Essex
Having claimed our first Championship since 1992, I guess you could say this season has gone stupefyingly well. After a number of years of falling short in Division Two, promotion last season was a huge achievement. But nothing in the recent history of the game led me to expect anything but a grim, probably hopeless, struggle for survival. A couple of draws against the run of play sandwiched by a good win at Somerset in our first three games was an encouraging start. But I still suspected we were fighting out of our weight class and as the bigger sides settled into the season the blows would start to land. Thankfully I am an awful pundit.
As the weeks went on, the wins mounted. And not gritty victories in tight games, but authoritative dismissals. Huge credit has to go Chris Silverwood and Ryan ten Doeschate. Division Two cricket had become normal currency at Chelmsford but, in the two seasons since they assumed their roles, we first took the sole promotion spot available then followed it with our first title in a generation. For all the excellence of overseas players such as Neil Wagner, this was a success underpinned by local talent. Jamie Porter has been a menace to batting society all season, an immense achievement as this is his first year in the top division and his first time as leader of the pack. Simon Harmer has been an exceptional signing too. His six and eight against Warwickshire followed immediately by five and nine against Middlesex really lit the blue touch paper for us. Captain Ten Doeschate had it absolutely right when he pointed to the contributions that came from all corners throughout the season. You could call it a triumph by the many, not the few. DelbertGrady
Lancashire
Having finished as runners-up, I’m delighted with our performances this year. I care little for one-day cricket but the County Championship performances have surpassed my modest expectations after we were nearly relegated last year. I wasn’t happy at us exploiting the Kolpak rules so shamelessly but Ryan McLaren has been excellent, the apparently departing Kyle Jarvis likewise. And I love watching Shiv Chanderpaul chisel his way to a score, but who doesn’t? Dane Vilas, his big double-hundred aside, has been a disappointment and gets out too easily for a player of his obvious class. I’d have preferred Luke Procter to have kept his place.
With Haseeb Hameed having struggled, the onus was on Alex Davies to score runs early doors and he’s largely done that – and at a decent rate too. It’s never easy keeping and opening but Davies has done it and his reward should be a place on the Lions tour. Liam Livingstone has also enjoyed an excellent summer. His six wickets in the second innings against Surrey in the last game of the season proved his worth with both bat and ball. Mike Barnett
Surrey
It’s been a curate’s egg of a season. On the plus side we’ve only lost twice, but 10 draws tells its own story. We were always too good to go down but not good enough to challenge. The brightest points of our season were mainly down to the once-in-a-lifetime genius of Kumar Sangakkara, and England not getting around to picking Mark Stoneman until the first half of the season was over. But we really struggled to bowl teams out. Zafar Ansari’s shock retirement, the departure of Mark Footitt to Nottinghamshire after a few games meant we relied on the re-signed evergreen all-rounder Rikki Clarke. He ended up leading the attack and the averages. We fielded 22 different players during the season, a fairly shocking state of affairs. Simon Thomas
Yorkshire
I wish I could sum it up by saying “pretty ordinary” but that would suggest it’s been average and it’s been far, far from that. We have managed to avoid relegation because Somerset, Middlesex and Hampshire were slightly worse than us. The 376-run defeat against Essex in the last game of the season was just the latest in a long line of capitulations. The usual excuses about England call-ups for Joe Root and Jonny Bairstow will be trotted out but since coach Jason “Dizzy” Gillespie left things have gone downhill from top to bottom.
Andrew Gale was a legend for us, but it’s clear he cannot lead or motivate from the top. Aside from Gary Ballance, senior players such as Adam Lyth, Alex Lees, Andrew Hodd, Steven Patterson and Jack Brooks have just been poor. If it wasn’t for Ballance’s batting at the start of the season, we would almost certainly be playing Division Two cricket next season. An honourable mention must go to young Ben Coad who has been superb with the ball. He’ll go on to bag a lot of wickets over the next decade and more. Dan Woodhouse
Hampshire
After last year’s reprieve many people were hoping we would go down on the last day of this season. But, justly or not, a draw at already relegated Warwickshire means we have survived again. We started relatively well this season but it seemed we were satisfied to draw games rather than push for wins. As the season progressed, it became obvious some senior players were past their best and the younger players have not been good enough to step up to the mark.
There were a couple of big scores for Sean Ervine and James Adams but otherwise very little. James Vince is a class act and a joy to watch but he always gets in and gets out again. Liam Dawson has not pushed on; Mason Crane has not taken enough wickets; and captain George Bailey has been a huge disappointment. Fidel Edwards only came good towards the end of the season when a new contract was up for grabs. Kyle Abbott and Gareth Berg have been two of our most reliable batsmen, which says it all. Abbott is my pick for player of the season – with both bat and ball. John Hooper
Somerset
After the heroics of 2016, it’s been a very frustrating season. After the agony of losing the title at the last gasp, it appeared that we had consolidated the batting line-up with the arrival of Dean Elgar and solved our wicketkeeping problem with Steven Davies. I thought we could win the Championship. But this season our nerve has failed us at vital moments. We have secured so many first-innings leads only for our fragile batting to let us down in the second innings.
New captain Tom Abell couldn’t buy a run for the first half of the season and ended up dropping himself. Our established batsmen have also let us down. Marcus Trescothick and James Hildreth no longer turn twenties into fifties; Peter Trego looks all at sea; and the all-rounders just haven’t made enough runs. Matthew Maynard’s coaching has also been a contributing factor. It was known before the season that our overseas player, Elgar, would be playing for South Africa during the Test series but we have played most of our games with no replacement. Too many of the players he has recruited – Jim Allenby and Roelof Van der Merwe in particular – have failed to click.
On the bright side there is no more formidable spin pairing in the country than Dom Bess and Jack Leach. I thought the latter looked like a better prospect than Mason Crane for the Ashes. I also tip my hat to Craig Overton, who has bowled brilliantly all season. Eddie Byrom came into the team at a difficult time and has performed admirably. He might give us some much needed stability at the top of the order, when Trescothick retires. Simon Huxtable
Middlesex
From heroes to zeros in the space of a season. It was always going to be tough getting a win at Taunton and, “excessive spin” or not, Middlesex were really outplayed throughout. We can have no complaints really, having only won three games this season. Sam Robson and Steven Eskinazi have done their very best in the batting stakes throughout but they haven’t been supported well enough.
We were third from bottom in the T20 tournament, and second bottom of the Royal London One-Day Cup, so relegation wasn’t a fluke. We really were consistently awful across all the domestic competitions. It’s a huge disappointment after the highs of last season. Hopefully we can bounce back. It’s a shame Lords won’t see any Division One action next year, but when you rely on Hampshire to stay up, the writing is on the wall. We just weren’t good enough. Alex Hill
Warwickshire
This season has been desperately poor and we can have no complaints about being relegated. There have been very few individual performances this season to warm the cockles of a true Bear’s heart. Several of the more experienced players are past their sell-by dates and underperforming. While younger players have been blooded, none really look to be up to it yet. Jeetan Patel followed up last season’s heroic performances with another good season in a dark year. Keith Barker has been OK too. The rest have been truly woeful and need to look at themselves. Big Bear
Worcestershire
This has been a fantastic season in Division Two, with promotion a testament to a genuine team effort among a group of talented mainly young players. A belief in youth has been at the core of our success; having versatile players in almost every position who can chip in with bat and ball has helped. There has not been a better showing of team spirit in the County Championship this year. Signing India’s Ravi Ashwin for the run-in was a stroke of genius too. I’m very pleased local Worcestershire stalwart Darryl Mitchell had such a good season after what must have been the real disappointment of losing the captaincy. Tim Powell
Nottinghamshire
The wait for promotion to Division One was nervous but a draw at Hove got us over the line. The two trophies in white-ball cricket, the T20 and the Royal London One-Day cup, already in the cabinet means we have had success across all forms of the domestic game this season. So we have to be delighted with that. The huge depth of the squad has been the most impressive thing this season. Someone always seems to pop up to give a match-winning performance. We were there to be shot at because of the options available in every game, but thankfully everyone stepped up to the plate when needed. Alex Hales has had an outstanding season, and it beggars belief that he’s not on the plane to Australia this winter. Samit Patel has also shown what a magnificent servant he is to the club, and Chris Read also made sure his last season for us was one to remember. Brian Willett
Northamptonshire
For a county with the restraints that Northamptonshire endure season after season, it is a minor miracle that the men in maroon were favourites for promotion just 48 hours before the end of the season. However, events at Hove mean that Northants are stuck in the basement for another season, with two major Test ground counties looking to bounce back immediately in 2018.
Promotion this year would have been a wonderful opportunity for the plucky underdog to once against ruin the establishment’s party – especially in the same season city-based cricket was officially announced. The opportunity wasn’t squandered by not winning enough games, or by the deduction of five points, but by Northants’ inability to score runs in the first innings. Too often a strong platform of 150 for two quickly became 220 for eight and, had it not been for the lusty blows by standout player Rory Kleinvelt at the end of the innings, several of our nine wins may not have happened.
The ability to take 20 wickets consistently hasn’t been known at the County Ground for quite a few seasons and long may it continue. The white-ball cricket results were disappointing, purely due to the fact that fans have now became used to winning games in the shorter formats, especially in the T20 Blast. Failing to get the two points required from the final three games to reach the knock-out stages was painful. The disappointed feeling will disperse soon enough for Northamptonshire fans, when they come to realise the team continue to punch above their weight. And there is agreement among many that the county are just a few tweaks and a player away from mounting a serious challenge on all three fronts. Peter Short
Sussex
Every year Sussex supporters are told that we have recruited important new players and that we have a promising bunch of youngsters. And each year the imports disappoint (see Laurie Evans and Ross Taylor) and keep the upcoming players out of the first eleven. We struggle with white-ball cricket, especially the 50-over game, and get better results in County Championship games but we arestill not good enough for promotion. Experienced stalwarts have had varying success. Chris Nash and Luke Wells have done well with the bat and Jofra Archer has been our outstanding bowler. Others have been very disappointing. David Harrison
Kent
Having been a member of the club since 2004, I had high hopes after a we started the season with four straight wins in the County Championship. But once Jason Gillespie’s short-term coaching contract came to an end, the season effectively went with him. We had just the one win in the Royal London Cup, likewise in the T20 tournament. There was more misery at the tail end of the season with a series of draws and a washout at Derbyshire ensuring another year in Division Two.
Matt Walker is a Kent legend but there have to be big question marks over his coaching ability. Once Gillespie left for Australia his shortcomings were exposed. Sam Northeast had a great season with the bat but seemed to lack the motivational qualities necessary to get the best out of those around him. There were far too many key players below par, with Daniel Bell-Drummond, Sean Dickson, Matt Coles three of the main culprits. At 41, Darren Stevens had an awesome season and ended up with 63 county championship wickets at 18.08. It makes you wonder what the rest of the squad have been doing when a player in his fifth decade can produce such outstanding figures. Alastair Milne
Gloucestershire
As usual the optimism faded rapidly, with our inability to score runs the main culprit. Michael Klinger was an expensive disappointment and we need to look elsewhere next season. We always seem to get the crumbs left on the table and I can’t see much changing. Late season we saw a glimpse of what might be with a couple of youngsters making good scores but the opposition wasn’t great. And the performance in the T20 and Royal London competitions were dreadful. Roll on next season. Mike
Glamorgan
We had a reasonable season in the T20 Blast, but were not so hot in the 50-over competition. The County Championship has again been rather poor, with quite a number of inept batting performances. The bowling attack has been OK but with no runs to defend it has been another disappointing campaign with little evidence of improvement or advancement. It’s all down to a lack of investment on the playing side unfortunately, as a result of the debt from the redevelopment of Sophia Gardens. Michael Hogan played his heart out in all competitions. And Colin Ingram played outstandingly well in the T20. Huw Griffiths
Derbyshire
It’s been another normal season for Derbyshire, with the team losing more games than it won. But there were some standout performances in an excellent T20 run that saw the side amass more runs in 20 overs than we often do in 50. It was a shame that Shahid Afridi playing for Northamptonshire decided to roll back the years for one more effort to thwart Ben Godleman, Wayne Madsen and co. But the journey to that point had given promise and a little hope. And that is all we can ask for at Derbyshire. Daniel Simson
Durham
This season wasn’t a total disaster considering the enforced relegation, key players leaving and a 48-point deduction. Our form in the County Championship was mixed, but beating Derbyshire and Glamorgan both home and away showed signs of promise in a now short season. The T20 Blast campaign was disastrous (finishing bottom of the North group) and we finished a disappointing fifth in the One-Day Cup North table.
The evergreen 41-year-old Paul Collingwood is still one of the best players in the English system, ending as Durham’s top scorer in 2017 and remaining eternally reliable. Graham Clark graduated from the second XI and acquitted himself admirably. Californian batsman Cameron Steel proved a good gamble by coach Jon Lewis. Irish international Barry McCarthy should cement himself as one of the leading bowlers in the void left by Graham Onions. Jack Burnham remains the potential world-class talent but he has had a stop-start season with the bat.
The last couple of seasons have seen our team depleted of quality, namely Stoneman, Borthwick, Mustard, Jennings and Onions, who all had international experience and whose quality is sorely missed. Paul Coughlin is another loss. Will Smith is returning though and so far we’ve held on to the centrally contracted pair of Stokes and Wood, which should provide us with much needed experience going into 2018 with such a young side. I’m already looking forward to next season. There will be no points deduction so we could potentially make an assault on Division Two, but the likelihood is we’ll finish midtable while bedding in more promising young players. Daniel Winter
Leicestershire
This has been an absolute unmitigated car crash of a season. No wins in the Championship at all and a total inability to either bowl a side out or bat with any resolve in a second innings. This has been compounded by the harsh early season points deduction and the perplexing departures of established senior players. The club were unable to replace the much respected coach Andrew McDonald. It was clear that new coach Pierre de Bruyne’s abrasive style antagonised an already demoralised and failing squad of players. This led to his late-season departure. County chief executive Wasim Khan has a difficult winter ahead as he tries to recruit talented and committed players and a new coach. The recent two-year contract offered to quickly fading 36-year-old batsman Michael Carberry is symptomatic of the current crisis at Grace Road. The standout player by a mile has been club captain Mark Cosgrove. He deserved much better from those around him. Darren Lissaman
