County Championship Division Two - the rivals

 In considering how well Derbyshire might do in four-day cricket this season, it is of course necessary to look at our rivals. With that in mind, I present to you - and would be interested in your thoughts on - the following:

Glamorgan

With a new coach, the excellent Grant Bradburn, expect the Welsh county to at least start the season well. Sam Northeast is the new skipper, replacing David Lloyd who is now with us, of course. The batting should be fine, with Marnus Labuschagne and Colin Ingram sharing overseas duties and plenty of prolific scorers elsewhere. But Mir Hamza will be following a fine player in Michael Neser, who has moved to Hampshire and needs to hit the ground running. 

I think they might struggle to bowl sides out and their attack isn't the youngest, though the addition of Mason Crane on a season-long loan may help later in the summer, when it starts to turn

Gloucestershire

Bottom of the pile last year with no wins (like Derbyshire) and will hope to do better this time around. Mark Alleyne is a shrewd appointment as coach, but few changes in personnel mean this year may be another struggle. 

Cameron Bancroft will get runs on his return and is available all summer, while Zafar Gohar is a canny spinner when conditions allow. Yet Alleyne will need to get more from his squad for them to mount a promotion challenge. The development of the talented Price brothers will be interesting to follow.

Leicestershire

Like Derbyshire, a side with plenty of changes. Colin Ackermann and Callum Parkinson have both moved to Durham, while former Derbyshire men Will Davis and Ed Barnes have gone, along with several others.

Ben Mike has returned after a spell at Yorkshire, while Liam Trevaskis has moved from Durham to replace Parkinson. Ben Cox should offer runs as well as excellent glovework after his move from Worcestershire, while Wiaan Mulder and Peter Handscomb are solid overseas players. I expect them to be competitive under Alfonso Thomas and as a club they are doing good work on and off the pitch.

Promotion will be down to keeping Chris Wright fit, as he remains their best bowler. But at 38 can that continue?

Middlesex

Two players who lined up for Derbyshire last season will now wear their colours - our former captain Leus du Plooy and Henry Brookes, who appeared on loan from Warwickshire. John Simpson has left to join Sussex, while crucially Tim Murtagh has retired and is now a coach at the county.

They are unlikely to have an overseas player because of their financial issues and it is hard to predict a successful season, unless those new signings galvanise the rest. Ethan Bamber will lead the attack well and Ryan Higgins is one of the more underrated players on the circuit.  If they start well they could challenge, but need more runs than last season in order to do so.

Northamptonshire

They have signed George Scrimshaw, erstwhile of this parish, but Tom Taylor has gone to Worcestershire so they will miss his important all round contributions. George Bartlett has arrived from Somerset but they are the only non-overseas changes. Karun Nair is an interesting overseas signing from India, as is Chris Tremain until the end of April.  

Both did well last summer in short stays and I think they will need to do so again to take them up the table. Nair's runs could help, but taking twenty wickets may prove problematic, unless Ben Sanderson has a vintage year.

Sussex

Another side to recruit well, with John Simpson arriving from Middlesex and Danny Lamb from Lancashire. Runs shouldn't be a problem, with Cheteshwar Pujara around until the end of May, but Jayden Seales from Trinidad will need to make an impact with the ball for them to challenge and other key players will need to stay fit. Fynn Hudson-Prentice will offer consistent  runs and wickets after signing a new contract in the winter.

Didn't seem the happiest of camps last year and they must hope for less internal friction and on-field indiscipline to be among the pacemakers.

Yorkshire

Even with their England absentees, there is no reason for Yorkshire not to challenge. Matt Fisher and Ben Coad are as good as any county opening bowlers and with Dan Moriarty arriving from Surrey to offer spin, they should take wickets, IF they all stay fit. 

That has been a challenge most summers, but Shan Masood will hope for consistent runs from a talented batting line up that isn't always the most reliable. But a top four of Bean, Lyth, Masood and Malan surely should hope to dominate?

How much continued behind scenes issues affect the squad is anyone's guess, but failure to be one of the top two sides with the players they have would be seen as a considerable disappointment.

Conclusion

There is always one surprise side and players who hit golden form early. Yet four-day cricket is a long haul and at the end of it I expect promotion to be between Yorkshire, Leicestershire, Middlesex and Derbyshire.

What do you think?