All eyes on Marcus

There may still be two weeks to go in

'The World Cup That Will Never

End’ but the County Championship

will emerge blinking into

the spring sunshine on

Wednesday — if the

weather holds.

Domestic cricket is again

fighting an increasingly

difficult battle to retain its

niche in an ever-expanding

sporting market.

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International matches pay

the bills for counties, which

those myopic clubs who fill

their sides with dubious players

from abroad who somehow

qualify as non-overseas should

remember.

But there are still

enough supporters who prefer

a day’s cricket at Taunton or

Sophia Gardens to yet

another Super Eight match for

the championship to matter.

An anachronism, perhaps, but

one worth preserving.

The LV Championship —

sponsors Liverpool Victoria

now prefer to use their initials

— should, of course, be a

breeding ground for international

players, preferably English.

But it is all too often hindered

by short-sighted

county officials who are more

interested in preserving their

jobs by splashing out on

short-term success.

What we need are overseas

players who hang around for longer than just a few weeks,

so they can genuinely become

part of the team and pass on

their skills to younger players,

and fewer Kolpak players

clogging up the system.

The Championship is, of

course, a more credible competition

now the yo-yo effect

of three up-three down in two

nine-team leagues has been

reduced by one county and

Division One is now truly the

home of most of the elite players.

Even Mark Ramprakash

was wise enough to admit

after his record-breaking

season last year that his

achievements were slightly

devalued in that they were

made for a Surrey side enduring

a rare season in the

Second Division.

Even so, there are enough

players of quality in the second

tier this year for it to be of

interest. The focus will be on

Taunton, venue for so many

heroic deeds from the likes of

Viv Richards, Ian Botham and

Joel Garner in county

cricket’s last golden age.

Taunton looks much the

same as it did in its prime and

it can expect cricket on a

similarly spectacular scale

because of the batting potential

of four of the most exciting

cricketers in the division.

Marcus Trescothick is likely

to be a permanent fixture in

the Somerset side.

Add the

arrival for the whole season of

Justin Langer as captain and

the big-hitting potential of a

fit Ian Blackwell and leg-spinning

all-rounder Cameron

White and you can see why

Taunton will be the Second

Division’s place to be.

Counties see all too little of

their leading players these

days but the stress-related illness

that robbed England of

one of their best batsmen this

winter will at least allow

Somerset to enjoy his presence

and immense runscoring

ability.

Trescothick has a genuine

affinity for Somerset and his

renaissance in his home environment

will not only be good

for his health but also that of

the county game.

Expect one

of the most popular figures in

cricket to set Division Two

alight this year while being

accompanied by constant

speculation as to when he will

regain his England place.

It may not be enough, however,

to complete Somerset’s

transformation from bottom

to top.

It still seems incredible that

Nottinghamshire allowed

themselves to slip out of the

First Division with a hapless

display against champions

Sussex in last season’s final

game and they will surely

set the pace in the second

flight this time.

As well as

the lauded leadership of

Stephen Fleming they have

made two of the shrewdest

domestic signings of the

last year in recruiting Will

Jefferson from Essex and

welcoming back Bilal

Shafayat from Northants.

Elsewhere, Essex look a

good bet for promotion if they

can make up for the late

departure of Darren Gough,

while it will be intriguing to

see how Ed Smith’s ‘intelligent’

leadership fares with

Middlesex.

Spare a thought, though, for

cash-strapped Glamorgan,

who have had to rely on a local

dentist to stump up funds to

pay Australian batsman

Jimmy Maher.

By the end of

the season captain David

Hemp may well be pining for

Dwayne Leverock and his

other Bermuda chums from

the World Cup. At least Hemp

became used in the Caribbean

to playing for no-hopers.

LV COUNTY CHAMPIONSHIP – DIVISION TWO

DERBYSHIRE

Last season: 5th.

Captain: Simon Katich.

Overseas players: Katich,

Travis Birt (both Aus).

In: Boyd Rankin (Ire), Phil Weston,

Ian Harvey (both Gloucs).

Out: Michael Di Venuto (Aus), Lee

Goddard, Andrew Gray, Steffan

Jones, Marcus North, Mohammad

Sheikh.

One to watch: Harvey.

Prediction: 7th.

MIDDLESEX

Last season: Bottom of

Division One.

Captain: Ed Smith.

Overseas players: Chaminda Vaas

(SL), Murali Kartik (Ind).

In: Richard Johnson,

Tim Murtagh.

Out: Mohammad Ali, Melvyn Betts,

Johann Louw (SA).

One to watch: Nick Compton.

Prediction: 4th

ESSEX

Last season: 3rd.

Captain: Ronnie Irani.

Overseas players:

Danish Kaneria (Pak),

Andre Nel (SA, until June), Andy

Bichel (Aus, from June).

In: Darren Thomas (Glamorgan).

Out: Andre Adams (NZ), Darren

Gough, Will Jefferson, Ashley Cowan.

One to watch: Varun Chopra.

Prediction: 2nd.

NORTHAMPTONSHIRE

Last season: 6th

Captain: David Sales.

Overseas players:

Johannes van der Wath

(SA), Chris Rogers (Aus).

In: Richard Browning, Andrew Crook,

Richard Dawson, David Lucas, Niall

O’Brien.

Out: Sourav Ganguly (Ind),

Ben Phillips, Matt Nicholson, Charl

Pietersen (SA), Bilal Shafayat.

One to watch: Dawson.

Prediction: 5th.

GLAMORGAN

Last season: 8th

Captain: David Hemp.

Overseas players:

Matthew Elliott, Jimmy

Maher (both Aus).

In: William Bragg, Aaron Shingler.

Out: Mark Cosgrove (Aus), James

Franklin, Brendon McCullum (NZ),

Darren Thomas.

One to watch: Simon Jones.

Prediction: 9th.

NOTTINGHAMSHIRE

Last season: 8th Div One.

Captain: Stephen Fleming.

Overseas players:

Fleming (NZ), David

Hussey (Aus).

In: Will Jefferson, Rob Ferley, Mark

Wagh, Bilal Shafayat.

Out: Darren Bicknell, Paul McMahon,

Anurag Singh, Greg Smith, Russell

Warren, Will Smith.

One to watch: Jefferson.

Prediction: 1st.

LEICESTERSHIRE

Last season: 4th.

Captain:

Jeremy Snape.

Overseas players: Mansoor Amjad

(Pak), RP Singh (Ind).

In: Harry Gurney, David Stiff.

Out: Steven Clark, Adam Griffith,

Aftab Habib, Chris Liddle, Darren

Maddy , Mohammad Asif (Ind),

Dinesh Mongia (Ind).

One to watch: Mansoor Amjad.

Prediction: 6th.

GLOUCESTERSHIRE

Last season: 7th.

Captain: Jon Lewis.

Overseas players:

Hamish Marshall

(NZ), Marcus

North, Ashley Noffke (both Aus).

In: Thomas Stayt, Jackson

Thompson.

Out: James Averis, Martyn Ball, Ian

Harvey, Phil Weston, Matt Windows.

One to watch: Alex Gidman.

Prediction: 8th.

SOMERSET

Last season: 9th.

Captain: Justin Langer.

Overseas players:

Langer and Cameron

White (both Aus).

In: Craig Kieswetter, Samuel

Spurway, Mark Turner, Charl

Willoughby.

Out: Simon Francis, Richard

Johnson.

One to watch: Marcus Trescothick.

Prediction: 3rd.