County Championship 2026: Will faith healer help Kent launch promotion push? Division Two preview and predictions
Kent's unusual way of looking to stave off injuries, Shoaib Bashir aiming to rebuild at Derbyshire, James Anderson captaining Lancashire, Gloucestershire's seam-bowling exodus - we assess the stories in County Championship Division Two and reveal our predicted, and likely way off, table
Wednesday 1 April 2026 13:00, UK
If Kent are to mount a promotion push this season, perhaps it can be attributed to the faith healer head coach Adam Hollioake deployed to "ward off evil spirits" at their home ground in Canterbury after a raft of injuries over recent years.
Yes, that actually happened, with the county confirming a "non-denominational geopathic surveyor" visited during the winter.
It would be easy to tease Kent for this but surely anything that can get the side in a better frame of mind after back-to-back dismal seasons has to be a good thing, right?
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They have won just three matches in red-ball cricket across the last two campaigns, following relegation from Division One at the end of 2024 with a rock-bottom finish in the second tier 12 months later, so what chance of a turnaround in 2026?
We assess the teams in County Championship Division Two…
The contenders
Durham are among the frontrunners for promotion after their remarkable relegation last term when, needing to bat out two sessions for a draw on the final day against Yorkshire, at Headingley, wilted to 85 all out and finished a point below Hampshire.
If they can shake off that disappointment, they should be a real force with veteran West Indies seamer Kemar Roach around for the first half of the summer to support Ben Raine, Matthew Potts and promising left-arm James Minto.
A batting line-up containing England hopefuls Emilio Gay and Ben McKinney, England alumnus Alex Lees and South Africa's David Bedingham should provide oodles of runs.
Lancashire were expected to romp into the top tier last season and make their stay in Division Two last just one year but that did not materialise, with poor results seeing Dale Benkenstein sacked as coach and Keaton Jennings step down as captain.
Two Lancashire stalwarts are at the helm now in coach Steven Croft and skipper James Anderson, with the latter backed up in the seam-bowling ranks by the off-season acquisition of the zippy Ajeet Singh Dale from Gloucestershire.
There remains off-field rancour with some, including former Sky Sports commentator David Lloyd, believing the hierarchy have focused too much on commercial rather than cricketing matters but on the field Lancashire should better last year's finish of fifth.
The fit-again Rocky Flintoff, teenage son of Andrew, will be one to follow.
Derbyshire will be hoping to follow fellow Midland club Leicestershire's lead by backing up a season of progression with a promotion campaign. Mickey Arthur's men came third in 2025, behind Leicestershire and Glamorgan, and look strong again.
The signing of metronomic Pakistan seamer Mohammad Abbas is a real coup and he could form a potent pairing with Luis Reece, who snaffled a leading 50 wickets in Division Two last term, while England spinner Shoaib Bashir will be hoping to re-establish himself after being released by Somerset and failing to get a gig in the Ashes
Aussie Caleb Jewell and the evergreen Wayne Madsen are batting linchpins, while Matt Montgomery has arrived from Nottinghamshire. This could be Derbyshire's time.
The pretenders
Kent have welcomed back a couple of old faces as they aim for a fresh start, with seamer Matt Milnes re-joining from Yorkshire and batter Sam Northeast returning to Canterbury via stints at Hampshire and Glamorgan since leaving in 2017.
Northeast bolsters a batting line-up that will see a fair bit of Zak Crawley early season, and perhaps more later on if the England axe falls. Tawanda Muyeye, Ben Compton, Daniel Bell-Drummond and England U19 Ben Dawkins could also star with the blade.
Bowling-wise, the exit of Nathan Gilchrist to Warwickshire is a blow but Keith Dudgedon is back after a knee injury cut short his 2025 spell. Dudgeon's fellow South African, spin-bowling all-rounder Senuran Muthusamy, arrives in late May and looks a shrewd get.
Worcestershire earned just 12 batting bonus points last year as they finished at the foot of Division One and so Jake Libby (1,060 runs at 44.16) will need a greater level of support if they are to return to the elite division at the first attempt.
The bowling is strong with Tom Taylor, Matthew Waite and Ben Allison but there remains mystery over if and when South African Beyers Swanepoel arrives after he walked off the field during a domestic game at home, with Cricket South Africa now investigating.
Middlesex have added nobody and lost Stevie Eskinazi to Leicestershire during a tame winter transfer-wise, with the big news the appointment of Peter Fulton as coach and club legend Mike Gatting part of a group of ex-players urging chair Richard Sykes to quit.
It could be a tame season, too, unless some of the promising young bowlers, including Noah Cornwell and Sebastian Morgan, can chip in alongside stalwarts Ryan Higgins and Toby Roland-Jones.
As ever, it will be interesting to follow the form of Michael Atherton's son Josh de Caires, who is now back as a top-order batter after a stint as a spin-bowling all-rounder at No 7.
Unlike Middlesex, Northamptonshire have been busy in the transfer market, bringing in Australia batter Nathan McSweeney for all forms, Louis Kimber from Leicestershire and leg-spinner Calvin Harrison on a permanent basis from Nottinghamshire.
With Indian spinner Yuzvendra Chahal rocking up again later in the campaign, potentially on some wearing pitches, a Northants promotion charge should not be ruled out, although other clubs look to be better equipped at this stage.
Still, if Saif Zaib performs anywhere close to last term - his haul of 1,425 runs was the highest in the country - you never know.
The outsiders
Gloucestershire are most people's picks to finish last in Division Two and we cannot argue, with the Bristol-based side suffering a seam-bowling exodus, including Singh Dale's departure to Lancashire. Archie Bailey (Durham), Zaman Akhter (Essex), Dom Goodman, Tom Price (both Sussex) and Josh Shaw (Somerset) have also left.
Runs should come through Cameron Bancroft, Miles Hammond, Ben Charlesworth, Ollie Price and James Bracey but the bowling line-up, spearheaded by ex-Lancashire man Will Williams and the returning Craig Miles from Warwickshire, has its work cut out.
Skyscraping Aussie Gabe Bell is around early season.
Predictions
Opening round fixtures
All matches begin 11am, Friday April 3:
- Derbyshire vs Worcestershire
- Middlesex vs Gloucestershire
- Northamptonshire vs Lancashire
- Durham vs Kent
