himself as a Test cricketer, looks a coup for Glamorgan, who saw some incremental improvement across last summer. Their semi-final Blast finish was the highlight and now under the stewardship of Colin Ingram, the Kolpak white-ball cricketer, they should be strong in the limited-overs formats. Championship-wise, it is a question of whether the likes of Aneurin Donald and Andrew Salter turn talent into consistent returns.
Last season:
County Championship: seventh
Royal London Cup: fourth South Group
T20 Blast: semi-finals
Championship prediction sixth
Gloucestershire
Captain: Chris Dent
Coach: Richard Dawson
The opener Chris Dent has taken over the captaincy of a side that regressed slightly last summer. Runs were the main issue but the club has switched to signing a bowler as their overseas player, with the livewire South Australia seamer Daniel Worral joining until mid-July. The batsmen will, however, get some extra support from Chris Rogers in a two-month coaching role. The all-rounder Ryan Higgins has joined from Middlesex and the bowling will be lead by last year’s player of the season, the seamer Liam Norwell. Andrew Tye and Michael Klinger are strong overseas players for the Blast, where their best chance of success appears.
Last season:
County Championship: sixth
Royal London Cup: seventh South Group
T20 Blast: ninth South Group
Championship prediction ninth
Kent
Captain: Sam Billings
Coach: Matt Walker
The departures of Sam Northeast to Hampshire and Matt Coles to Essex were significant blows over the winter. The likeable Sam Billings takes over the captaincy from the former (once he returns from the IPL) while the South African Heino Kuhn arrives on a Kolpak deal to shore up the batting. Seamer Harry Podmore has also come in from Middlesex, with Matt Henry, a Kiwi quick, their overseas player for the first half of the season. The former ECB managing director Paul Downton is now running the club too.
Last season:
County Championship: fifth
Royal London Cup: ninth South Group
T20 Blast: sixth South Group
Championship prediction seventh
Leicestershire
Captain: Michael Carberry
Coach: Paul Nixon
The Foxes have undergone their latest reboot, with club favourite Paul Nixon expected to inject fresh energy as head coach – and some T20 nous from his two Caribbean Premier League titles – and Michael Carberry arriving from Hampshire to lead the side in all formats. The Indian seamer Varun Aaron and the highly-rated Zak Chappell could combine for the quickest pairing in the division but will need support, as will the batting mainstay Mark Cosgrove, who returns to the ranks after a disappointing spell in charge results-wise.
Last season:
County Championship: 10th
Royal London Cup: sixth North Group
T20 Blast: quarter-finals
Championship prediction eighth
Middlesex
Captain: Dawid Malan
Coach: Richard Scott, Daniel Vettori (T20)
All the talk last summer was of hitting the reset button after lifting the title in 2016 but instead Middlesex flopped on all fronts. Dawid Malan’s rise to the captaincy is likely to be stop-start given his England commitments, while Eoin Morgan was due to be available for 12 championship matches but misses at least three with a broken thumb. Nick Compton, previously told he would not feature as the club look to the future, may yet receive a lifeline. The Australian all-rounder Hilton Cartwright arrives as early season cover.
Last season:
County Championship: seventh Division One
Royal London Cup: eighth South Group
T20 Blast: seventh South Group
Championship prediction third
Northamptonshire
Captain: Alex Wakeley
Coach: David Ripley
White-ball specialism made way for a stronger first-class campaign last summer and the club has made some interesting signings over the winter. The seamer Brett Hutton gets his chance after sitting in reserve for long spells at Notts, while the South African wicketkeeper Ricardo Vasconcelos (holder of an EU passport) is highly rated in his home country. Rory Kleinveldt returns as overseas player from mid-May, with the New Zealand seamer Doug Bracewell covering until then. Ben Duckett misses the early championship rounds after finger surgery.
Last season:
County Championship: third
Royal London Cup: eighth North Group
T20 Blast: sixth North Group
Championship prediction fourth
Sussex
Captain: Ben Brown,
Luke Wright (T20)
Coach: Jason Gillespie
Few can argue that Sussex have pulled off a coup in luring Jason Gillespie back to county cricket. The architect of Yorkshire’s two most recent titles arrives after winning the Big Bash League with Adelaide Strikers. Big things are expected from Ben Brown, the new captain, and Michael Burgess, while Luke Wells will look to build on last year’s 1,292-run season. Rashid Khan could be the signing of the summer when the Afghan leg-spinner arrives for the Blast and India’s Ishant Sharma is in place for the first two months.
Last season:
County Championship: fourth
Royal London Cup: fifth South Group
T20 Blast: fifth South Group
Championship prediction first
Warwickshire
Captain: Jeetan Patel,
Grant Elliot (T20)
Coach: Jim Troughton
The silver-lining of reaching the Blast final thanks to a switch of captaincy from Ian Bell to Grant Elliott and an injection of youth, could not detract from the black cloud of relegation. An ageing squad of high wages but diminishing returns was to blame – the bowling and fitness coaches inexplicably carried the can – but the rebuild at least began early, with the mid-season signings of Dom Sibley, Adam Hose and Will Rhodes. Jeetan Patel takes over as captain and the hope is that Bell can find form in Division Two. Promotion is demanded.
Last season:
County Championship: eighth Division One
Royal London Cup: ninth North Group
T20 Blast: runner-up
Championship prediction second
