[kevshat]

Division 2

	Middlesex	4.5	4.5	4	4.6	4.33	4	4.5	4	4.25	4.33	5	4	4.5	4.5	4	5	4.5	4.33	4.8	5.1
	Essex	5	4.5	5.5	5.2	4.5	5.5	5	5	4.5	4.5	5	4.5	4.5	4.5	5.5	4.5	4.5	4.5	5.5	6.6
	Warwickshire	5	5	3.75	4.3	4.5	3.75	5	6	4.5	5	6	5.5	5.5	5	3.75	4.33	5	5	4.5	4.6
	Derbyshire	7.5	8	8.5	8.5	9	8.5	7.5	9	9	9	7	8	7	9	8.5	8	8	8	9	9
	Worcestershire	9	7	5.5	8.5	7	5.5	9	6.5	6	6.5	7	7	6	6.5	5.5	8	6.5	7	9	6.8
	Northamptonshire	13	11	13	12	11	13	13	12	11	11	9	9	11	11	13	10	11	11	13	12
	Leicestershire	9	8.5	13	13	7.5	13	9	15	11	11	9	11	9	11	13	9	10	11	14	9.4
	Gloucestershire	12	17	15	15.5	15	15	12	13	17	15	13	17	17	15	15	15	13	15	17	18.5
	Glamorgan	34	51	34	43	51	34	34	51	41	51	26	41	51	26	34	51	34	34	50	32
Place terms		3 1/5	3 1/5	3 1/5		3 1/5	3 1/5	3 1/5	3 1/5			3 1/4	3 1/5		3 1/5	3 1/5	3 1/5

Derbyshire have been busier than most in the off season and they needed to be in truth as they were poor last year. One of the incoming players is Rikki Clarke, signed from Surrey is to lead Derbyshire this season. With all their signings there are a few which expect the midlands side to do well but an improvement in all competitions will be good.

As well as Clarke, Derby have signed Mahela Jayawardene and Chris Rogers as their overseas players for this term and Jayawardene in particular looks a great signing as he’s one of the top 10 batsmen in the world for me. South African hotshot Dominic Telo comes over with a big reputation too. They still look a batsman or two short for me though. With the ball, the evergreen Kevin Dean and Graham Wagg will be prominent but Derby are trying to get Charl Langeveldt to come over as a kolpak and he would give their bowling lineup a huge boost. Nayan Doshi has followed his captain from Surrey up to Derby and will look to gain a regular spinning spot.

Derbyshire are bound to be better than last season, but I’m not a fan of having an inexperienced captain and think there are better men for the job and it could be Clarke’s inexperience which is the difference between a top 2 place and missing out on promotion.

Last Season: 6^th
Overseas Player(s): Chris Rogers & Mahela Jayawardene
Key Players: Dominic Telo & Graham Wagg
Best Odds: 9/1 Sportingbet
Predicted Finishing Position: 3^rd

Essexprobably underachieved last season and will expect more this season having made a few signings in the close season. Graham Gooch isn’t as involved as he was though and that could make a difference. Paul Grayson has taken over as 1^st team coach and they too have an inexperienced captain but expectations at Chelmsford may still be high.

Mark Pettini will lead a side with a batting lineup that looks really strong, especially at Chelmsford. They’ll see Ravi Bopara for most of the season which could be crucial. Jason Gallian looks a good signing at the top of the innings but there’s still a very young look about the Eagles’ batting. Andre Nel will pep up the bowling attack early in the season before Danish Kaneria arrives. David Masters will be solid away from Chelmsford but may struggle on the dry wickets at home. James Middlebrook and Grant Flower will be key later in the season too as will James Foster who should get a lot of chances behind the stumps and whose runs Essex will be reliant on.

Essex will always be there or thereabouts in the limited overs competitions but if England come for Bopara at any time they’ll be severely weakened and a young side could struggle for consistency in the longer format.

Last Season: 4^th
Overseas Player(s) Andre Nel & Danish Kaneria
Key Players: Ravi Bopara & James Foster
Best Odds: 9/2 Stan James/Betdirect
Predicted Finishing Position: 5^th

Glamorgan had a shocking season last year which was expected in many ways having thrown so much of their budget on improving their stadium ahead of next summer’s Ashes test. Matthew Maynard has taken control in the close season and he’ll bring a completely different mindset to the club and the Welsh side will expect to perform much better.

Maynard has already stamped his influence on the side with the signings of Jamie Dalrymple and Jason Gillespie. Matthew Wood has also joined to bolster a young batting lineup. A lot will be on the shoulders of Wood and Dalrymple as this side is still very young but are sure to improve under a coach as good as Maynard. Maynard’s son Tom could be one of the stars of the season with the bat despite his young age. With the ball, all talk will focus around teen sensation James Harris who looks certain to be an England regular in the coming years. He’ll spearhead the attack with Jason Gillespie who will give the youngsters his guidance. Robert Croft is still around and he’s sure to have a decent season as he always does while Mark Wallace is still one of the better keepers in the country and will provide good runs too.

Glamorgan will be much more competitive under Maynard and while it’s folly to be talking about promotion and trophies, they won’t be so far off the others in the 4 day game.

Last Season: 9^th
Overseas Player(s): Jason Gillespie
Key Players: Jamie Dalrymple & James Harris
Best Odds: 50/1 General
Predicted Finishing Position: 8^th

Gloucestershire were 3 balls away from winning the Twenty20 cup last season but that was as good as it got. They were there or thereabouts in the one day competitions as is their norm but the 4 day season was disappointing and ultimately cost Mark Alleyne his job. England hero Jack Russell has accepted the coaching job and he’ll bring energy and passion to Bristol.

Gloucestershire fought long and hard to secure the services of Hamish Marshall and they finally succeeded in bringing him back. He’ll form part of a strong top 4 with Craig Spearman, Kadeer Ali and overseas signing Marcus North. Alex Gidman and Chris Taylor form a pretty solid top 6 but it’s the bowling attack which would be a concern. Jon Lewis and Steve Kirby are sound performers but the rest are either poor or very young. Vikram Banerjee is an up and coming spinner and Ian Fisher is more experienced but there’s a bit of a lack of quality seam bowling which is shown by Mark Hardinges as a likely 3^rd seamer.

Jack Russell will bring success back to Nevil Rd of that I’m sure but it’s more likely to come in the one day game. Taking 20 wickets looks a problem so a mid table finish is more likely in the 4 day game.

Last Season: 7^th
Overseas Player(s): Marcus North
Key Players: Hamish Marshall & Jon Lewis
Best Odds: 16/1 Bet365/Paddy Power
Predicted Finishing Position: 6^th

Leicestershire have seen a huge turnover of players in the close season with their two star bowlers heading to pastures new and being replaced by a couple of kolpak signings. Nevertheless though, Leicestershire’s expectations, certainly among their coaching staff and that puts pressure on the new full time captain Paul Nixon.

Leicestershire’s best coup of the winter was securing the services of Boeta Dippenaar as overseas player. He has a real good record and he could well be a run machine in division two. Along with fellow South African HD Ackerman he should put lots of good scores together for the Foxes. Jim Allenby and Paul Nixon are no mugs with the bat either. Most of their signings came in the bowling attack. Dillon du Preez was recommended by Dippenaar while Jermaine Lawson comes over with international experience under his belt. Garnett Kruger has signed again and he’ll join those two and Ryan Cummins in the seam attack. Claude Henderson continues to provide a solid spin option.

Leicestershire will be stronger in the four day environment but they always focus their attentions around the Twenty20 and I expect no difference this year. Should they get off to a good start though promotion might not be completely out of the question.

Last Season: 8^th
Overseas Player(s): Boeta Dippenaar
Key Players: HD Ackerman & Jermaine Lawson
Best Odds: 14/1 Boylesports
Predicted Finishing Position: 4^th

Middlesex are another to have changed their coach in the off season. Toby Radford now has the reins at HQ and his main priority will be to lead Middlesex back into Division 1. As ever in the capital expectations are high but they have the squad to achieve that goal.

Owais Shah could be a big player for Middlesex this summer as he continues to be denied the test spot his consistency deserves. He’ll be part of a strong batting line up which includes the Irish duo Ed Joyce and Eoin Morgan. Billy Godleman looks a really talented young opener too so the Crusaders have all the batting power they need. The bowling isn’t as strong but it’s more than good enough for this division. Tim Murtagh and Chris Silverwood are solid and Alan Richardson is a canny bowler although injury has begun to dog him a bit but in Steven Finn, Middlesex have England’s brightest bowling talent around at the minute and it’s not if but when he gets called up to the England squad. This summer could be too early though so that’s Middlesex’s gain. Murali Kartik will arrive after the IPL and Shaun Udal is already there and both will provide solid spin options and Vernon Philander will give the Crusaders solid all round efforts as overseas player until Kartik arrives.

Middlesex tick all the boxes in the four day game and I wouldn’t be surprised if they go a long way in a one day competition too but whoever finishes above Middlesex will be the Division 2 champions but I don’t see anyone who will do that.

Last Season: 3^rd
Overseas Player(s): Vernon Philander & Murali Kartik
Key Players: Owais Shah & Steven Finn
Best Odds: 4/1 Totesport & Ladbrokes
Predicted Finishing Position: 1^st

Northants have also changed their captain in the close season. David Sales decided he wanted to focus on his batting and has passed the captaincy over to Nicky Boje. The Steelbacks have recently been thwarted in their attempts to sign Andrew Hall and Johannes van der Wath although Andrew Hall is appealing that decision.

David Sales will need to score a lot of runs because this Northants batting lineup does look awfully week. Lance Klusener and Nicky Boje can both bat but neither are recognised top order batsman so if the likes of Stephen Peters and Rob White have poor seasons Northants could be struggling. They might have to play Riki Wessels as an out and out batsman but even he’s not a top order batsman. Alex Wakely led the under 19s in the winter and could gain some runs for his side but the decision to let Usman Afzaal go looks a bad one even though he undermined the coach. Johann Louw has returned to lead the pace attack. He’ll be the overseas player and it’s an attack which is also pretty poor. Lance Klusener and David Lucas would be the other alternatives but that shouldn’t be so bad at Wantage Rd where I would expect a lot of turning pitches to be created to help Boje and Jason Brown as well as Monty when he plays.

This is a weak Northants squad and even Andrew Hall would only really help them in one day cricket. Their bowling attack on the road could be cannon fodder and Northants could well end up propping up the rest.

Last Season: 5^th
Overseas Player(s): Johann Louw
Key Players: David Sales & Lance Klusener
Best Odds: 12/1 General
Predicted Finishing Position: 9^th

Warwickshire have also changed their coach in the close season. Mark Greatbatch has bit the bullet after one of the stranger seasons in the Bears history and former Warwickshire and England player Ashley Giles has taken over as coach. He’s brought Allan Donald back to the club as a bowling coach and made a couple of clever signings as they aim to take the Bears back into the top flight.

Darren Maddy will wonder how the Bears got relegated last year when half way through they look the winners all ends up. They didn’t win another game though and paid the price. Maddy will captain the side and has a batting lineup that will be affected by Tim Ambrose being with England. Jon Trott should score runs and Ian Bell will help when he’s available but they look a good batsman light at least. Monde Zondeki has been signed as overseas player and will lead the pace attack with Lee Daggett, James Anyon and Boyd Rankin assisting him. Alex Loudon has quit cricket now so Ant Botha has been recruited from Derby to provide the spin option.

Warwickshire will be there or thereabouts but they just lack a bit in the batting lineup for me. Ultimately in this division their bowling should win them matches they will struggle in some competitions unless one of the bits and pieces players have a good run. I still expect the Bears to be challenging for promotion though.

Last Season: 8^th in Division 1
Overseas Player(s): Monde Zondeki
Key Players: Darren Maddy & Boyd Rankin
Best Odds: 5/1 Boylesports/Ladbrokes
Predicted Finishing Position: 2^nd

Worcestershire had an awful season off the field last year. Their ground was proper flooded and they lost a lot of matches and a lot of money. It’s still the case today that any dramatic rainfall will flood the ground again which will hamper the Royals progress this season too.

On the field they’ve lost key opener Phil Jaques and that’s left a big hole in their batting lineup. Vikram Solanki is a guy I like as captain and Graeme Hick continues to churn out the runs. Ben Smith is solid in the middle order and Steven Davies will improve again but Moeen Ali and Stephen Moore aren’t my idea of ideal openers. It may just be that Kabir Ali has to chip in with a few runs. With the ball it’s a different story. Simon Jones and Kabir Ali will always take wickets at this level as will Fidel Edwards when he comes over although Steve Magoffin isn’t the best overseas player until then. Gareth Batty continues to provide the spin but Worcestershire look a little light to me.

The batting relies way too much on 3 men for Worcester to be in the mix in the 4 day game but a one day trophy – possibly the defence of their Pro40 crown won’t be beyond them. How much cricket they can play at New Rd this year may dictate their final league position but I think there will be more above them than below come the end of the season.

Last Season: 9^th in Division 1
Overseas Player(s): Steve Magoffin & Fidel Edwards
Key Players: Vikram Solanki & Kabir Ali
Best Odds: 8/1 Expekt/Blue Square
Predicted Finishing Position: 7^th