County Championship 2022: team-by-team guide to the new season

Captain Tom Westley Head coach Anthony McGrath

It was something of a shock when Essex failed win the Championship last year after lifting the trophy in 2017 and 2019 and the “Bob” in 2020. The die was set in late April when one-man wicket-muncher Simon Harmer went wicketless in the second innings at Edgbaston against Warwickshire (the eventual Champions), Essex’s first first-class defeat in 22 games. Harmer’s availability, now he’s returned to South Africa’s embrace, will be crucial, this year, as will the form of Alastair Cook, who has signed a two-year deal. Off the field, fallout from a bad-tempered winter rumbles on.Prediction Fourth (of 10)

Captain Graeme van Buuren Head of cricket Dale Benkenstein

Promotion – at last! Gloucestershire have waited three years to take up their first division berth earned in the autumn of 2o19, but kept performances up. A squad of batting bubbling with promise – Tom Lace, Chris Dent, and the unlucky James Bracey, spat out by the England machine last season – is backed up by the arrival of Marcus Harris. Off the field, the club continues to work tirelessly on its environmental status, pledging to meet net zero by 2040.Prediction Eighth

Captain James Vince Team manager Adi Birrell

Hampshire came within a snort of the Championship title in a thrilling game against Lancashire at the end of last season that they lost by one wicket. Captain James Vince was head and shoulders above the rest in that game, much as he had been all season. That somewhat fallible batting has been bolstered by the arrival of Ben Brown from Sussex and Nick Gubbins from Middlesex, while the bowling – Mohammad Abbas, Kyle Abbott, Keith Barker, Brad Wheal, Mason Crane and Liam Dawson – looks after itself, especially in