As Storm David batters the North-East of England this Easter weekend, it can only mean one thing – The start of the County Championship. Here is a quick preview of the first round of games in Division One.
Glamorgan v Yorkshire
Newly promoted Glamorgan host Yorkshire at Sophia Gardens. Yorkshire will be looking to improve on their seventh place finish last season, whereas Glamorgan will want to show they are worth their place in Division One.
Glamorgan Match Squad: Crane, Carlson (c), Kellaway, Gorvin, Ul Hassan, Hadley, McIlroy, Ingram, Cooke, Tribe, Dickson, van der Gugten, Byrom
Yorkshire Match Squad: Bairstow (c), Bean, Bess, Cliff, Coad, Hill, Luxton, Lyth, Moriarty, Revis, Van Beek, Wharton, White, Whiteman
Hampshire v Essex
Both sides will be looking to improve on their finishes last season, as Hampshire ended the season in eighth, and Essex in sixth. Hampshire will be looking to new signing Codi Yusuf to get in the wickets, as he did for Durham last season with 19 wickets. Essex, on the other hand, will be relying on South African International Wiaan Mulder with both bat and ball.
Hampshire Match Squad: Abbott, Albert, Baker, Brown (c), Currie, Dawson, Gubbins, Jack, Lehmann, Mayes, Prest, Weatherley, Yusuf
Essex Match Squad: Akhtar, Thain, Harmer, Cook, Pepper, Critchley, Westley (c), Walter, Snater, Porter, Allison, Elgar, Mulder
Leicestershire v Sussex
Last season’s Division Two winners Leicestershire will want to mark their return to Division One for the first time since 2003 with a win against a Sussex side, who are starting the season with a 12 point deduction due to financial issues. Sussex surprised a few people last season, finishing in fourth in their return to Division One Cricket.
Leicestershire Match Squad: Holland (c), Ahmed, Budinger, Cox, Eskinazi, Green, Hill, Hull, Patel, Scriven, Singh, Weatherald, Wood
Sussex Match Squad: Carson, Clark, Coles, Crocombe, Haines, Hudson-Prentice, Hughes, Ibrahim, Lamb, Leaning, Price, Robinson (c), Simpson, Tear
Somerset v Nottinghamshire
Last season’s third and first place teams face off, as Champions Nottinghamshire will be looking to start their defence with a win against Somerset at Taunton.
Somerset Match Squad: Kohler-Cadmore, Thomas, Lammonby, Abell, Rew, Goldsworthy, Gregory (c), Vaughan, Pretorius, Overton, Leach, Ball, Shaw, Ogbourne
Nottinghamshire Match Squad: Hameed (c), Ahmen, Clarke, Giles, Haynes, Hutton, James, Lord, McCann, Patterson-White, Pennington, Slater, Stone, Verrynne
Warwickshire v Surrey
Warwickshire, who finished fifth last season, host last season’s runners-up Surrey at Edgbaston. Surrey will be looking to go one better this season, after missing out on the title by 16 points.
Warwickshire Match Squad: Barnard (c), Bamber, Booth, Davies, Gilchrist, Hain, Lintott, Malik, Mousley, Smith, Thompson, Webster, Woakes, Yates
Surrey Match Squad: Burns (c), Abbott, Albert, Clark, Fisher, Foakes, Lawes, Lawrence, Patel, Pope, Sibley, Smith, Taylor, Topley
Follow this link for the preview of the Division Two games.
