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How’s the
County Championship shaping up?
Division
1
At this
early stage of the season it’s very hard to make a solid judgement, early
season performances can of course indicate a good season ahead, but a first
game loss is not always a tell tale sign of a tough season ahead.
Nottinghamshire have started very well, having played 2 won 2, and made some shrewd off-season signings, in Michael Lumb, and the ex-Leicestershire pair James Taylor and Harry Gurney, a sign of things to come at Notts with the departure of 3 of the old guard in Shreck, Wagh and Brown and the arrival of young, hungry players.
The reigning champs, Lancashire started with a crushing 10 wicket defeat at the
hands of Sussex. However, despite this I’d expect Lancashire to recover and
enjoy relative success, but not in my mind title contenders. Now on to the 2
promoted teams; Middlesex and Surrey. They squared up on round two of the
season at Lords, and to my mind the surprising victor was Middlesex in a
thrilling game at the home of cricket. Both teams made positive moves during
the winter, with Surrey signing Jacques Rudolph, John Lewis and Murali Kartik,
and Middlesex managing to pick up Olly Rayner and Joe Denly.
Surrey are my surprise team of the season, whom I predict to do well. They have a nice balance between bat and ball, young and old. Steven Davies, Jade Dernbach, Stuart Meeker, Chris Tremlett, Dirk Nannes, Rory Hamliton-Brown and of course who’d dare forget the fine wine of English cricket (improves with age) Mark Ramprakash, to name just a few, plus the signings they’ve made makes for a formidable team. Middlesex I predict will find the going tough and will do well to hold onto their div 1 status come September.
While Surrey are my surprise team to succeed, my surprise team to Struggle is the men from the North-East, Durham.I feel they’re an aging team in need of a freshen up who may find the going tough, they started with a disappointing defeat and I foresee a tough season for the Dynamo. For me mid-table mediocrity lays ahead for Warwickshire, Sussex and Somerset.
Whatever the outcome, an exciting season lies ahead for all in the County Championship, which I’m sure will be full of the typical up’s and down’s, scorching days and a few cold ones thrown in.
Nottinghamshire have started very well, having played 2 won 2, and made some shrewd off-season signings, in Michael Lumb, and the ex-Leicestershire pair James Taylor and Harry Gurney, a sign of things to come at Notts with the departure of 3 of the old guard in Shreck, Wagh and Brown and the arrival of young, hungry players.
 |
| Lancs Celebrate their Div1 Title |
Surrey are my surprise team of the season, whom I predict to do well. They have a nice balance between bat and ball, young and old. Steven Davies, Jade Dernbach, Stuart Meeker, Chris Tremlett, Dirk Nannes, Rory Hamliton-Brown and of course who’d dare forget the fine wine of English cricket (improves with age) Mark Ramprakash, to name just a few, plus the signings they’ve made makes for a formidable team. Middlesex I predict will find the going tough and will do well to hold onto their div 1 status come September.
While Surrey are my surprise team to succeed, my surprise team to Struggle is the men from the North-East, Durham.I feel they’re an aging team in need of a freshen up who may find the going tough, they started with a disappointing defeat and I foresee a tough season for the Dynamo. For me mid-table mediocrity lays ahead for Warwickshire, Sussex and Somerset.
Whatever the outcome, an exciting season lies ahead for all in the County Championship, which I’m sure will be full of the typical up’s and down’s, scorching days and a few cold ones thrown in.
Tips for top
2: Nottinghamshire and Surrey
Tips for
bottom 2: Worcestershire and Durham
Division
2:
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| Middlesex... Div2 Champions! |
As I see it,
division 2 is a harder one to pick. It’s a league packed with young talent,
waiting to burst on to the scene, and for sure by September we’ll all be
talking about a few hidden gems that were not on our lips in April.
Glamorgan I fear for, I see an extremely hard season ahead for the Welsh side. They had their golden moment in 2009, with the grand honour of hosting the opening Ashes test of the series, but I feel the momentum that comes with such an event may have passed. I struggle to see any real young quality in their squad; Simon Jones, Robert Croft and Marcus North are players of quality, but all 3 are heading towards the wrong ends of their careers. The writing may well be on the wall already, a first game defeat against Leicestershire would suggest so, a Leicestershire team who managed a measly one win last term. I may be proved wrong, (I’m rarely wrong) but good luck to em, go the Dragons!
I predict a good season for the boys down at Chelmsford, there’s a good feeling around Essex CC at the moment and they may surprise a few people this season.
Yorkshire are the big scalp for all teams this season, everyone will want to beat the big boys who’ve unceremoniously fell from grace. However, I predict the Yorkies to perform reasonably, they’ve a solid team by Div 2 standards, and a good acquisition in the Ex-Aussie test player Phil Jacques will only aid them.
Northamptonshire will again struggle I feel, they, like Glamorgan, lack any real quality and should be braced for a long, hard and ultimately disappointing season.
Derbyshire are shaping up nicely, 2 wins from 2 played. With 2 very hands overseas players in both Martin Guptill until June and Usman Khawaja thereafter, they look strong and set for a good season.
Kent are the consistent under-performers in the longer format of the game, and on paper you’d expect to be challenging come the business end of the season. They’ve had a busy off-season, both on the pitch and behind the scenes, with Jimmy Adams coming in as coach and it could be a season of consolidation for the spitfires.
It’s a tough league to call, and one which is more likely to throw up a few curveballs for us journo’s, but what will be will be, and we’ll get a better look at how things are shaping up by mid June.
Glamorgan I fear for, I see an extremely hard season ahead for the Welsh side. They had their golden moment in 2009, with the grand honour of hosting the opening Ashes test of the series, but I feel the momentum that comes with such an event may have passed. I struggle to see any real young quality in their squad; Simon Jones, Robert Croft and Marcus North are players of quality, but all 3 are heading towards the wrong ends of their careers. The writing may well be on the wall already, a first game defeat against Leicestershire would suggest so, a Leicestershire team who managed a measly one win last term. I may be proved wrong, (I’m rarely wrong) but good luck to em, go the Dragons!
I predict a good season for the boys down at Chelmsford, there’s a good feeling around Essex CC at the moment and they may surprise a few people this season.
Yorkshire are the big scalp for all teams this season, everyone will want to beat the big boys who’ve unceremoniously fell from grace. However, I predict the Yorkies to perform reasonably, they’ve a solid team by Div 2 standards, and a good acquisition in the Ex-Aussie test player Phil Jacques will only aid them.
Northamptonshire will again struggle I feel, they, like Glamorgan, lack any real quality and should be braced for a long, hard and ultimately disappointing season.
Derbyshire are shaping up nicely, 2 wins from 2 played. With 2 very hands overseas players in both Martin Guptill until June and Usman Khawaja thereafter, they look strong and set for a good season.
Kent are the consistent under-performers in the longer format of the game, and on paper you’d expect to be challenging come the business end of the season. They’ve had a busy off-season, both on the pitch and behind the scenes, with Jimmy Adams coming in as coach and it could be a season of consolidation for the spitfires.
It’s a tough league to call, and one which is more likely to throw up a few curveballs for us journo’s, but what will be will be, and we’ll get a better look at how things are shaping up by mid June.
Tips for top
2: Derbyshire and Essex
Tips for
bottom 2: Glamorgan and Northamptonshire
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