County Championship Division One 2018: Preview

It's that time of the year when the 6-month marathon that is the County Championship begins in England and Wales. The 2018 season of the County Championship Division One gets underway on Friday with teams looking to make their mark early.

Lancashire look to have struck a good balance in their team after raiding Durham for two of their key players. Aside from them, the champions of 2017, Essex and Surrey look like the contenders for the first Division title.

After leafless Winters in England, let us look at what the Summer has in store -

1) Essex

The champions of 2017, who won with a lead of 78 points, will be looking to continue their dominant streak this season under the new head coach, Anthony McGrath. They have managed to retain a stable outfit with the likes of Jamie Porter and Simon Harmer, who picked up 147 wickets and finished as the top two wicket-takers last season.

They've called in Peter Siddle to perform the overseas duty early in the season and he will be followed by Neil Wagner after mid-May.

The addition of Matt Coles, from Kent, is an added advantage. In the batting department, players like Tom Westley, Dan Lawrence, and Nick Browne will help Essex post big totals. As none of the quartet are likely to be in the national reckoning, they will be the prized possession of the county.

Captained by Ryan ten Doeschate, this team has the perfect blend of experience and youth and will be a force to be reckoned with again.

In: Matt Coles, Feroze Khushi,

Out: Keshan Velani

2) Lancashire

This season already looks more promising for Lancashire after their recruitment of Keaton Jennings and Graham Onions. The aggressive captaincy of Liam Livingstone along with coach Gregg Chapple's astute tactics will boost the team.

The young trio of Alex Davies, Saqib Mahmood, and Haseeb Hameed will be the cornerstone of their side. Onions will be replacing Kyle Jarvis, who gave up the Kolpak status to return to play for the Zimbabwe national side. Joe Mennie is the experienced overseas player in the team who will add to the bowling pack.

Jennings will provide some stability in the batting line-up that will also see the return of Shiv Chanderpaul, who averaged 51 last season.

In: Keaton Jennings, Graham Onions, Liam Hurt, Josh Bohannon

Out: Kyle Jarvis, Luke Procter

3) Surrey

One of the most consistent County Championship sides only seems to be lacking in the bowling department this time. With Rory Burns stepping up as captain after Gareth Batty, a lot of responsibility on his shoulders but consistent performances and more centuries could put him in the reckoning to make the national side.

Vikram Solanki, Ryan Sidebottom, and Chris Taylor have joined the staff. While the young core of the team that includes Ollie Pope, Amar Virdi (seen as Batty's successor) and Curran brothers adds to the confidence of the team, the presence of the likes of Jason Roy gives them the perfect mix.

Although the unavailability of Mitchell Marsh due to his ankle surgery has left the team a little short-handed, the signing of Morne Morkel on a 2-year Kolpak deal further strengthens the bowling department. The gaping hole due to the exit of Kumar Sangakkara is another worry for the team but there is, however, speculation that Virat Kohli will join them for three matches.

In: Will Jacks, Rikki Clarke, Gus Atkinson

Out: Kumar Sangakkara, Dom Sibley, Ravi Rampaul

4) Yorkshire

Far too often, Yorkshire had to worry about the England team either taking away or resting their key players. Now, to add to their grievances, IPL has joined the ranks as well with Liam Plunkett and David Willey off to India as injury replacements.

The talks about the team has also added to their woes. Geoffrey Boycott has already ridiculed the appointment of a sports psychologist. The coach, Andrew Gale, despite understanding that a softer image will be a better idea, has been fulminating.

However, the focus point is the fact that they have signed Cheteshwar Pujara until June and Kane Williamson thereafter. The overseas stars along with openers, Alex Lees and Adam Lyth will form a strong batting line-up. With the young duo of Matt Fisher and Ben Coad, the bowling unit looks decent as well.

In: (none)

Outs: Will Rhodes, Ryan Sidebottom

5) Hampshire

After a mediocre season last time, the south coast team has upped their batting team by signing the Proteas batsman, Hashim Amla for the first half of the season. He is to fill the shoes of the Australian batsman, George Bailey. They've also signed Sam Northeast from Kent, freeing him from his captain-duties. His partnership with the full-time captain, James Vince is the one to look for.

After picking up 60 scalps in the 2017 Championship, Kyle Abbott remains the leader of the bowling attack. They also have signed Dale Steyn and depending on the Proteas bowler's fitness, they could have one of the best bowling attacks in the country for a while.

All in all, they look like they have enough in the bank to finish in the top 4 team.

In: Sam Northeast, Chris Sole

Out: Michael Carberry, Will Smith

6) Somerset

With three wins from their last four games, Somerset's escape from relegation last season was a notable achievement. The unavailability of Cameron Bancroft due to the sandpaper gate has left the team searching for his replacement.

This time, under new management the approach of Somerset will be tricky to anticipate. The biggest asset of the team will again be the pitch at Taunton.

The availability of Jack Leach will be dependent on how often England come calling. They will also have the advantage of the returning-from-injury Jamie Overton and his twin Craig’s confidence from having played for England. As far as the captaincy is concerned, Tom Abell survived his first year and should be better for it this time around.

In: Fin Trenouth

Out: Jim Allenby, Michael Leask, Ryan Davies

7) Nottinghamshire

Despite the loss of their three top-order batsmen, the team restored their spot in Division One, lifting the trophies in both the white-ball formats. While Steven Mullaney is named the skipper, Tom Moores will be keeping wickets. However, this season will be far from easy.

After the retirement of Chris Read and Michael Lumb, Alex Hales has opted to be available for limited-overs only. Paul Coughlin has dislocated his shoulder while playing a match for the England Lions and Luke Fletcher has just returned from his head injury. However, Jake Ball will be back after being injured during the Ashes to support the bowling unit of the team.

The team has signed Ross Taylor for the early part of the Championship and have also signed the veteran Chris Nash from Sussex.

In: Paul Coughlin, Chris Nash

Out: Chris Read, Greg Smith, Brett Hutton, Michael Lumb, Brendan Taylor

8) Worcestershire

After the issues concerning the team and Steve Rhodes, Worcestershire appointed Kevin Sharp as their coach. He will look to up the morale of this team, which has just earned promotion from Division Two.

The skipper, Joe Leach, averaging 19.39 in the 2017 season is undoubtedly the best player on the side. Cited as 'the new Joe Root' by Sharp, Joe Clarke will look to attract the national selectors' eyes through his performances.

Steve Magoffin, signed from Sussex and the fellow Australian batsman, Travis Head will be the additions who will add some depth to their side.

Given the latest flooding to hit New Road (their home ground), two away games seem to be a better deal for Worcestershire.

In: Steve Magoffin, Alex Milton, Dillon Pennington

Out: (none)