County countdown

Sky Sports pundits reveal who will thrive and struggle to survive in the 2009 County Championship.

Can anyone rip title away from the Riverside?

After digging deep to secure the 2008 County Championship title in dramatic fashion, all eyes will be on Durham this season as they bid to defend their title. The opening round of matches begins this week and what better way could there be to limber up for A Grand Slam Summer of action on Sky Sports than to follow all of the action with skysports.com? Our Score Centre service will keep you up to speed with every run and wicket and we'll bring you the best stories and reaction from the county scene in all versions of the game. Plus, don't forget you can tune into Sky Sports News for live updates from selected games throughout the season, starting at the Rose Bowl on Wednesday when Hampshire entertain Worcestershire, who were promoted from division two last season. And across the summer Sky Sports will show every county at least three times in its exclusively live coverage of the four major domestic competitions. All of that adds up to plenty of work for our esteemed panel of commentators and columnists and the hard graft starts here as David Lloyd, Bob Willis, Michael Atherton, Nasser Hussain and Ian Ward reveal who they think will taste County Championship glory in 2009.

David Lloyd

DIVISION ONE:
Durham are my pick for the title - they are the standout team. They've got a good pace attack and their batting, featuring the likes of Will Smith and Dale Benkenstein, always takes care of itself plus this year Ian Blackwell is also on board. They have a good crop of emerging players too, such as Ben Harmison and Phil Mustard, and it may be that Steve Harmison plays for quite some time if he doesn't force his way into England's team. Even though he only played a few matches last year he was a big player for Durham. They are a good all-round side and well-organised by Geoff Cook, who I think is one of the very best coaches; he isn't in the running for the England job because he's English! It will be a hell of a scrap to determine who stays in division one this season but I think Lancashire might struggle even though in Peter Moores they have got a great coach; they've been talking about winning the Championship but I'm not sure they have enough quality, particularly as they will lose James Anderson and Andrew Flintoff to England. Plus now there's the rumble that Sajid Mahmood might overtake Steve Harmison. Ashwell Prince and VVS Laxman are really good international players but Prince didn't pull any trees up at Nottinghamshire last year and Laxman often has injury problems. With Stuart Law gone they've lost a lot of runs and although Dominic Cork wasn't everybody's cup of tea, he was unbelievably competitive. DIVISION TWO
I know this is going to sound absolutely stupid but I think division two is stronger than Division One. Essex, Middlesex, Surrey and Kent are going to be scrapping like mad - they've all got a lot going for them. Kent are a terrific side, very well led by Rob Key, and I'm backing them to go straight back up from division two even though they've got a coach who was short-listed for England after they were relegated! They've got all departments covered thanks to the likes of Joe Denly, Ryan McLaren, Robbie Joseph and Geraint Jones. Surrey have put all of the bricks in place - the question now is, can they play? Can they get rid of the doubtful attitude and play with attitude?
Michael Brown is a player Lancashire wanted but they missed him and he'll do fine at the Oval. Middlesex have got Angus Fraser back and, make no mistake, he'll definitely want to win, and Essex are always a good young outfit and in Grayson they have an excellent coach. If I was a complete neutral, I'd be watching division two!

Bob Willis

DIVISION ONE:
I think Nottinghamshire will learn from their mistakes of last year, when they narrowly missed out on the Championship, and I'd make them favourites to win it this time under the guidance of Chris Read, who is a top-quality cricketer. Ryan Sidebottom won't play for England this summer because I don't think the selectors believe he is fit enough, so he should be available to them, as should Samit Patel for most of the season. If Graeme Swann is playing for England then Jason Brown, fresh from Northants, can fill in and Ali Brown has also arrived after getting a pretty raw deal at Surrey over the last couple of years. What's more they still have all of the players that got them so close last year so I think they are a better equipped side all round to really push for the title this year. I think Swann might play for England in front of Monty Panesar this season but if he doesn't there's another top-quality all-rounder that Nottinghamshire will have at their disposal, while the likelihood is that Will Jefferson will continue to improve. Coach Mike Newell is a steady character; he knows the county scene. He's seen the comings and goings. They have off-loaded some older players and got a handy squad. At the other end of the table I think Worcestershire look vulnerable because if Simon Jones stays fit, England will probably pick him. Anyway, I never think their bowling is strong enough to take 20 wickets so I think they will struggle. The batting is strong enough despite the departure of Graeme Hick - my worry is the lack of quality bowling at their disposal. I don't know how well Somerset are going to go this season. It's easy scoring runs at Taunton, the trouble with winning Championship games is getting 20 wickets and I expect to see them down the bottom with Sussex. DIVISION TWO:
It was a big surprise that Kent went down last year and I'd expect them to bounce back up straightaway from division two. The other spot will go to either Middlesex or Essex. I'm a big fan of Steven Finn, the young pace bowler, while Phil Hughes will go very well before the Ashes and Andrew Strauss will be there during the World Twenty20. I don't think Owais Shah is going to play for England in Test cricket, so he'll be around and skipper Shaun Udal has a very experienced head. Losing Ed Joyce is a big loss to them but Eoin Morgan is a very talented cricketer - he's in the development squad - so all-in-all I think Middlesex are strong.

Michael Atherton

DIVISION ONE:
I can't see past Durham; there is so little bowling around in the County Championship, or so few teams with cutting edge, that Durham's bowling reserves will be crucial as they are well ahead of everyone else's - particularly IF England move on from Steve Harmison. They have back-up from the likes of Liam Plunkett and Graham Onions. Some of the county champions of recent years haven't won that many games and you can do pretty well by picking up bonus points and not losing but I still feel you have got to win games to win the Championship. Plunkett is still relatively young, strong and pacy and his inclusion in the EPS shows he hasn't been forgotten, particularly as England haven't bowled teams out regularly over the last couple of years. Ian Blackwell strikes me as a good addition to the squad because his England days are probably behind him - he may get picked for Twenty20 but you can't see him playing a lot of international cricket - so he is likely to be available all year round and as we've seen from his century at Lord's he's got some ability. With neither Peter Moores nor Chris Adams at Hove, Sussex are my pick to go down. That's not to say Mike Robinson and Mike Yardy can't do a good job replacing them but I can't see where they are going to get wickets from; the pitch at Hove is a dead surface and although they usually have the advantage of good weather down there, which I'm sure Ed Joyce will capitalise on, it is hard to see how they are going to bowl teams out. They barely survived last year and again will have a battle on their hands. DIVISION TWO:
Angus Fraser is going to turn things around dramatically at Middlesex by knocking the team into shape. Murali Kartik is top-class - every time I see him I think he's one of the best spin bowlers around; he's got a very natural, fluid, easy action and is a good thinking bowler too. I'm looking forward to seeing Phil Hughes play in the Ashes; I don't go in for the criticism that others have directed at Middlesex for signing an Australian just before the Ashes. It's good to see the best players around and Phil Hughes is an exciting batsman and members at Lord's will enjoy watching him play. I can't believe Shaun Udal is in England's 30-man squad for the World Twenty20 at 40 years of age but that is a testament to him and reflects badly on the rest of the talent elsewhere; he is a canny operator in limited overs cricket where you don't need to be too aggressive and I'm sure Middlesex with try to prepare dry pitches for him and Kartik and play to their strengths.

Ian Ward

DIVISION ONE: I'll buck the trend and go for Lancashire to challenge as an outside bet. It's a situation ideally suited to Peter Moores because he's a very hands-on coach and there are a lot of things for him to get stuck into and implement; the job at Old Trafford should suit him down to the ground. I'm a big fan of Pete, having worked with him at Sussex and England A, and I think the young players there will respond very well to him. There are players who still have quite a lot to prove - I'm thinking in particular of someone like Sajid Mahmood - and I think that Pete, now he knows exactly what is required at England level can help the youngsters come through. In all honesty it could be as many as three years to early for them to win something like the County Championship, which is fought over such a long period of time but who knows? If the side clicks, enthusiasm might seem them through. In Glen Chapple they have a hugely experienced captain; it feels as though Chaps has been churning out the overs for donkeys years now! This is his first real crack at captaincy so he'll be enthusiastic and bring in some new ideas. Much may depend on whether he can remain fit for an entire season, particularly if he is going to be playing in all forms of cricket, which is a tough ask. Yes, a lot of the older guard have gone - Dominic Cork, Stuart Law - but that means Pete has got a younger mean age throughout the squad to work with. DIVISION TWO:
I did some work with Graham Thorpe in the studio during the West Indies series and he was singing the praises of new coach Chris Adams as well as being very positive about what was going on behind the scenes. The one concern for them is can their bowlers stay fit? They've signed Andre Nel but James Ormond hasn't got a strong track record of staying on the field in the last three or four years and Alex Tudor has never stayed on the field for an entire summer so they are relying heavily on Nel, Chris Jordan - who has a very big future - and some of the younger brigade like Jade Dernbach and Stuart Meaker to come through. The other issue is can they get Harbhajan and, if so, for how long? If he plays for two-thirds of the season he will probably win you three or four games, but its a little bit ifs and buts with Surrey. I expect them to be challenging and, let's face it, they can't do much worse than last year!

Nasser Hussain

DIVISION ONE:
I'm also going for Durham to win the division one crown - I just can't see beyond them. They are going to have key players available for most of the summer and Will Smith and Michael Di Venuto will score heavily. They have a battery of seamers that few counties can rival - plus Steve Harmison might play quite a bit this summer - and they know how to win. The only thing that could stop them is the weather. DIVISION TWO: I fancy Kent just ahead of Essex because Essex lose a couple of players at the beginning of the season like Ravi Bopara, who is off to the IPL. I thought Kent were unlucky to go down last season because they have a well-balanced side. If Essex go up I think they will stay up; what they've struggled to do in recent years is force results and they've relied too heavily on Danish Kaneria to with them games. They've always been there or thereabouts but not won enough games. They are a very difficult side to beat because they play a lot of all-rounders: you have the likes of James Foster, James Middlebrook, Grant Flower, Graham Napier - they bat all the way down. Napier sometimes comes in at nine in four-day cricket but then you also need match-winners with the ball and I've just got a feeling that they rely too heavily on Kaneria. I think Matt Walker is an excellent signing, although more so in one-day cricket than four-day. He's always done well against Essex and played well at Chelmsford and there's no doubt he'll add to what is already a formidable one-day side.