The Sports Lowdown For All Your News and OpinionsWith Yorkshire winning the last two County Championships, the White Rose County were strong favourites to make it three in a row this season, despite being hampered by England call-ups. And while Yorkshire are well poised in second place, it is their bitter rivals Lancashire who lead the pack at the half way stage of the season.
Lancashire, only promoted last season, were the bookies’ favourites to go down, but Ashley Giles has put his disappointing spell at England coach behind him to lead them to the summit of the Championship, with three wins and just one defeat from their opening eight games. Liam Livingstone has been in excellent form, while they have also benefited from James Anderson being available for a large chunk of the season.
Yorkshire are in second and are just nine points behind their rivals with a game in hand. Still unbeaten, the defending Champions have had to cope without Joe Root, Jonny Bairstow, Adil Rashid, Liam Plunkett and David Willey for a big chunk of the season. Despite this, Jason Gillespie’s side are well placed to retain their crown and with the evergreen Ryan Sidebottom and Tim Bresnan performing well with the ball, and former England stars Gary Ballance and Adam Lyth starring with the bat, Yorkshire have an excellent chance of making it three titles on the spin.
Middlesex and Durham are both well poised in third and fourth place respectively. Middlesex are just eleven points short of Lancashire, with Sam Robson catching the eyes of the England selectors with three centuries to his name so far this season. Durham have their own potential England player in Scott Borthwick spear heading their title charge. Durham currently sit just thirteen points behind leaders Lancashire, with a game in hand.
The tight nature of the division this season is emphasised by Warwickshire and Somerset, who sit fifth and sixth, but are just fourteen and fifteen points respectively behind Lancashire. Warwickshire may be slightly disappointed with their season so far, with just one win to their name from their opening eight matches, despite having a formidable batting line up which includes former England stars Ian Bell and Johnathan Trott. Somerset, on the other hand, have an exciting young side, which includes seamers Craig and Jamie Overton, and opener Tom Abell. While a title push this season may be beyond Somerset, they will be hoping this years’ experience will stand their young side in good stead for next season.
This year’s relegation battle looks to be between Nottinghamshire, Surrey and Hampshire. While Hampshire may have expected to be in this position, better things were expected off Notts and Surrey this season.
Nottinghamshire are used to competing for titles, but this year their batting line-up, which includes former Zimbabwe captain Brendan Taylor and Michael Lumb, has not fired in the longest form of the game this season. This is all the more surprising given their impression antics in one-day tournaments this season. Notts will still fancy their chances of staying up, but are currently just eight points clear of second bottom Surrey, who have a game in hand. Notts are in the fortunate position of having two vastly experienced coaches at the club, with Mick Newell holding the position of Director of Cricket and former England coach Peter Moores acting as a consultant to the side.
Surrey had a dreadful start to the season, but their recent victory over Notts has given them hope of staying up. Although Surrey were only promoted last year, many expected a team which includes Kumar Sangakarra and Jason Roy to compete for the title, but following a succession of injuries to their bowling line up, the London side find themselves fighting to stay up, and will need a much better second half to the season if they are to keep their place in Division One next season. Meanwhile, Hampshire, who narrowly beat the drop last season, are rock bottom, with just one win and three defeats in their opening seven matches.
There is still plenty of time left for the table to be turned on its head, and just fifteen points separate the top six teams. While anything can still happen, The Sports Lowdown is predicting that Yorkshire will retain their title and Surrey and Hampshire will find themselves playing in the Second Division next season.
