The top flight of the Specsavers County Championship often gets the centre of attention but it might be that the more exciting cricket and better league to follow this term is Division 2 where four great sides will be battling it out for three promotion places while a couple of improvers will want to mean business.
Warwickshire landed the spoils in this division last year and it is Worcestershire who will be looking to emulate them and go straight back up, along with Lancashire who also came down last season.
Recent Winners
2018 – Warwickshire
2017 – Worcestershire
2016 – Essex
2015 – Surrey
2014 – Hampshire
2013 – Lancashire
2012 – Derbyshire
2011 – Middlesex
2010 – Sussex
2009 – Kent
The Format
It seems as though there is a change in format every season at the minute and there is another tweak to proceedings here. The league remains one of 10 teams where everyone will play each other once and half the league a second time, but unlike last year, three teams will be promoted so there is going to be plenty to play for throughout the season for a number of teams..
One thing that hasn’t changed is the scoring system. That remains the same with 16pts for a win, eight for a tie and five for a draw. As ever there are first innings bonus points too with points scored for getting 200, 250, 300, 350 and 400 in the first 110 overs. Bonus points are also available for 3, 6 and 9 wickets, providing a maximum of eight possible bonus points in total.
The Schedule
The big change to the campaign is how much of the season is played at the height of summer. The campaign is split into three sections this term. The first two rounds of matches are played in April before it returns in the middle of May and goes through to July and then ends after the T20 group stage in August so the bulk of the season is played out in late-May onwards which is significant.
County-by-County Guide
Derbyshire
There was plenty of anticipation around Derbyshire heading into last season but big injuries early in the piece pretty much put paid to their chances of doing anything. Given the resources they threw at their limited overs sides they will have been disappointed with their output in that and to be fair a middle of the road effort in the Championship probably ended up being acceptable.
With some key players having left and little in the way of quality replacements coming in, I suspect that this is going to be a season of consolidation for Derbyshire, although if their top three fire it wouldn’t be a huge surprise to see a slight improvement in them. Others have thrown a bit of cash at things though in a bid to get one of those three promotion spots so I’m expecting Derbyshire to finish a couple of places lower this term.
Last Season: 7th
Overseas Players: Logan van Beek; Kane Richardson (T20)
Key Players: Wayne Madsen & Tony Palladino
One to Watch: James Taylor – was on the fringes of the side last season but as Derbyshire search for strike bowlers he could force his way into things this term. Staffordshire boy like the limited overs coach Dominic Cork.
Best Odds: 28/1 888sport
Predicted Finishing Position: 9th
Durham
With most of their financial troubles now behind them, Durham can continue to build their way back to where they were. A huge change has been undertaken on and off the pitch. Off it veteran coaches Geoff Cook and Jon Lewis have departed for the coaching team of Marcus North and James Franklin, while on it they will be without Paul Collingwood for the first time in over 20 years.
This is still a young Durham side so you would think they may need another year of stabilising before they push for promotion to Division One but in signing Cameron Bancroft and making him captain there is a statement of intent, while the signings of Leicestershire duo Ned Eckersley and Ben Raine could be key. If Chris Rushworth stays fit it wouldn’t be a big surprise to see them run well but it might be the 50 over competition that offers the best chance of success.
Last Season: 8th
Overseas Players: Cameron Bancroft; D’Arcy Short (T20)
Key Players: Will Smith & Chris Rushworth
One to Watch: Josh Coughlin – could follow in the footsteps of his brother Paul and have a breakout season with Durham before moving onto pastures new with his all-rounds talents potentially catching the eye.
Best Odds: 33/1 Betway
Predicted Finishing Position: 5th
Glamorgan
It was an incredibly disappointing campaign for Glamorgan last time out with the only positive being that it won’t take a huge amount to improve on it. They could only muster two wins all season in the County Championship, with the second of those coming in the final week of the campaign, and their limited overs performances weren’t really much better despite the players they recruited for those competitions.
Matt Maynard and Matt Wallace replace Robert Croft at the helm and that is the first positive move for the Welsh county but they still lack enough quality on the pitch, especially in the batting department, and it is hard to see much of an improvement in them in four-day cricket as a result. With Colin Ingram signed on a one-day contract their best hope of success comes in white ball cricket this year.
Last Season: 10th
Overseas Players: Shaun Marsh; Marnus Labaschagne (as cover for Marsh)
Key Players: Billy Root & Michael Hogan
One to Watch: Jack Murphy – had his breakthrough season last term and with Glamorgan lacking batting depth he will need to come on this term.
Best Odds: 33/1 General
Predicted Finishing Position: 10th
Gloucestershire
Last year was a season that promised plenty for Gloucestershire but failed to live up to expectation as they finishing in mid-table in the County Championship and couldn’t replicate their limited heroics of the previous year. That leaves plenty of room for improvement but a tight squad is going to need everything go right for it if they are to kick on in the right direction.
Liam Norwell and Craig Miles have disappeared up the M40 to Birmingham which leaves a huge hole in their bowling attack, one that will get even bigger if Dan Worrall doesn’t arrive or isn’t fit to carry the attack. This is a young side, especially with the bat, although the fact Michael Klinger is going to be a batting consultant should help them. It is hard to see Gloucestershire finishing as high this season but there is no reason why a decent spin in the T20, with Klinger playing in that, can’t be produced.
Last Season: 5th
Overseas Players: Dan Worrall; Michael Klinger (T20)
Key Players: Chris Dent & David Payne
One to Watch: Ben Charlesworth – there are a few people down in the Bristol area who are excited about the all-round talents of the 19-year-old. It will be interesting to see how much opportunity he is given, and what he does with it.
Best Odds: 33/1 Bet365
Predicted Finishing Position: 7th
Lancashire
It came as a surprise to many when Lancashire fell through the trap door last season but they paid the price for barely being able to score a run between them despite coach Glen Chapple calling his batting resources among the best he’s ever seen at the club. That will be the area where the onus is centred this season as their bowling should be fine.
It is one of those weird facets of cricket that when teams struggle with the bat they strengthen the bowling attack and vice versa and with the addition of Richard Gleeson they look even stronger with the ball, especially with Jimmy Anderson likely to be around for as much as half of the campaign. They will need the Australian overseas pair to fire with the bat but they might have Keaton Jennings all year which would help them. Lancashire could be competitive on three fronts so it will be interesting to see how a squad with plenty of experience deals with that.
Last Season: 7th in Division 1
Overseas Players: Joe Burns (10 Championship games) Glenn Maxwell (Early season); James Faulkner (T20)
Key Players: Keaton Jennings & Tom Bailey
One to Watch: Haseeb Hameed – he is not new on the scene but he completely disappeared from it last year. Lancashire need him back this year and he needs to be back to save his career.
Best Odds: 9/4 Coral
Predicted Finishing Position: 3rd
Leicestershire
It was a much improved showing for Leicestershire under Paul Nixon last season and the challenge for them is to improve again. If they can do that then they are entitled to believe that they can join the promotion mix, even if they don’t ultimately end up going up. A severe change in personnel may not help them though it must be said.
In saying that, you won’t find many better new ball pairings than Mohammad Abbas and Chris Wright in this division and if they can find some runs around them and one of the younger bowlers step up there is certainly a side there. My gut instinct feels that signings such as Aaron Lilley could see them fare better in limited overs cricket.
Last Season: 6th
Overseas Players: Mohammad Abbas
Key Players: Mark Cosgrove & Colin Ackermann
One to Watch: Ben Mike – could well be the latest star to come out of the Leicestershire academy which has seen the likes of James Taylor, Stuart Broad, Harry Gurney and Zak Chappell thrive in recent times.
Best Odds: 22/1 Betway
Predicted Finishing Position: 6th
Middlesex
There was always going to be a big side miss out on promotion last season and it was Middlesex. In truth, it was a season to forget for the Lord’s outfit as they failed to land a blow in either of the one-day competitions either. Players coming and going for various reasons didn’t help last season, neither did injuries, but with the Championship being structured much better I’m expecting big things from the Londoners here under the solid coaching of Stuart Law.
Middlesex will have a number of their international players with them for much of the campaign with only really Eoin Morgan missing out for long periods while he is at the World Cup. England have forgotten about Dawid Malan which is a huge positive while Nick Gubbins, Toby Roland-Jones, Steve Finn and Sam Robson appear to have faded from England attention. That is to the advantage of Middlesex, who will see the whole club boosted when AB de Villiers pitches up for some T20 slap and tickle in the middle of the campaign.
Last Season: 4th
Overseas Players: Mujeeb Ur Rahman & AB de Villiers (T20); Ross Taylor (One Day Cup)
Key Players: Nick Gubbins & Steven Finn
One to Watch: Toby Roland-Jones – clearly not a newbie but after a serious injury last year all eyes will be on him to see if he can get himself back in the England reckoning once again.
Best Odds: 3/1 General
Predicted Finishing Position: 1st
Northamptonshire
You do not have to be special to realise it was not the season that Northamptonshire wanted last term, so it was encouraging to read recently that their players had a heart-to-heart after the campaign to deliver some honest truths. If reports are to be believed they have returned as a much fitter bunch, full of hunger to push on their four day cricket and get back to competing in the one-day sphere.
Clearly losing Ben Duckett and Richard Gleeson are significant blows to their chances of doing that but any team that is able to attract arguably the best pound-for-pound all-rounder in world cricket right now in Jason Holder must be doing something right. He is only around for a couple of Championship matches and the 50 over stuff but his influence will leave a mark and then the classy runs of Temba Bavuma should see Northants improve in red ball cricket. Don’t be surprised if the quality captaincy of Alex Wakely delivers another limited overs trophy tilt either.
Last Season: 9th
Overseas Players: Jason Holder (2 Championship games/early 50 over matches), Temba Bavuma (May 14 – July 17); Faheem Ashraf (T20)
Key Players: Josh Cobb & Ben Sanderson
One to Watch: Blessing Muzarabani – gave up Test cricket to sign a Kolpak deal so Northants must have seen something in him. He should get ample chance to show what it was.
Best Odds: 33/1 General
Predicted Finishing Position: 8th
Sussex
There was much anticipation down at Hove when Jason Gillespie was appointed head coach ahead of last season but he failed to deliver promotion and Sussex were touched off by Worcestershire on T20 Finals Day despite possessing one of the best bowling attacks that competition has ever seen. They will be expected to fill one of the promotion spots this time around so the pressure is on them.
One of the problems with that is they will hardly see any of Jofra Archer with his IPL and most likely England commitments which puts a lot of pressure on Chris Jordan and Ollie Robinson to perform. Sussex’s batting line up never convinces me in four day cricket either. They lack a genuine batting glue since Ed Joyce and Chris Nash left. Someone big is going to miss out on promotion this season. I believe it will be them but a one day pot is very much in their reach with their exciting dynamism with the bat.
Last Season: 3rd
Overseas Players: Mir Hamza (until July 16(; Rashid Khan (T20)
Key Players: Ben Brown and Chris Jordan
One to Watch: Tom Haines – came through the Sussex academy into the first team last season and looks set to play a big role this term.
Best Odds: 4/1 General
Predicted Finishing Position: 4th
Worcestershire
The New Road outfit produced one of their best seasons of all-time even though they were relegated from Division One in the Championship. To be fair Worcestershire were swimming against the tide once skipper Joe Leach picked up an early season ending injury but their one-day cricket was a joy to behold and they were very worthy winners of the T20 Blast, a competition they have every chance of defending this season too.
Promotion in four day cricket is likely to be the main priority though and having been a yoyo club in recent times they will know what is needed to return to the top flight at the first opportunity. Even without Joe Clarke they have a good batting line up with Daryl Mitchell, Tom Fell, Riki Wessels and Callum Ferguson very strong, and their bowling attack should be too good for many Division Two batting line ups. I expect Worcestershire to be right in the promotion mix and they are my ones to watch in both limited overs competitions as well.
Last Season: 8th in Division 1
Overseas Players: Callum Ferguson; Martin Guptill (T20)
Key Players: Daryl Mitchell & Ed Barnard
One to Watch: Pat Brown – the mystery seamer is unlikely to see much action in red ball cricket but his stock could rise again in the white ball stuff making him a certainty for the franchise leagues around the world next winter.
Best Odds: 8/1 Bet365
Predicted Finishing Position: 2nd
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Outright Betting
It is four into three as far as the promotion places are concerned this season and it is Sussex I see missing out to Middlesex, Lancashire and Worcestershire. I wouldn’t put anyone off taking the 8/1 on Worcestershire to win this league but the other two do look slightly stronger and could well end up fighting it out for the title in the latter part of the campaign.
At the prices I’m going to go with Middlesex. It isn’t just the prices, the schedule has helped. They are going to have most of their internationals available at the business end of the season while Lancashire will definitely be without Jimmy Anderson and could be missing others too. Lancashire’s attack looks a little too injury prone for my liking too and already two key bowlers are missing their opening match of the season. There are a good half a dozen internationals in this Middlesex side and they can fire them to glory here.
Finish Bottom
Glamorgan finished bottom last season and while there are a few contenders for this ‘prize’ I just don’t see where the Welsh side improve enough to come off the foot of the table here. The likes of Derbyshire and Gloucestershire do look weaker this season but they had enough of a gap that I just don’t see it being bridged while I expect much better efforts from Northamptonshire and Durham.
Glamorgan were 34pts away from their nearest challenger last season and that was with a final week win. While Billy Root is a good signing I don’t like their batting and too many of their bowlers are too injury prone. I would imagine their attention will soon turn to the limited overs cricket leaving them to pick up the Wooden Spoon again.
Top Batsman
I’ll chance three in this market. I would be very surprised if we see Keaton Jennings in an England shirt again this summer and that can be to Lancashire’s advantage, and indeed ours, because while he is all at sea at international level, he is an absolute run machine in county cricket and he can fill his boots at the top of the order for the Red Rose. I don’t think Jennings is necessarily a bad player but he’s around at the wrong time for England. I think they washed their hands with him after the winter and if that is the case the 12/1 that he is the top scorer in this division is a fantastic bet. He scored 709 runs in 10 games at 47.26 in the top flight last season and top scored in that division with a massive 1548 runs in 2016. He’s too good for this division and with a point to prove he can show it here. At 12/1 he’s my main player bet of the season.
Callum Ferguson is a true class act and we saw that in the 50 over competition last season when he was blasting centuries for absolute fun. He’s been scoring big runs ever since then and I don’t see any reason why that is going to stop now. He is expected to be around for enough of the summer to be very competitive in this market and at 50/1 he’s a plain daft price to top score in this division. He doesn’t arrive until the end of April but only misses one Championship match. That isn’t totally ideal but he would be 20/1 if he arrived immediately. With over half of the 50 over competition to get up to speed I expect him to have an explosive Championship season when he gets here.
Miles Hammond began his Gloucestershire life as a spin bowler but he is very much established as a batsman at the top of the order now and at 66/1 I’ll pay to see how well he goes here. In theory he should be open to plenty of improvement with this role relatively new to him and having scored 476 runs in eight matches last year, the full 14 as an opener should yield in excess of 900 runs which has him more than competitive at 66/1.
Top Bowler
I’ll have a couple of goes in this market too with Toby Roland-Jones a standout pick at 14/1. Injuries hurt him last year but he has already taken wickets in the University matches this year and just three years ago he took 54 wickets in Middlesex’s Championship success. In Division Two I expect his monotonous line and length to trouble batsmen even more here. He’s been out of the game long enough to have fallen away from England contention so he should get the whole season at Middlesex. Assuming he does I don’t see many better bowlers around than he and at 14/1 he’s a solid pick.
Ed Barnard only had eight bowlers ahead of him in the wicket list in Division One last season so in theory there shouldn’t be many more in front of him this season in the lower league. He didn’t even play in every match last term either so his 49 wickets is a number that is significant. Admittedly Tom Bailey, the leader in that division last season, is in this one but he begins the campaign injured which leaves the door open. Barnard showed huge improvement from two seasons ago to last year. If he replicates that again for this season he’s a big danger.
Team Betting
Three catch my eye among the season team markets with the first coming in the Glamorgan market where I don’t think Billy Root is going to need to perform miracles to bring the 5/1 odds home. Admittedly it is never easy to join a new club and hit the ground running but there is so little in this Glamorgan batting line up to be scared of that I’m compelled to take him. He will want to prove he is good enough for the level above having been released by Nottinghamshire and players with a bee in their bonnet are often the best ones to be on. While others flounder around him, Root can thrive and be the top scorer for the Welsh outfit this season.
I’m going to take a chance that Nick Gubbins shows why he was regularly spoken about in England talk a couple of years ago. He didn’t have a great time of things last season but you won’t find many Middlesex batsmen who did. There is a new groundsman at Lord’s this season and I know from being a Hampshire fan that he can produce good batting tracks. I look down this Middlesex line up and while there is a lot of quality in it, nobody is better than Gubbins. I expect a big season from him.
Dan Worrall is all the rage for the Gloucestershire bowling market but he’s as fragile as a cocktail stick and I have to taking him on. Matt Taylor is the obvious one to go with. I like left armers over the course of a season because county cricket still isn’t used to them. He has a bit of pace about him and can get the ball to move which is ideal down at Bristol. If Worrall does fall injured at some point, and recent history suggests there is a good chance of that, then Taylor can take advantage.
Tips
Back Middlesex to win County Championship Division Two for a 4/10 stake at 4.00 with Coral
Back them here:
Back Glamorgan to Finish Bottom for a 3/10 stake at 4.50 with William Hill
Back them here:
Back K.Jennings Top Division 2 Batsman (e/w) for a 3/10 stake at 13.00 with BetVictor (1/4 1-4)
Back C.Ferguson Top Division 2 Batsman (e/w) for a 1/10 stake at 51.100 with BetVictor (1/4 1-4)
Back E.Barnard Top Division 2 Bowler (e/w) for a 1/10 stake at 26.00 with BetVictor (1/4 1-4)
Back them here:
Back M.Hammond Top Division 2 Batsman (e/w) for a 0.5/10 stake at 67.00 with Betfred (1/4 1-4)
Back T.Roland-Jones Top Division 2 Bowler (e/w) for a 1.5/10 stake at 15.00 with Betfred (1/4 1-4)
Back them here:
Back B.Root Top Glamorgan Season Batsman for a 3/10 stake at 6.00 with Bet365
Back N.Gubbins Top Middlesex Season Batsman for a 2/10 stake at 5.00 with Bet365
Back M.Taylor Top Gloucestershire Season Batsman for a 2/10 stake at 4.33 with Bet365
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