The 2026 County Championship season is upon us.
All 18 teams will be in action in Friday’s curtain-raiser.
Anderson and Robinson Take on Captaincy Roles
Ex-England Test bowling partners James Anderson and Ollie Robinson will captain Lancashire and Sussex respectively in 2026.
Will captaincy reopen England door for Robinson?
England players do not play enough county cricket.
Derbyshire Aim to Build on Strong Season
Last season was Derbyshire’s best since 2014, climbing from bottom of the second division to third in the table and only missing out on promotion by five points.
The task head of cricket Mickey Arthur has is to improve on that – and he has had a strong off-season.
Pakistan’s Mohammad Abbas has joined from neighbours Nottinghamshire on a two-year deal and ought to be a key man in the quest for wickets. After all, he took 32 of them at just 21.46 in nine first division matches in 2025.
England spinner Shoaib Bashir has arrived from Somerset looking for more game time to relaunch his career after what must have been a frustrating winter. Still only 22 years old, he will surely get plenty of opportunities.
Matt Montgomery, who had a loan spell with Derbyshire in the One-Day Cup last season when he scored two centuries in six innings, has joined permanently on a three-year deal to further strengthen an already-impressive batting line-up which includes Australian Caleb Jewell, who returns after reaching 1,000 Championship runs last year, and skipper Wayne Madsen who also hit that mark.
Luis Reece will be looking to build on a campaign in which he was the leading wicket-taker in Division Two with 50 at just 19 in addition to scoring more than 600 first-class runs.
Expectations have been raised.
It will be fascinating to see how they deliver.
Durham Look to Bounce Back After Relegation
Durham find themselves in Division Two once again, just a couple of years after going up.
The last time they were relegated – due to poor form – they won only two Championship games. That was in the summer of 2000.
After beating (eventual title winners) Notts in May last year, they appeared to be heading in the right direction, but as it turned out, that was it.
They did not win another match and were relegated after a disastrous final day in Leeds.