County Championship Division Two 2018: Preview

With the County Championship commencing on April 13, there a lot of signings, speculations and moves from the counties that promises another exciting summer of cricket.

While Nottinghamshire and Worcestershire have made it to Division One based on their golden Summer last year, Middlesex and Warwickshire have taken their spots in Division Two after being relegated.

With crucial battles ahead, let's take a look at what the 2018 season of County Championship Division 2 has in store:

1) Durham

Yet again, they have been pillaged by the village elders and must look within if they are to upset the apple cart one more time. In what has now become a perennial purge, Durham have lost to the counties with more cash to splash but still have their captain, Paul Collingwood to marshal the troops.

Despite having a seemingly annual ritual of injuries every season, their endless production line of fast bowlers has got them through the grind of the long and arduous season every time. Much of this season will depend on whether Mount Rushmore erupts again and if he can lead what is an otherwise inexperienced bowling line-up.

While promotion might be nothing more than a daydream, as many teams and pundits have realised in the recent past, you write Durham off at your own peril.

In: Akshar Patel, Aiden Markram, Tom Latham, Will Smith, Nathan Rimmington

Out: Keaton Jennings, Graham Onions, Paul Coughlin

2) Derbyshire

Plenty of attention was paid to the Twenty20 contests last year as they hired John Wright as coach. He will continue this year with former skipper Dominic Cork as the bowling coach.

This year, the team are in possession of a formidable bowling unit for the Championship. With the inclusions of Proteas bowler Duanne Olivier for the first half of the season and Ravi Rampaul from Surrey for the second half, the new-ball attack looks menacing.

Billy Godleman is expected to score the bulk of runs in the top order along with the likes of Matt Critchley and James Kettleborough. Critchley has gained some experience from his time with the England Lions that could come in handy for his county.

In: Duanne Olivier, Ravi Rampaul, James Kettleborough

Out: Imran Tahir, Shiv Thakor, Rob Hemmings, Ben Cotton, Tom Taylor, Tom Milnes, Greg Cork, Matt Henry

3) Glamorgan

Head Coach Robert Croft is very confident about the young guns in his team. Right after the 2017 Championship, the Glamorgan youngsters including Nick Selman, Jack Murphy, Andrew Salter went to play T20 tournaments in New Zealand, UAE, Australia and South Africa.

The student pair of Connor Brown and Kiran Carlson look likely to open the batting. Shaun Marsh, the overseas signing, will take over from the retired Jacques Rudolph. With the exit of William Bragg, Colin Ingram and Marsh will foster the middle order.

Lukas Carey, the young bowler will be one to look forward to, having picked up 7 wickets in his debut game. The pacer has a solid action and will get plenty of lateral movement from the surface.

In: Shaun Marsh

Out: Jacques Rudolph, William Bragg

4) Gloucestershire

Although runs were the main issue for the team last year, they've signed an overseas bowler. The South Australian pacer, Daniel Worrall, will add to their bowling attack, which will be led by last year’s player of the season, Liam Norwell.

Chris Rogers has been appointed as batting coach for 2 months and the players ought to make the best out of this opportunity. They also have all-rounder Ryan Higgins coming in from Middlesex.

Opener Chris Dent has stepped up as the captain of the side and will want to reverse their regression.

In: Dan Worrall, Ryan Higgins, Andrew Tye

Out: Phil Mustard, Brandon Gilmour, Patrick Grieshaber

5) Kent

A new look Kent will take to the field after a mass influx and exodus of players. As Division One teams Hampshire and Essex picked up Sam Northeast and Matt Coles, Kent hit back with some power-packed signings. With the former ECB managing director, Paul Downton heading the management and Allan Donald as the assistant coach, the team looks stronger than ever.

The opener Sean Dickson, boasting of a first-class triple century, along with South African Heino Kuhn, arriving on a Kolpak deal, will bolster their batting. Their captain, Sam Billings, post his IPL stint, will join the batting party.

Seamer Harry Podmore has been signed from Middlesex and with Matt Henry as their overseas player for the first half of the season, the bowling unit looks cracking as well.

In: Adam Milne, Matt Henry, Heino Kuhn, Harry Podmore, Marcus Stoinis

Out: Sam Northeast, Matt Coles, Wayne Parnell, Yasir Shah, Jimmy Neesham, Adam Ball, Hugh Bernard, Charlie Hartley

6) Leicestershire

A team that have finished last in 4 out of the previous 5 Championships have a lot to prove this season. With a change in the coach and captaincy, the new appointees - Paul Nixon and Michael Carberry (from Hampshire) - will infuse new energy into the Foxes.

Indian pacer Varun Aaron and Zak Chappell will form one of the fastest bowling duos in the division. The likes of youngster Callum Parkinson in the spin department will add variety to their bowling.

Michael Carberry, Paul Horton, Neil Dexter look set to feature in the top order while Lewis Hill and Ned Eckersley will be the dependable middle-order duo for the team.

In: Varun Aaron, Mohammad Nabi, Tom Taylor, Mohammad Abbas, Cameron Delport, Ateeq Javid

Out: Clint McKay

7) Middlesex

After lifting the title in 2016, Middlesex horribly regressed in all the formats to succumb to a controversial relegation. Their immediate aim would definitely be to get back to Division One.

Given his England commitments, Dawid Malan's stepping up as captain has raised several eyebrows. He is likely to miss the first two fixtures. With Morgan going unsold in the IPL, he should have been available for the entire Championship. However, the England limited-overs captain will miss at least three matches with a broken thumb.

Among the overseas signings, Middlesex have brought in Australian all-rounder Hilton Cartwright for the early part of the season.

In: Ashton Agar, Hilton Cartwright

Out: Ryan Higgins, Harry Podmore

8) Northamptonshire

The favourites for the Championship have strengthened their red-ball game by being consistently dominant in the shorter formats. The club have improved their side by signing Ben Hutton and Luke Procter.

Kiwi all-rounder Doug Bracewell will cover for Rory Kleinveldt until mid-May. Ben Duckett, who hasn't had a good time with the England Lions, is recovering from a finger injury and will miss the first few games.

While David Sales was named the batting coach, David Ripley is the head coach of Northants.

In: Doug Bracewell, Rory Kleinveldt, Seekkuge Prasanna, Brett Hutton, Luke Procter, Ricardo Vasconcelos

Out: David Murphy, Azharullah

9) Sussex

With Jason Gillespie as their coach, Sussex will look to claim the title and promotion this time around. Gillespie led Yorkshire to Championship promotion and then back-to-back titles in 2014 and 2015.

Chris Nash and Steve Magoffin, the pillars of the team, will surely be missed this season. The entire bowling attack now depends on Chris Jordan and the youngster Jofra Archer who will only join them after the IPL. Ishant Sharma, their overseas signing, will look to add value in the first two months of the Championship.

The batting department, although inconsistent in their previous displays, have Luke Wells and Kolpak signing Stiaan van Zyl atop the order. The new captain Ben Brown and their star batsman, Michael Burgess, have a lot of expectations to fulfil.

In: Ishant Sharma, Rashid Khan, Tom Haines

Out: Steve Magoffin, Ed Joyce, Chris Nash

10) Warwickshire

Demanding promotion after a horrible season last year, Warwickshire began making amends mid-season itself. They ended up in the bottom of the Division One table and their One-Day Cup produced a meagre 3 wins.

Under the captaincy of Jeetan Patel, Ian Bell will look to regain his form in the red-ball games. Although Sam Hain was excellent in dealing with the white-ball, he seemed to struggle in the longer format of the game.

The emphasis is now on youth after signing a brigade of young guns like Dom Sibley, Adam Hose and later, Will Rhodes.

In: Jeetan Patel, Colin de Grandhomme, Alex Thomson

Out: Ateeq Javid, William Porterfield, Mark Adair