You could be excused for not believing it given the foul weather up and down the country this week but the Specsavers County Championship is back on Friday with two divisions of teams embarking on the lengthy slog that is the four day season.
We will preview Division Two a little later but for now we will concentrate on Division One where Essex will be aiming to defend their title while Worcestershire and Nottinghamshire will be aiming to prove they have what it takes to survive in what looks like an extremely competitive league.
Recent Winners
2017 – Essex
2016 – Middlesex
2015 – Yorkshire
2014 – Yorkshire
2013 – Durham
2012 – Warwickshire
2011 – Lancashire
2010 – Nottinghamshire
2009 – Durham
2008 – Durham
The Format
After the County Championship was reduced to eight teams last season that format has remained in place for this term too. Although there are only eight sides on show two will be relegated at the end of the campaign. The season consists of 14 matches rather than the 16 of a couple of years ago.
The scoring system remains the same though with 16pts for a win, eight for a tie and five for a draw while the bonus points in the first 110 overs of each first innings are the same too. That means 200-249 runs gets one point, 250-299 is worth two, 300-349 is three, 350-399 is four and 400+ is five points. 3-5 wickets earns a point while 6-8 nets two points and nine or ten gets 3pts.
County by County Guide
Essex
The champions did the amazingly unthinkable thing of coming from the second division and then taking down the top dogs last season. They did do initially with a fair amount of surprise and then once everyone realised they were for real nobody could come up with the formula to deny them.
The Eagles may have lost coach Chris Silverwood to England but on the field you could argue they are even stronger with the addition of Matt Coles. Simon Harmer and Neil Wagner are both back for more this summer and it could yet be that they have Alastair Cook for longer than they expect. Whoever finishes above Essex will be champions I fancy.
Last Season: Champions
Overseas Player(s): Peter Siddle, Neil Wagner, Adam Zampa (T20)
Key Players: Simon Harmer & Jamie Porter
One to Watch: Sam Cook has been getting rave reviews leading into the season and he could follow the likes of Jamie Porter by breaking through at Chelmsford this term.
Best Odds: 7/2 Coral
Predicted Finishing Position: 1st
Hampshire
After failing to secure an Ashes Test in the latest set of allocated matches Hampshire will be desperate to recoup some of their significant outlays of recent times by winning the County Championship. As a result of that the additions of Hashim Amla and Sam Northeast are standout signings.
Much will depend on their batting because in Kyle Abbott, Hampshire have one of the best bowlers in the division while Dale Steyn will be chipping in at some point. With Mason Crane on tap should we get a dry summer and the likes of Fidel Edwards and Gareth Berg going well Hampshire are entitled to be talked about for the right reasons this season. I think they’ll fall just short though.
Last Season: 5th
Overseas Player(s): Hashim Amla, Dale Steyn
Key Players: Sam Northeast & Kyle Abbott
One to Watch: There is an opening spot going spare at the Ageas Bowl and it looks like Joe Weatherley could be the one to fill it. If he can see the new ball off he will have the required impact.
Best Odds: 7/1 General
Predicted Finishing Position: 4th
Lancashire
All eyes will be on the Red Rose county to see if they can go one better than last season. Lancashire were second last term but in truth they were never truly close to Essex and really won the league in behind them. They have signalled their intentions in the close season with the addition of Keaton Jennings and Graham Onions while Joe Mennie is a good overseas option.
You wonder if Lancashire will ultimately focus on limited overs cricket as the season goes on but a batting line up that can offer up the likes of Jennings, Haseeb Hameed, Shivnerine Chanderpaul, Liam Livingstone, Steven Croft and Jos Buttler should not be scoffed at. If they have enough with the ball they can go close again. I fancy they’ll find one or two too good for them.
Last Season: 2nd
Overseas Player(s): Joe Mennie
Key Players: Haseeb Hameed & Graham Onions
One to Watch: Saqib Mahmood was on the Lions tours in the winter and should benefit from that experience. He is a lightning fast bowler who could really put it to batsmen in the top flight this season.
Best Odds: 9/2 General
Predicted Finishing Position: 3rd
Nottinghamshire
The kings of one-day cricket last season are back in the big time this term and will be looking to do enough to stay up but that might not be as easy as it would appear. They are under new leadership with Steven Mullaney taking over as captain from the retired Chris Read but in Chris Nash and Ross Taylor they have signed well to offset the loss from red ball cricket of Alex Hales.
Peter Moores should remain one of their biggest advantages as he has all the knowledge you could want at this level and if he can keep his bowling attack fit then Nottinghamshire could well see themselves in mid-table. Ultimately I think they are still more of a limited overs side although I do think they will stay up.
Last Season: 2nd in Division 2
Overseas Player(s): Ross Taylor, Dan Christian (T20), Ish Sodhi (T20)
Key Players: Samit Patel & Mark Footitt
One to Watch: Tom Moores delivered some cameos in the limited overs success last season and with Read having retired he will be given more responsibility. How he deals with that will be interesting.
Best Odds: 7/1 General
Predicted Finishing Position: 6th
Somerset
It was a year of narrow survival for Somerset last term so they will be eager to deliver something a little easier on the heartstrings of their members but we shouldn’t forget that it was only two years back that they were a session away from being county champions. A lot has changed in Taunton since the end of last season which should not be ignored.
We can be fairly certain that most matches at Taunton will be played on turning tracks to benefit the leading lights in the Somerset attack. The success or otherwise of the Cidermen will be determined on how their batting goes and in that regard they are going to need a big campaign from Marcus Trescothick you would think.
Last Season: 6th
Overseas Player(s): Matthew Renshaw, Corey Anderson (T20)
Key Players: Joe Leach & Dom Bess
One to Watch: Fin Trenouth is an England under-19 international who may well find himself in the Somerset set up earlier than expected given the lack of numbers at Taunton.
Best Odds: 14/1 General
Predicted Finishing Position: 5th
Surrey
It has been another winter of big name signings for Surrey as they attempt to wrestle the County Championship back but they will have to find someone to deliver the output that Kumar Sangakkara provided. The classy Sri Lankan has now retired and worse news came recently when overseas signing Mitchell Marsh pulled out of his stint through injury.
There is all kinds of talk that Virat Kohli will make his way to the Kia Oval at some point this summer while Morne Morkel has signed up following his international retirement. The Londoners are another side under new captaincy with Rory Burns taking up the reins but if Mark Stoneman is shown the door by England they will be very strong in all departments.
Last Season: 3rd
Overseas Player(s): Dean Elgar, Aaron Finch (T20)
Key Players: Ben Foakes & Morne Morkel
One to Watch: Ollie Pope is likely to get a much bigger role in the set up this year. He has shown flashes of quality in the past and a longer campaign could bring more out of him.
Best Odds: 11/2 General
Predicted Finishing Position: 2nd
Worcestershire
It has been a tumultuous time off the field for Worcestershire in the winter with Steve Rhodes given his marching orders for covering up an alleged rape scandal. Kevin Sharp has taken over and more recently New Road has flooded again so the county face the upheaval of moving to other grounds to play their early home matches.
On the field they should be full of confidence having won Division 2 last season and they have recruited well in terms of overseas players. With the emergence of Jack Leach and Mason Crane for England they might even see more of Moeen Ali. If they can produce the goods with the ball they should have plenty of runs in them. I have my doubts with the ball though so this could be another season of struggle for the Pears.
Last Season: 1st in Division 2
Overseas Player(s): Travis Head, Martin Guptill (T20), Callum Ferguson (T20)
Key Players: Joe Clarke & Joe Leach
One to Watch: Josh Tongue has been in and around the side for a season or so now and with England likely to look to out and out quicks in Test cricket this summer an international bow might just come his way.
Best Odds: 20/1 General
Predicted Finishing Position: 8th
Yorkshire
The former champions are having such an issue with personnel that Director of Cricket Martyn Moxon recently chaired an emergency meeting to see what the counties could do about it. Yorkshire have lost David Willey and Liam Plunkett to the IPL while Ryan Sidebottom has retired and Adil Rashid wants nothing to do with the red ball so their bowling resources are going to be heavily stretched.
They look better equipped to cope with the bat, especially with two classy overseas batsmen in their ranks throughout the summer in Cheteshwar Pujara and Kane Williamson, but they are not going to see a whole lot of Joe Root or Jonny Bairstow. All eyes will be on Gary Ballance to see what sort of run output he can deliver. I fancy this could be a season of struggle for Yorkshire who only stayed up last season by two points.
Last Season: 4th
Overseas Player(s): Cheteshwar Pujara, Kane Williamson, Billy Stanlake (T20)
Key Players: Gary Ballance & Tim Bresnan
One to Watch: With the amount of players Yorkshire have missing this could be the season that youngster Matthew Fisher steps up and is counted. He won’t be short of opportunities to impress.
Best Odds: 7/1 General
Predicted Finishing Position: 7th
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Betting
With a shortage of markets ahead of the new season there is only one bet to get stuck into this season and it comes in the title winner market where as I’ve eluded to above I believe whoever finishes above Essex will be the champions.
Essex look a hungry side and the lengths they have gone to in order to sign Matt Coles and bring Neil Wagner back suggests they are a team who want to have a real good go at their title defence. Essex never lost a single match last season and while that isn’t going to happen again this time around I’m far from convinced the 72pt gap they had over the rest of the division last year will be overturned. I’m strong on Essex here.
Tips
Back Essex to win Division 1 for a 5/10 stake at 4.50 with Coral
Back them here:
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