Specsavers County Championship Division Two: Team-by-team guides including Middlesex and Lancashire
Richard Mann takes a look at the each of the teams in Division Two ahead of the start of the Specsavers County Championship season.
Derbyshire
Derbyshire have been better known for their white-ball exploits in recent seasons, particularly in T20 cricket, with veteran coach John Wright doing an excellent job of taking the club forward in the shortest form of the game. Four-day cricket has been more of a challenge but Derbyshire competed hard last summer with club stalwart Wayne Masden passing 1000 runs for the season and Tony Palladino again taking 50 wickets. Ben Slater's departure to Nottinghamshire will be a big loss but Luis Reece is fully fit again and is one to watch, as is new signing Logan van Beek, a quick bowler who hails from New Zealand and comes with a tall reputation.
Durham
Life has been harder for Durham than most in recent years, having to start the 2017 season on -48 points in exchange for a rescue payment of close to £4 million from the ECB. Still, the club has weathered the storm and although long-serving stalwart Paul Collingwood in now retired, Ben Stokes committed his future to the club last week while Mark Wood remains on the books. How much Durham see of the England pair remains to be seen but the likes of Chris Rushworth and Will Smith remain committed to the cause while ex-Yorkshire opener Alex Lees still has the potential to be a telling addition to a top-order which will also house disgraced Australian batsman and new club captain captain Cameron Bancroft. Interesting times in the North East lay ahead.
Glamorgan
News that former batsman Mark Wallace has become the new director of cricket at Glamorgan has given the club a much-needed boost following a 2018 campaign that saw them finish bottom of Division Two. Billy Root and Australian-based Charlie Hemphrey have been drafted in to bolster a batting line-up in desperate need of strengthening while expect Nick Selman to press his claims following a promising winter. The bowling will again rely heavily on seamers Michael Hogan and Marchant de Lange but they certainly pack a punch and Glamorgan might well have more to cheer about this season.
Gloucestershire
Finishing fifth in 2018 marked a solid campaign for Gloucestershire who started and finished with wins but played out five draws in between. The batting was solid but far from spectacular - nobody averaged in excess of 40 - and it was the bowling that shone with Ryan Higgins (48 wickets), Matt Taylor (46) and Craig Miles (56) leading the way. Miles has joined Liam Norwell in leaving for Warwickshire and their departures could hurt Gloucestershire badly, though the recent pre-season tour of La Manga hinted at promise with the likes of Jack Taylor and Graeme van Buuren showing up well.
Lancashire
A dreadful 2018 saw Lancashire relegated from Division One but a closer look at their squad tells you they should be a serious force in Division Two this summer. The prospect of James Anderson tuning up for the Ashes won't be something too many of this division's batsmen will be relishing while the signing of Australian Joe Burns is a good one and he will likely join Keaton Jennings in forming a formidable top-order pairing. With bold talents such of Liam Livingstone and Saqib Mahmood very much on England's radar and Haseeb Hameed bidding to resurrect his own international career, Lancashire have the quality and depth to make a quick return to the top flight.
Leicestershire
Sixth place in 2018 was probably a fair reflection of a campaign in which Leicestershire were either very good or very bad. Five wins and seven defeats will have left members scratching their heads but Muhammad Abbas' arrival after Pakistan's Test Series with England proved a huge boost and his retention will see him bid to add to the 50 wickets he picked up in the County Championship last summer. His wizardry with the ball should be ably supported by fellow seamer Chris Wright, who has joined from Warwickshire, but the batting will need more than Colin Ackerman - 876 runs in 2018 - to stand up this time around.
Middlesex
Division One champions in 2016, relegated in 2017 and heading into the 2019 season on the back of a frustrating campaign last term. Finishing fourth in the table was no disaster but for a club with so much talent and so many resources at their disposal, a return to top-flight cricket will have been expected. Plenty of old faces remain but most significantly, the return of seamer Toby Roland-Jones to full fitness will be a huge boost after he missed all of 2018 through injury. He and Steven Finn will be keen to remind the England selectors of what they can offer in an Ashes summer and the latter is reported to have shaped well in pre-season. The likes of Dawid Malan, Ed Gubbins and Sam Robson will be hoping for better returns with the bat this summer and look out for Max Holden, too. Holden is a fine young player who has already got people talking.
Northamptonshire
Finishing second bottom in the table last year tells a sorry tale but amidst eight defeats in the County Championship, Northamptonshire did produce enough good cricket to win on four occasions. The departures of Ben Duckett, Richard Gleeson and Rory Kleinveldt leave significant holes to fill and suggest another tough year ahead but Northamptonshire is a resourceful club and names such as Ben Sanderson - 60 wickets in 2018 - and Nathan Buck should ensure the bowling has a fair bit of bite. The batting also remains very dangerous on its day with Josh Cobb and Richard Levi set to be joined by South Africa Temba Bavuma in the second half of the season.
Sussex
It is no surprise to see that Jason Gillespie has done a fine job at Hove since taking over as head coach. Last season's Vitality T20 Blast runners-up boast a strong squad laced with young talent and plenty of depth but Gillespie will be keen to oversee a return to Division One having missed out on promotion in finishing third last term. Jofra Archer is the headline act in a pace attack that also features Chris Jordan and Ollie Robinson. How often Archer features as he juggles IPL commitments and a potential England call-up could prove significant but the batting is very exciting with Phil Salt and Tom Haines two of a number of young players worth keeping a close eye on.
Worcestershire
Division Two champions in 2017, Worcestershire were promptly relegated from Division One following a rude awakening last summer but the future remains bright at New Road. Worcestershire's white-ball outfit enjoyed notable success last season, winning the Vitality T20 Blast as well as reaching the semi-finals stage of the Royal London One-Day Cup. Ed Barnard, Josh Tongue and Brett D'Oliveira are just a few of the home-grown talents that have come through Worcestershire's excellent academy system and expect those names to shine again over the next few months. Joe Clarke's move to Nottinghamshire is a big blow but Australian batsman Callum Ferguson was a big hit at the club last summer and returns with a point to prove following a lean domestic season for South Australia.