Hampshire have eyes on first title in 50 years but Lancashire have recruited well and champions Surrey will be tough to beatCaptain Tom Westley (Championship and 50-over Cup) Coach: Anthony McGrath Last season: 4th Continue reading...
Australia’s best-since-Bradman wants to play a few games before the Ashes but the chance to learn may not be all one wayAt a time when cricketers bounce from one Twenty20 league to the next without much fuss – often halfway through, like cowboy builders yet to finish off the skirting boards – it’s almost reassuring that the idea of a player dropping into the County Championship for “three or four” matches can get plenty of backs up.The player in question is no cowboy, it must be said, rather one Steven Peter Devereux Smith. Yep, Australia’s best-since-Bradman, the master of a thousand idiosyncrasies, has been in talks with Sussex over a short-term deal before the World Test Championship final in June...
Lancashire and Warwickshire look most likely to fight for the title, with Jimmy Anderson’s availability potentially decisive, while Hampshire benefit from a bolstered batting lineup Continue reading...
Somerset and Surrey look best equipped to battle for the title while Division Two features an intriguing race to make the top three promotion places Related: The Spin | Enjoy the cricket season ahead … it will be the last of its kind | Tanya Aldred Twitter: follow us at @guardian_sport Related: Alex Hales: ‘It takes 10 seconds to get an image, 10 years to undo it’ Related: Joe Root v Stuart Broad kicks off cricket bonanza in summer to savour | Vic Marks Continue reading...
England are missing a trick by waiting until the gifted Sussex all-rounder is 27 and need to put a yorker through the rule bookEven with a week to sit on it there is no obvious easing of the dunder-headed inanity that surrounds the England and Wales Cricket Board’s proposed 100-ball competition. On wider reflection this isn’t just a bad idea. It’s more out-there than that, the kind of idea you might expect a precocious toddler to come up with, or some other species altogether: an ambitious sports-marketing chicken with a below average IQ, or a squirrel promoted by a series of unlikely events to a key management role in the national summer sport.Perhaps the only real purpose it has at...