The 2025 county season gets up and running on Friday when the Rothesay County Championship campaign starts as nearly six months of cricket to get to the domestic red ball champions begins with what might be the strongest Division One for some time.
Surrey were too good for the rest for a third straight time last season but plenty of counties have strengthened and the cash from The Hundred means financial resources are stronger all round so Surrey might have their toughest challenge this term.
Recent Winners
2024 – Surrey
2023 – Surrey
2022 – Surrey
2021 – Warwickshire
2020 – Essex (Bob Willis Trophy)
2019 – Essex
2018 – Surrey
2017 – Essex
2016 – Middlesex
2015 – Yorkshire
The Format
Despite the call for changes to the system we have the same format as a year ago. Each team in the league will play the others once and then they will all play a second team twice to make 14 matches for each side. The points system is 16 for a win, eight for a draw or tie and nothing for losing. There is no second phase to this season so the team who has the most points after 14 matches wins the title.
The bonus system is the same as last year though. As ever there are first innings bonus points too with points scored for getting 250, 300, 350, 400 and 450 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. In keeping with Test cricket the new ball is available to teams after 80 overs as it was last season rather than the 90 overs it was prior to the pandemic.
Team Guides
Durham – https://kevshatsportsbets.com/county-cricket-2025-durham-team-guide/
Essex – https://kevshatsportsbets.com/county-cricket-2025-essex-team-guide/
Hampshire – https://kevshatsportsbets.com/county-cricket-2025-hampshire-team-guide/
Nottinghamshire – https://kevshatsportsbets.com/county-cricket-2025-nottinghamshire-team-guide/
Somerset – https://kevshatsportsbets.com/county-cricket-2025-somerset-team-guide/
Surrey – https://kevshatsportsbets.com/county-cricket-2025-surrey-team-guide/
Sussex – https://kevshatsportsbets.com/county-cricket-2025-sussex-team-guide/
Warwickshire – https://kevshatsportsbets.com/county-cricket-2025-warwickshire-team-guide/
Worcestershire – https://kevshatsportsbets.com/county-cricket-2025-worcestershire-team-guide/
Yorkshire – https://kevshatsportsbets.com/county-cricket-2025-yorkshire-team-guide/
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Outright Betting
As I have put in my team guides above, I don’t see anyone getting the better of Surrey over the course of the season. I wouldn’t be surprised if the chasing pack are a little closer than previously because it is hard to be the frontrunners for so long but I just don’t think anyone else has the consistency so then you have the question of whether to back someone outright for the place money or take Surrey out of the equation.
I’m fairly confident that Somerset will be the best of the rest so I’ll bet without Surrey. This is a Somerset side that on pitches that turn down in Taunton can afford to let Shoaib Bashir go out on loan so that says plenty. Home wins will come regularly for Somerset and that can be the difference. They might surrender batting bonus points in the quest for home wins but that is a denominator that works. Hampshire look much weaker without James Vince and Mohammad Abbas while Essex lost Shardul Thakur too late for my liking and England could mess up Durham. I think Warwickshire will be better with a couple of shrewd signings but they are starting from too low a base so the 5/2 on Somerset without Surrey looks a good thing to me.
Top Batter
There is a market for the top batter in the competition and David Bedingham is a pretty simple selection. He was the leading batter in the top flight by almost 200 runs last season and he is back in a Durham side which now has even better batting options at the top of the order so he is likely to be coming in at a more favourable time for him to fill his boots. He is a phenomenally good batter at this level and has been at Durham long enough to get stuck in again.
Bedingham has now made it to the Test scene for South Africa but thankfully for Durham, South Africa don’t have much Test cricket for the foreseeable apart from the World Test Championship Final and that comes during the Blast anyway. You can get 12/1 on Bedingham top scoring this season and given that he has churned out solid runs every season I think he will take some stopping. Unless he gets injured Bedingham should be good for 1300 runs and there won’t be many doing better than that.
Tips
Back Somerset to win Division One (w/o Surrey) for a 6/10 stake at 3.50 with BetVictor
Back D.Bedingham Top Batter (e/w) for a 2/10 stake at 13.00 with BetVictor (1/4 1-4)
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