The return of the County Championship
English cricket’s purest form returns to grounds across the country in April
For the ill-informed, April 6 2023 may well be just another day. Yet for the English cricket fan, it will be the sporting equivalent of Christmas- and it won’t even be Easter.
The LV County Championship is the purest form of cricket in this country and- despite constant doubts over its future and longevity- the start of the campaign is always a landmark date in the calendar.
In recent years, the glitz and glamour of the Vitality Blast T20 and- even more recently- the Hundred have taken centre stage with the big hitting and rapid fire matches. Despite all this, however, there is still something romantic about the longest format of the county game.
Running through intermittent periods of the season, the County Championship is the bread and butter of the English domestic game. All 18 first class counties, from Durham to Somerset and Nottinghamshire to Glamorgan, will be gunning for glory across the two divisions.
Some sides will have their eye on the title, others on promotion, whilst several will be just happy to avoid relegation. Surrey are the reigning Division One champions having pipped Lancashire and Hampshire to the title last year.
The county, who play their home games at the iconic Kia Oval in London, lost just one of their 14 matches. They will be joined in Division One by newly promoted Nottinghamshire and London rivals Middlesex.
The Second Division looks set to be particularly strong, with cricketing heavyweights Yorkshire facing up to life in the second tier. Having won just one of their 14 games last season, relegation was confirmed in the final match of the campaign.
Yorkshire were relegated alongside Gloucestershire, and both teams will join the likes of Durham and Somerset in the second tier in 2023. The county will be hoping for a swift return to the top tier and hopefully other domestic success.
The competition is the only true experience a player gets of playing the longest format of the game in England (and Wales) and is where England’s test players have learned their trade. But it’s not just frequented by English players.
Some of the top Test cricketers ever to play the game have lent their hand to counties in the English game. In fact, in the coming season, part of Australia’s batting spine will be playing cricket in some of the most iconic county grounds England has to offer.
Steve Smith and Marnus Labuschagne will be turning out for Sussex and Glamorgan respectively. Whilst using their time in the County Championship to get cricket in ahead of the Ashes. They are also bringing world class quality to one of the world’s purist cricketing competitions.
The countdown is on to the start of the 2023 County Championship. Green April wickets from which the ball moves around in all directions, players fielding with woolly hats on and the light threat of snow stopping play are just three reasons why the early round of this competition make it well worth tuning in for.
