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DERBYSHIRE For much of last season Derbyshire struggled to field eleven fit players, but the truth is that even if they been at full strength it is unlikely they would have fared much better. Consistently undermined by an apparent lack of funds, the Derbyshire squad looks more akin to a minor county’s roster rather than a fully-fledged first-class outfit receiving an ECB distribution in excess of £1 million per year; as, indeed, all the other counties do. Renamed the Phantoms for one-day cricket, the last thing the long-suffering Derbyshire supporters will want to see are the ghosts of the last eight seasons being resurrected. But the likelihood is that coach Dave Houghton will have his work cut out once again, especially with an attack that looks threadbare even with the addition of the former Zimbabwe seamer Travis Friend. HOPES FOR THIS SUMMER: That Hassan Adnan and Chris Bassano can find a way of making some really big hundreds and that Jon Moss can translate his one-day batting into a more consistent run in the championship; but, most importantly of all, that left-arm seamer Kevin Dean stays fit for a change. VERDICT: Success is relative. Mid-table finishes in both league competitions and a decent cup run would be considered a successful season in Derbyshire. PRE-SEASON BETTING: DURHAM Of all things, international calls will be the Riverside outfit’s biggest concern. Steve Harmison is virtually guaranteed to play some part in both of this summer’s home Test series. New skipper and Aussie batsman, Mike Hussey, will be missing just when his latest county is due to play two crucial championship games – away to Northants and at home to Lancashire. Should Paul Collingwood get the call to join the England one-day squad, Durham can also forget about challenging for the Twenty20 Cup, which they have made no impression in so far. The Dynamos can ill afford the batting being as brittle again this term. Last season not one England qualified batsman hit more than a solitary hundred for them in the championship. Encouragingly, though, 22-year-old Gordon Muchall got into the nineties on three occasions. HOPES FOR THIS SUMMER: That Muchall can establish himself as a reliable bat; Phil Mustard can demonstrate the potential to become a top-class wicketkeeper-batsman and Mark Davies, Liam Plunkett plus new overseas signing Mick Lewis can make up for the absence of Harmison with the ball. VERDICT: For a side that has finished in the bottom two in Division Two of the championship in three out of the last four seasons, it will take quite some transformation to turn Durham into promotion hopefuls. However, Hussey and Benkenstein will add some punch to the batting, which might see them make some impression in the totesport. PRE-SEASON BETTING ESSEX The absence of Danish Kaneria for the first two months of the season, due to Pakistan’s tour of the West Indies, will test the depth of Essex’s bowling resources – not because spin is a huge factor in April and May, but because of the control Kaneria brings to the attack. Grant Flower could be the shrewdest Kolpak signing of the lot. Unlike his brother Andy, Grant offers more of an all-round option; as, in many ways, does Essex’s other major signing Alex Tudor. If Tudor really is back to full fitness then 2005 could see something of a revival taking place at Chelmsford, because Adams, Middlebrook and Napier can also contribute with the bat as well as the ball. In Alistair Cook and Will Jefferson, Essex have arguably the best opening partnership of all the teams in Division Two of the County Championship. HOPES FOR THIS SUMMER: That Darren Gough, who bowled more overs in one-day cricket than anyone else last summer, continues to roll back the years; that Alex Tudor stays fit and that Mark Pettini and Ravinder Bopara can notch up their maiden first-class centuries. VERDICT: After finishing last season’s championship campaign strongly, the addition of new blood should see Essex well and truly in the shake-up for promotion. That they bat all the way down, now, must also augur well for the C&G in which they have not reached the last four since winning the trophy back in 1997. PRE-SEASON BETTING GLAMORGAN The only county whose players, other than overseas signing Matthew Elliott, are all qualified to play for England. The Dragons are either favourites or joint favourites for all three limited-overs competitions, but gaining a foothold in the top flight of the championship must be high on their list of priorities for 2005. They held on to Simon Jones, who, if you believe what you read, was a target for a number of counties, including Surrey, during the off-season. In the absence of Kasprowicz, it looks as if Jones will get a regular game for the Welshmen, when and if he is not required by England. But, Glamorgan have still not addressed the lack of a consistent opener to partner Elliott. Their keeper Mark Wallace gave it his best shot last summer, but to date his only first-class hundreds have been against poor old Derbyshire and Durham. HOPES FOR THIS SUMMER: That Mike Kasprowicz will not be missed; that Glamorgan’s England A representatives, Michael Powell and David Harrison, overcome the handicap of being in my Oval World fantasy team and that Matthew Maynard can end his career by helping to bring some more silverware to Sophia Gardens. VERDICT: In last summer’s championship Glamorgan proved they can put a run together (four of their five wins came in successive matches). But they will have to be consistently on top of their game if they are to stay in Division One. Assuming the bookies have got it right, a one-day title should soften the blow of relegation if it happens. PRE-SEASON BETTING GLOUCESTERSHIRE Kadeer Ali joins from Worcestershire and could slot straight into the bating line-up if Matt Windows still looks out of sorts. Jon Lewis now has a dangerous new-ball threat at the other end in the shape of Steven Kirby. But leg-spinner Upal Chandana seems a brave choice as overseas player and, as yet, there is no word as to who, if anyone, will be the other. Mark Alleyne has signed up for four more years as coach and will continue to share the captaincy with Chris Taylor, who made his mark on the championship as a batsman for the first time last season, if not as a leader of men, yet. Nevertheless, he proved Gloucestershire’s doubters wrong by keeping them in Division One. But as one would expect for a side that has lifted the C&G Trophy four times in six years, the one-day arena is where the Gladiators are expected to excel. HOPES FOR THIS SUMMER: That big things lie just around the corner for 23-year-old all-rounder Alex Gidman; that Craig Spearman, who broke Gloucestershire’s individual batting record last season when he made 341 against Middlesex, continues to score heavily in the championship and that Philip Weston can follow his opening partner’s example. VERDICT: Perhaps Gloucestershire lack the strength in depth to challenge on all fronts. The question is, will they compromise their limited-overs form in order to stay in Divison One of the County Championship? If not, they are capable of winning two trophies rather than just the one. PRE-SEASON BETTING HAMPSHIRE Despite the fact that no batsman made 1,000 f-c runs for Hampshire last summer, expectations at the Rose Bowl could not be higher going into the new season. With Kevin Pietersen and Australia’s Simon Katich joining forces their batting looks up for the challenge. But come the second half of the campaign Test calls are likely to mean that neither will be around when runs might be needed to keep Hampshire in Division One of the County Championship. Even so, Nic Pothas continues to be one of the highest scoring keeper-batsmen around, John Crawley is a proven performer and good things are expected of Adams and Brown. With a roll call that reads Sean Ervine, Dimitri Mascarenhas, Alan Mullally, Billy Taylor, Chris Tremlett and, initially, skipper Shane Warne the Hawks stronger suit is definitely their bowling. HOPES FOR THIS SUMMER: That Hampshire see something of new signing Kevin Pietersen before, as seems likely, he is called-up by England; that John Crawley turns in a decent season and that the opening pair of Jimmy Adams, 24, and Michael Brown, 25, can see off the new ball on a regular basis. VERDICT: Without a good start to the season the Rose Bowl outfit could be one of the sides that end up struggling in the top flight of the championship. The inevitable absence of Katich, Pietersen and Warne will also harm their one-day chances in the long run. However, watch out for the Hawks in 2006. PRE-SEASON BETTING KENT Graham Ford, who guided Natal to a first-class and limited overs’ double in 1997, takes on the unenviable job of director of cricket. Ford also coached South Africa on two successful overseas tours and won nine of his 11 series whilst at the helm, but that will not help him if Kent falter and the recriminations of 2004 resurface. The hop county will be quietly pleased that Robert Key failed to take make the most of his opportunities in England’s recent Test series in South Africa. If he can find a way of batting for longer than an hour, Darren Stevens could prove to be one of the signings of the close season. Despite the acquisition of Simon Cook, from Middlesex, and the news that Martin Saggers is over the injury problems that dogged him last term the bowling remains a concern, especially without an out and out fast bowler. HOPES FOR THIS SUMMER: That Key repeats his sensational form of last summer; Saggers remains fit and that Alex Loudon and Ed Smith fail to remind their former employers what they are missing. VERDICT: Kent have a proud one-day tradition, so losing seven out of their final eight in the totesport League last summer is something that will not be permitted to happen again. The acquisition of Martin van Jaarsveld and Andrew Hall, in particular, should see them challenging strongly in the all three limited-overs competitions. PRE-SEASON BETTING LANCASHIRE If Lancashire cannot win promotion back to Division One of the championship with a squad that would be capable of lifting the title had they not been relegated, then death and taxes really are the only things one can be certain of in this life. Under normal circumstances picking up victories in two out of the first four in the championship would put you well on course, certainly in terms of avoiding the drop. But after twice losing to Surrey inside three days in the closing weeks of the 2004 campaign, the writing was on the wall. Stuart Law is now a full-fledged Englishman, which frees up an overseas berth. Brad Hodge had been lined-up to fill it, but now he is wanted for Australia’s Ashes touring party. If the Old Trafford outfit use the opportunity to bring in someone like New South Wales’ Dominic Thornely then they would have no need to worry about the indifferent form that Chilton and Sutcliffe showed last term. HOPES FOR THIS SUMMER: That Muralitharan shows no ill effects following his recent shoulder surgery and forges a powerful spin partnership with Gary Keedy, who was the only bowler to take 14 or more wickets in a match last summer. A return to form by James Anderson would also be good for both Lancashire and England. VERDICT: After what I wrote twelve months ago, it is with a certain amount of apprehension that I go for Lancashire as winners of their Division in the County Championship. The Twenty20 Cup semi-final defeat at the hands of Surrey should also spur them on in this summer’s competition. PRE-SEASON BETTING LEICESTERSHIRE This year Leicestershire celebrate their 125th anniversary, but that is all they are likely to be celebrating. If the lack of reserve batting is a worry, the front-line bowling must be an even bigger concern. Dinesh Mongia, who averaged 67.14 in six championship matches for Lancashire last summer, is a useful overseas signing, but he is no Brad Hodge. Aftab Habib and new skipper Hylton Ackerman (yet another Kolpak signing on Leicestershire’s part) will slot straight into a batting line-up that would not amount to much without the two Darrens – Maddy and Robinson. Charl Willoughby is the other overseas player, but he is definitely b-list, so expect Ottis Gibson to shoulder the workload with the ball. Claude Henderson proved to be useful with the older cherry in 2004, but rarely looked like running through sides. HOPES FOR THIS SUMMER: That John Maunders and John Sadler get back on track as batsmen of the future; that the promising Tom New ends the summer in line to take over the gloves from Paul Nixon and that madcap seamer Charlie Dagnall can shake off the Nearly Man tag. VERDICT: A marginally better limited-overs side than a four-day one, but that is not saying a great deal. If they retain the Twenty20 Cup it will be one of the surprises of the season. PRE-SEASON BETTING MIDDLESEX The North Londoners line up behind new skipper Ben Hutton, whose father and grandfather were both captains of Yorkshire of course. Middlesex have the advantage of possessing two Eds – Joyce and Smith – whom many believe are good enough to play Test cricket, but who will almost certainly be around all summer. Add Owais Shah and James Dalrymple into the mix and the batting looks none too shabby. But the departure of Simon Cook, Middlesex’s leading wicket-taker in four-day cricket last season, casts some doubt over their ability to claim the four wins they need to stay up in the championship. The arrival of New Zealand all-rounder Scott Styris is good news for the lower order batting and should make the Crusaders even more of a powerhouse in the limited-overs arena. HOPES FOR THIS SUMMER: That Dalrymple and Peploe can take the first steps along the road to becoming the next Emburey and Edmonds; that Hayward, Keegan and Richardson can form an effective seam attack and that Ben Scott proves himself capable of taking over the gloves full-time. VERDICT: Judging from the prices below last season’s totesport League Division Two champions look to be very good value for the one-day competitions, but the lack of a proven wicket-taker could well be their undoing in the County Championship. PRE-SEASON BETTING NORTHAMPTONSHIRE Northants’ 100th anniversary year sees David Sales enter his second season in charge under the watchful tutelage of team manager Kepler Wessels. It is vital for the Wantage Road outfit that Sales deals with the hard lessons learnt from spending a summer amongst the championship’s elite. Still a prolific batsman in his own right, he will be joined in a mouth-watering middle order by Queenslander Martin Love, Usman Afzaal and Bilal Shafayat. With the ball, Northants can depend on the seam and accuracy of Johann Louw, but they badly need someone doing the business at the other end – if not Ben Phillips or Steffan Jones then Aussie all-rounder Damien Wright. Slow left-arm spinner Jason Brown will be a key man, especially at home where, in recent years, he has often been served up pitches that turn on the first day. HOPES FOR THIS SUMMER: That Tom Huggins and Tim Roberts can repay the faith shown in them last summer; that Shafayat has more success batting at Wantage Road than he did at Trent Bridge, and that Gerard Brophy can win some friends with his glove-work. VERDICT: The Steelbacks stayed up in the totesport League despite losing five out of their last seven in 2004. The indications are they will find the competition just as tough this term. However, with so much batting talent, they should be hard to beat in the championship. PRE-SEASON BETTING NOTTINGHAMSHIRE It is a measure of the degree to which the Outlaw’s fortunes have been turned around that they now find themselves in the top division in both league competitions for the first time. The Trent Bridge outfit have a squad that is not only capable of staying up, but also of challenging for the championship title if they can get off to a flier. However, with Charlie Shreck ruled out until July with a stress fracture of the back, it will fall to Paul Franks, Ryan Sidebottom and Greg Smith – as, indeed, it did for much of last term – to skittle out the opposition. Hopefully, the departure of Kevin Pietersen will have the same galvanising effect on Nottinghamshire as the transfer of Wayne Rooney had on Everton this season. The presence of Kiwi Stephen Fleming and Aussie hopeful David Hussey in the batting line-up should pick up the slack. HOPES FOR THIS SUMMER: That the likes of Gallian and Warren back up the two overseas batsmen; that new signing Graeme Swann demonstrates the all-round potential he thinks he has, and wouldn’t it be nice if Darren Bicknell proved indispensable after only being offered a one-year extension to his contract last winter? VERDICT: The champions of Division Two certainly have the ingredients to do much more than simply remain in Division One of the County Championship; but unless Sidebottom can be more economical with the ball, limited-overs success will probably elude them. PRE-SEASON BETTING SOMERSET Somerset just missed out on promotion in the championship last season, due mainly to not having anyone effective to work in tandem with their unflagging new-baller Nixon McLean, who is retained as one of the two overseas players. Strange, then, that even though Andy Caddick and Richard Johnson – two former Test seamers themselves – are on the books, the Cidermen did not choose to augment their attack with a brace of foreigners rather than just the one. Clearly, the signing of Graeme Smith, South Africa’s captain, has more to do with the direction Somerset have been crying out for in recent summers. Marcus Trescothick will lead out the Sabres in the opening weeks of the campaign and will hook up with the England squad around the time Smith arrives. There has also been a change of management with Mark Geraway coming in and Kevin Shine being moved upstairs. HOPES FOR THIS SUMMER: That young guns John Francis, James Hildreth and Matthew Wood continue to show consistency with the bat; that Caddick and Johnson rediscover the form that made them England players not so long ago, and that Aaron Laraman stays fit long enough to get a decent run in the side. VERDICT: The triumvirate of Blackwell, Laraman and Parsons – bowlers who can all bat a bit – might, with luck, carry the Cidermen to a one-day trophy. As for Somerset’s four-day prospects, sorry but they simply lack the ammunition to shoot sides out twice. PRE-SEASON BETTING SURREY With no new silverware to place in the trophy cabinet at The Oval at the end of 2004, the Steve Rixon era did not get off to the start that many people were predicting twelve months ago. The cause, in Rixon’s view, was a complacent approach to pre-season. That has been rectified this term by starting the build-up on 1 March. The bowling has been strengthened by the acquisition of Indian off-spinner Harbhajan Singh and seamer Mohammad Akram, who moves up from Sussex. The Ovalites will also be led by a new captain. But Mark Butcher will have plenty on his mind. As well as trying to run a Benefit, he needs to regain full fitness following an operation on his left wrist and then get back into the England team in time for this summer’s Ashes Test series. To do that, he will need to turn in some eye-catching performances with the bat in the first half of the campaign, which can only be good news for Surrey. HOPES FOR THIS SUMMER: That Harbhajan Singh can have the same talismanic effect on Surrey as Saqlain Mushtaq used to; that Rikki Clarke can improve on a “haul” of four fifty-plus innings in all competitions last year and that Mark Butcher is up to juggling his various responsibilities. VERDICT: Surrey rounded off last summer’s championship campaign with four wins out of five. The arrival of Harbhajan makes them even stronger on paper. I have the feeling I’ll regret this, but the Ovalites are my tip for the champo. In one-day cricket, however, the absence of Adam Hollioake will be hard to surmount. PRE-SEASON BETTING SUSSEX In the last two years Sussex have shown they are a far better side than they appear on paper. Murray Goodwin – who averaged 49.41 for Western Australia in the recent Pura Cup – is now on board as a Kolpak player, but it remains to be seen whether Sussex have filled their second overseas berth wisely. Clearly, the hope is that opponents will have the highest regard for Naved-ul-Hasan’s left-arm seam come September. With head coach Peter Moores expected to depart at the end of the season, to take over the running of the England Academy, it will be interesting to see what effect, if any, it will have on the Martlets. But if Mushtaq Ahmed weighs in with another seventy or eighty wickets they will certainly be competitive, especially with batsmen of the ilk of Chris Adams and Ian Ward in the side. HOPES FOR THIS SUMMER: That James Kirtley arrests his decline in fortunes with the new ball; that Michael Yardy adds to his maiden first-class hundred (which he made in the final match of 2004) and that wicketkeeper Matt Prior, who was one of the few successes of England A’s recent tour of the UAE and Sri Lanka, chooses not to read his own press. VERDICT: Five wins out of six to end last year’s totesport League is the sort of form that hints a push for promotion is on the cards. Despite their deficiencies Sussex cannot be written off in terms of winning back the championship. But recent history suggests that it would fanciful to expect much from them in the C&G Trophy and Twenty20 Cup. PRE-SEASON BETTING WARWICKSHIRE In a division where many contend that avoiding defeat comes before winning, Warwickshire have the pedigree to avoid the drop by dint of only having lost seven championship contests in the last three years. The off-spinning all-rounder Alex Loudon, who moves up from Kent, will slot nicely into the vacancy created by the departure of Brad Hogg. The young South African seamer Dale Steyn’s name has been mentioned as a possible replacement for Hogg, and it will be hard to resist drafting him in if the title defence starts sluggishly. But skipper Nick Knight has gone on record as saying that the Bears will be better served by having Adam Shantry, 22, Naqaash Tahir, 21, and Nick Warren, 22, in reserve should any mishaps befall Heath Streak, Dougie Brown, Neil Carter and Dewald Pretorius. HOPES FOR THIS SUMMER: That the best one to four the country – Knight, Wagh, Bell and Trott – continue batting their opponents out of the game; that the ever youthful Dougie Brown’s bathroom cabinet contains a fill stock of painkillers and that just one overseas bowler does prove to be enough for the reigning County Champions. VERDICT: Warwickshire drew eight of their last nine games in last season’s championship. Going into the new season on the back of that – and with just one overseas player – causes an eyebrow to be raised when one looks at the pre-season betting. A serious challenge on all fronts, but as for silverware, well that could be a different matter. PRE-SEASON BETTING WORCESTERSHIRE One of the consequences of being relegated in the championship is that Vikram Solanki is now at the helm as Worcestershire’s skipper. If the captaincy was a shackle for Ben Smith then he is capable of some serious run-making. South African all-rounder Zander De Bruyn was a surprise choice as one of the overseas players; those filling the other berth – Chaminda Vaas and Shoaib Akhtar – less so, obviously. The new alliance in the spin department of Ray Price and vice-captain Gareth Batty will give the bowling more depth than it has enjoyed in recent campaigns. Indeed, with the number of options at their disposal now, the New Road outfit should not have too many problems bowling sides out. Consequently promotion in the championship needn’t be the only thing on Worcestershire’s wish list for 2005. HOPES FOR THIS SUMMER: That Moore and Peters continue developing as a trusty opening partnership, that Graeme Hick shows he has not lost his hunger for making runs and that the captaincy adds some much needed discipline to Solanki’s game. VERDICT: Promotion in the County Championship and serious challenges in all three of the limited-overs competitions – indeed, after reaching the final of the C&G Trophy in each of the last two years, few would begrudge them winning it. PRE-SEASON BETTING YORKSHIRE Last season started so brightly for Yorkshire, whose three wins in the County Championship came in the first six matches. Now, with the loss of Gough, Kirby and Sidebottom in just over a year, the Tykes’ seam attack looks somewhat threadbare and only serves to reinforce the view that Yorkshire are very much a county in decline. A sleeping giant they maybe, but unless Deon Kruis – a wiry South African seamer signed under the Kolpak regulations – takes at least forty wickets in the championship this summer Yorkshire’s slumber is set to continue. Phil Jacques, who scored over 1,000 runs and averaged 66.16 for New South Wales in the recent Pura Cup is a jewel in a handy-looking batting line-up. But, if anything, it appears to be better equipped for battle in the limited-overs arena where the Tykes generally held their own in 2004. HOPES FOR THIS SUMMER: That 25-year-old batsman Michael Lumb considers his place in the Yorkshire team to be under serious threat from Joe Sayers and chooses to do something about it. But, if not, that Sayers, 21, repays the faith shown in him when selected. Finally, a full summer from the injury-prone Chris Silverwood would give the Tykes a real boost. VERDICT: As they will be without the services of Michael Vaughan and Matthew Hoggard for much of the season, the best Yorkshire can hope for is a one-day trophy of some description. PRE-SEASON BETTING
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