Essex
I thought we’d narrowly avoid relegation before last season, so found our Championship win quite astonishing. But Simon Harmer won’t be the same unknown quantity this season and Jamie Porter will also be treated with more respect. Our middle order batting is somewhat brittle; it wasn’t regularly exposed last year due to Alastair Cook’s early-season involvement, which will be much reduced in 2018. Some of the aimless and generally negative captaincy at other clubs accounted for the huge discrepancy in the number of wins achieved by Essex compared to everyone else. The more enlightened teams will be far more proactive this season. Michael Shea
Hampshire
Having only survived in Division One two years ago thanks to Durham’s demotion, we avoided the drop last season by just two points. Hasim Amla being available for the first three months of the season is huge news. James Vince finally found some form for England, so hopefully he will be confident when he returns. Reece Topley’s time at Hampshire has been heavily injury-affected but, if he rediscovers the form that took him to the England ODI and T20 sides a few years back, he could be lethal. Cam Melling
Lancashire
Having surprised almost everyone by finishing second last year, the team has set an exceptionally high standard that will be hard to live up to in such an even division. Bowlers Kyle Jarvis and Ryan McLaren will be difficult to replace and it’ll be interesting to see how Joe Mennie settles in. New captain Liam Livingstone will be playing for England before the end of the year; Haseeb Hameed oozes class; and both Matt Parkinson and Saqib Mahmood are poised for breakout years. Michael Birtwistle
Nottinghamshire
Much will depend on whether overseas signing Ross Taylor can hit the ground running. Not having Chris Read, Alex Hales, Michael Lumb or Brendan Taylor for red-ball cricket anymore leaves a big hole in our batting. Chris Nash looks like a shrewd acquisition, but Tom Moores is unproven and may not fill the gap left by Chris Read. Away from the obvious international stars, there is no cleaner striker of a ball than Riki Wessels. If he stays fit, Mark Footitt will be key with the ball. His express pace adds much-needed variety to the attack. Not having an established spinner may be problematic later on in the season if we have a dry summer, but hopefully young Matt Carter can step up. Calum McKenzie
Somerset
A good season would probably be mid-table in the Championship. While there is always talk of challenging for silverware at Taunton, most fans acknowledge this side is in transition. There has been major upheaval on and off the pitch in the last 12 months. With the club deciding not to go ahead with Cameron Bancroft as our overseas player, and all but one of our pre-season fixtures falling victim to the weather, it’s difficult to know who will line up for the first game. Only James Hildreth and Steve Davies could be considered batsmen in their prime. But we have the most balanced bowling attack in country cricket. Craig and Jamie Overton, Lewis Gregory, Jack Leach and Dom Bess will bowl most sides out. And if Marcus Trescothick finally calls it a day at the end of this season, every second I can spend watching him will be treasured. Nicholas Fisher
Surrey
The main challenge for Surrey will be replacing the runs, experience and class of Kumar Sangakkara. Mitchell Marsh has been signed as the replacement overseas player and will be expected to provide a weight of middle-order runs. Surrey will also need to adapt to the challenge of several players potentially being away with England, with Mark Stoneman, Jason Roy, the Curran brothers and Ben Foakes all potentially on the selectors’ radar. New four-day captain Rory Burns should be given the chance to exert his influence, with a potentially diminishing role for 41-year-old Gareth Batty. Andrew Gamwell
Worcestershire
Another season of competitive games in the First Division beckons, with a young and local squad who are eager to press on. The trouble is going to come on two fronts. Firstly, opposition batting line-ups will provide a stern test for our young bowlers, with Josh Tongue’s raw pace crucial in the team’s fight for survival. The second worry is opposition bowling line-ups boasting much more international quality, which will test our inexperienced batting line-up highly dependent on Daryl Mitchell’s ageing hands. Young batsman Joe Clarke has had a promising winter on the Lions tour. He has the temperament and technique to play for England, and the calibre of bowling he will be up against will surely help him push his case forward. It’s likely to be a frustrating season, full of promising performances in spurts, which ultimately results in relegation, but with a squad that will be keen to bounce straight back. The perennial yo-yo club will continue its legacy. Josh Temple
Yorkshire
Yorkshire will do well to survive again this season. The loss of Ryan Sidebottom will be felt. It’s no coincidence that the County Championship followed him from Nottinghamshire back to Yorkshire, and that his winding down last year led to Yorkshire’s downturn in performances. That, alongside our poor top order, will mean a difficult season for us. The loss of Adil Rashid will impact our ability to recover from batting collapses and take the wickets of tailenders. I’m excited to see Harry Brook come on after a few appearances last season. I would prefer to see him shielded from the new ball at five or six. Also Matt Fisher who should get more opportunities following the retirement of Sidebottom and the early season injury of Ben Coad. Steve Cochrane
Derbyshire
I hope we can challenge for promotion, but my head tells me it will be another season of struggle. The addition of West Indies bowler Ravi Rampaul and South African seamer Duanne Olivier should finally go some way to address the departure of Mark Footitt. Matt Critchley is an exciting prospect, so it will be interesting to see how much he features. I’m not sure if we’ve strengthened sufficiently in the batting lineup though. Edward Selvey
Durham
Even without the 48 point deduction last year, we would only have finished 7th in the Second Division. And with the departures of Keaton Jennings, Graham Onions, and Paul Coughlin, along with the one-year ban handed to Jack Burnham, things don’t really look great. Cameron Steel was the highlight of last season, so I’m looking forward to seeing how he develops this year. New Zealand opener Tom Latham is also coming back later in the season, and he looked a cut above everyone last year. Until then South Africa’s Aiden Markram will play a few games, and he also looks quality. But we can’t realistically be aiming for much higher than a top half finish. Chris Parker
Glamorgan
It goes against the grain, and a lifetime of deeply painful cricketing memories, to approach a new season with genuine confidence in Glamorgan’s prospects. We have our best crop of youngsters since the Huw Morris, Matthew Maynard and Robert Croft era. With Maynard set to return to the fold as a specialist batting coach, this could be a breakout year for the big hitting Aneurin Donald. Having equalled Ravi Shastri’s record for the fastest double-century in first class cricket at the tender age of 19, Donald hasn’t quite found the consistency that would take him to the next level. If Maynard can put that right, it will be a case of bowlers beware! Kevin McGrath
Gloucestershire
Gloucestershire will probably finish fourth or fifth in the table. Much depends on how Chris Dent goes as the new captain and whether it affects his runs. James Bracey and George Hankins are promising batsman and hopefully will score good middle order runs. Much will depend on Liam Norwell and how Australian bowler Daniel Worrall starts the season. I’m looking forward to more consistency from Jack Taylor now he’s vice captain. He is an explosive batsman and will be key to finishing innings. Charles Berkeley
Kent
Expectations are low around the St Lawrence. Two years ago Essex pipped us to the solitary promotion spot. I had high expectations last year, with Jason Gillespie and Alan Donald providing coaching support, Sam Northeast, Sam Billings, Daniel Bell-Drummond and Joe Denly providing exciting run scoring potential and the nagging ability of Darren Stevens to somehow get 50+ wickets a season. But for a multitude of reasons we were never in the hunt. Since then Northeast has left us for Hampshire, and bowling talent Matt Coles hopped over the Dartford Crossing to Essex. Throw in our IPL bound captain Billings, it’s clear to see why all is not rosy in the garden of England. Rob Lingham
Leicestershire
A season of gentle progress and sober consolidation after a calamitous, underwhelming 2017 season would be great. The inability to bowl the opposition out twice led again to no wins, nine defeats out of 14 and a rightful place propping up Division Two last year. The recruitment of Indian quick Varun Aaron and Pakistani seamer Mohammad Abbas on a job share hopefully improves our bowling attack. New club coach and Foxes legend Paul Nixon will bring energy and a positive mindset to a squad that blends county circuit journeymen with youthful promising talent. Much will depend on the consistent excellence of Mark Cosgrove and our new club captain, 38-year-old Hampshire recruit Michael Carberry. Darren Lissaman
Middlesex
We have a talented squad but international calls may make things difficult. Early season injuries to several first-choice players have meant fielding under-strength teams in warm-up matches. I’m hoping to see Max Holden cement a place in the team by scoring big. He’s a level-headed young man with sound technique. Paul Stirling usually scores his runs quickly so that increases our chances of forcing wins. If Steve Finn and Toby Roland-Jones can stay fit, and avoid England call-ups, they ought to be able to knock over a lot of Division Two batting line-ups. But promotion is far from certain. Martin Hadland
Northamptonshire
If the batting holds tight, there’s potential for promotion from Division Two. Richard Gleeson will have learned a tremendous amount with his exploits overseas for the Lions, so he could make his mark on the county scene. Together with Ben Sanderson, this has the potential to be a potent Division Two attack. Doug Bracewell is a shrewd early season signing. And the recruitment of Ricardo Vasconcelos will bolster the explosive batting talents of Ben Duckett, Josh Cobb and Adam Rossington. Mark Pearson
Sussex
Sussex are obviously struggling financially against bigger counties with Test grounds. As a result we haven’t signed a much-needed opener or an overseas pro to replace fast bowler Ishant Sharma, when he leaves in early June. We have lost our bowling coach, Jon Lewis, to the England U-19s. Jofra Archer is a proven star of the future. We also have Chris Jordan, George Garton and Stuart Whittingham to claim one of the best pace attacks. Luke Wells and Stiaan Van Zyl are our only true batsman, but hopefully Luke Wright can rediscover his 2015 form. Hopefully youngsters Tom Haines, Phillip Salt or Harry Finch will become solid players. Hugh Johnson
Warwickshire
Warwickshire have one of the best squads in Division Two – on paper. Ian Bell and Jonathan Trott have 11,562 Test runs between them and Jeetan Patel remains arguably the best spin bowler across the two divisions. There’s a plethora of young talent that deserve an opportunity. Ed Pollock is arguably the most exciting player to have played for the club since Brendon McCullum. The last time we were in Division Two, we rebounded at the first attempt and went on to enjoy one of our most successful spells in the modern era. We won’t be too far away from promotion this year. Edward Payne
