Surry will be the first side to win four county championship titles in a row for 70 years, starting the 2025 season on Friday.
The last county to achieve such a feat? Sally is running seven consecutive titles between 1952 and 1958.
British men spend a busy summer on the horizon as first Zimbabwe and then India as tourists, but the early season focus will focus firmly on those who can place themselves for choice, leading the silverware bid in September.
Division 1 for 2025 features several counties that have returned to the top tier for the first time in many seasons, along with a batch of perennial challengers for the Lord’s Tavern Trophy.
Can a surprise challenger disrupt the balance of power from recent seasons? Let’s see how the campaign unfolds…
Candidate
It’s hard to see beyond that Sally I’ll try again in 2025.
While club legend Alec Stewart is on the way to earn more part-time posts as a director of cricket and a high-performance cricket advisor, head coach Gareth Batty can call up high-end teams who can post big sums and shoot 20 wickets repeatedly.
There are many eyes when it comes to bowling Dunworal currently eligible for England The Australian-born Seamer is about to add to the 139 championship wickets he’s accumulated over the past three seasons by potentially closing out with a Testside call.
With the bat, expect former England openers Rory Burns and Dom Siviley to run again and lead.
If available, Ollie Pope and Jamie Smith will lend middle-aged support, but Dan Lawrence will want to go back to test competition after a frustrating series as a matchup opener with Sri Lanka last summer.
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Sally’s captain Rory Burns says he’s accepting an international return with the UK and admits that if he gets a call he’ll say yes
You’ll be pushing the title Somerset, Despite a thrilling victory over Sally in the penultimate round, he was “almost male” again last season.
Fitting, Will Smeed will work in all formats, allowing BAT to upgrade his whiteball-only contract, and New Zealand sailor Matt Henry to lead the overseas first half of the season, arriving in mid-April.
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Jack Leach took an incredible wicket for Somerset as he achieved an astonishing final ditch victory over Surry at last season’s county championships.
Adds a twin spin threat from Jack Leach and emerging Archie Vaughn. Shoaib Bashir on loan to Glamorgan And Ciderman should be on track to eventually secure his first title.
Somerset fans may be able to see Will Smeade play for the county in white clothing this season after the exciting batsman extends his contract to all formats
Regarding another potential challenger, Durham You need to shape well with the opportunity to return to the top division and return to the second season.
They signed a wise English qualification under opener Emilio Gay and dynamic coach Ryan Campbell on a permanent contract from Derbyshire and all-around Will Rhodes’s Igilion Lions Seamer Sam Connors.
Opener Emilio Gay’s Northernz-to-Durham move has become permanent this season after last year’s loan spell
British sailors Matthew Potts and Bridon Carse will likely feature prominently along with exciting left-hander Quick James Mint, who already had only 17 members in an entertaining debut with Sally last season.
Neil Wagner also signed on as an overseas bowler to add an irreplaceable early experience.
Pretender
Expect to have few choices between the four groups in the middle of the pack.
Warwickshire It should do better than returning only one win to 2024 with an eye-catching selection of international signatures to arrive at Edbaston throughout the season with New Zealand skipper Tom Ratham, Australian all-rounder Bo Webster and Pakistani sailor Hassan Ali.
Jacob Bethel, Dan Masley and Sam Hayne will also be three potential England choice competitors to attract attention throughout the campaign.
Yorkshire For the first time in three seasons, he returned to top flights, and there have been many changes on and off the pitch during the winter.
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Johnny Bairstow says he still has ambition to play for the UK despite being nominated for Yorkshire captain
Johnny Bairstow was named captain of the Red Ball When Anthony McGrath returned to former county, Shan Masood moved to Leicestershire before coaching the first team Essex helped him get into the championship title and runner-up finish.
Despite losing Matthew Fisher’s service to Surrey at Seam Bowling Department, they should have enough potency to win more games than they would attract or lose. Harry Brook and Joe Root cameos are sometimes cameos, and alongside Dawid Maran and Adam Squirrel at the top of batting orders, Bairstow’s presence should offer plenty of running.
The fighter
Some of the names of Lang below may come as a surprise, but it highlights how close the department is.
Hampshire Last season’s runner-up finish would be difficult to emulate without James Vince’s experience, not only as a club captain, but also in terms of his weight.
Former England International (34) made the decision in January. Stop red ball cricket and move to Dubai Follow personal issues from the field and increase your chances of playing T20 franchise cricket.
Hampshire must do it without James Vince’s run score after the former captain chooses to sign a Whiteball deal with the county
As for bowling, I’m interested to see how a batch of up-and-coming crew members, including Sonny Baker, who joined from Somerset and was awarded the England Development Contract in the winter, performs in the absence of Mohammad ABBAS.
Slow left-handed Liam Dawson is definitely at the top of the bowling average as he remains Hampshire’s trustworthy while Mark Stoneman replaces Vince in the batting division from Middlesex.
Nottinghamshire It’s hard to predict, but adding the aforementioned Abbas to the six games from May to September could potentially perform better than expected.
If they can stay healthy, tall seafarers Olly Stone and Dillon Pennington have both test caps or selections handed over in recent years, but add more potency.
Hasheeb Hamed’s days as the British opener may have come to the Buzzball era, but he still can deliver a prolific season in terms of run. Joe Clark is another who will meet that standard in the mid-term, but has yet to create a strong case strong enough with consistent run weight to make it difficult to ignore due to test selection.
Former England coach Chris Silverwood (left) has returned to Essex as director of cricket. His captain Tom Westley (center) and overseas spinner Simon Harmer will be key figures this season
Essex I’ve been there or there in recent years, but this season could be even tougher.
After spending time financially and administratively disrupted from the field, there is an incredible lack of depth.
Simon Harmer appears to be a lonely overseas signature when Indian all-rounder Shardur Thakur’s move was called in the IPL as a replacement for slow injuries.
Former England coach Chris Silverwood returns as director of cricket, replacing former assistant McGrath, recalls delivering the county’s first title 25 years ago in 2017.
However, his seam bowling division appears to be stretching if the rich Samcooke is ultimately rewarded with a test call-up or Newball partner Jamie Porter gets injured.
Thanks to experienced batsmen, they should be enough to get up, but only.
Sussex It’s the first time I’ve returned to Division 1 since 2015.
The charismatic Paul Farbrace has done a great job rebuilding counties that require a hard reset in many departments. But will top-tier cricket prove this soon prove too many challenges for a largely evergreen team?
Skipper John Simpson leads the army with an experienced hand while signing with Australia’s Daniel Hughes and West Indies’ Quick Jaden Others.
As former England sailors recover from surgery for hernia, things will look much brighter if they can frequently get Ollie Robinson in the park. On the other hand, certain Jofra Archers will have the opportunity to steam from the edge of the sea in Hove if the long road back to England’s Test Returns does not encounter obstacles.
Finally, Worcestershire A tremendous season came in 2024 and was comfortably surviving to record the best finish since 1997, but this season may prove the test.
The county’s future on New Road looks uncertain both from a financial and environmental standpoint, so CEO Ashley Giles has a lot to do with both on and off the field.
The retirement of the club’s stubborn Joe Leach last season leaves them without a charm with Brett de Oliveira, who is trying to fill that void as he continues as captain.
This may be a tough watch for Piers fans. They look forward to an exciting batch of young people, including seamers Ethan Brooks and Ben Allison and top-class batters, Adam Horse and Kashif Ali.
prediction
Open round fixtures
All games will begin on Friday, April 4th at 11am.
Chelmsford: Essex vs Sally
Utirita Bowl: Hampshire vs Yorkshire
Trent Bridge: Nottinghamshire vs Durham
Taunton: Somerset vs Worcestershire
Edgbaston: Warwickshire vs. Sussex
