Published: 28/01/2010 17:35:06 | Modified: 29/01/2010 10:38:40
Author: Mark Baldwin | All Contributors
Tremlett signing further boost for ‘second tier’
The switch to two divisions in the County Championship was always designed to create a divide among the 18 first-class counties; in other words, to manufacture a first-rate first division and a second-rate division two.
We have now had ten seasons of two-division cricket. A decade has passed since the following nine counties made up the initial first division in the summer of 2000: Surrey, Lancashire, Leicestershire, Somerset, Kent, Yorkshire, Hampshire, Durham and Derbyshire.
The first ‘two-tier’ champions were Surrey, who had also won in 1999, and Lancashire again reprised their familiar runners-up position. Hampshire, Durham and Derbyshire were relegated, to be replaced in 2001 by Northants, Essex and Glamorgan, but the most noticeable thing about this first decade is the complete lack of any permanent pattern emerging.
No county has remained in the top division throughout the first ten years, although Kent have spent only one season (last summer) in division two. Most counties have been up and down like a department store lift.
Current two-times champions Durham were hopeless in the early Noughties, while the then peerless Surrey have been hopeless in more recent times.
Surrey, however, are spending cash like a lottery winner as they aim to get back into the ‘first-rate’ ranks. Chris Tremlett, deemed surplus to requirements at first division Hampshire after they had lured Kabir Ali away from second division Worcestershire, is the latest high-profile county player to find his way to the Oval.
Tremlett has signed a three-year contract and, at 28, is still at the peak of his powers. He impressed when selected by England at Test level, against India in 2007.
He is notoriously injury-prone, but is unquestionably a quality bowler and can now line up in Surrey’s pace attack alongside the likes of Andre Nel, Jade Dernbach, Chris Jordan and Stuart Meaker, the youngster perhaps already the quickest bowler in the land let alone the second division.
Surrey, of course, can add Tremlett to a host of new signings made since their disappointing first season under Chris Adams last year: Steven Davies and Gareth Batty, Indian leg-spinner Piyush Chawla as overseas player, and 22-year old new captain Rory Hamilton-Brown, brought back to south London from Sussex.
But look, too, at the array of talent elsewhere in division two. And I’m not forgetting Mark Ramprakash’s continued presence at Surrey, at 40 still the best batsman in county cricket.
Sussex have signed Monty Panesar, out of favour with England but a proven world-class spinner, to add to a potent mix at Hove which also contains fellow internationals Ed Joyce, Mike Yardy, Luke Wright, Yasir Arafat, Murray Goodwin and Matt Prior, England’s wicketkeeper.
Leicestershire are to be led in 2010 by Matthew Hoggard, have Australian all-rounder Andrew McDonald as their senior overseas player and in James Taylor and Nathan Buck have two of the most exciting young cricketers in the country.
Middlesex, too, have highly-rated young talent coming through, headed by Eoin Morgan, Steven Finn and Dawid Malan, with Owais Shah to add know-how and class to a batting line-up which can also occasionally feature the England captain, Andrew Strauss.
At Worcester there are experienced and top-class cricketers such as Vikram Solanki and Phil Jaques, at Northampton there are the likes of David Sales, Andrew Hall and Nicky Boje, at Gloucestershire the seasoned Steve Kirby and James Franklin, and at Derby the combative Chris Rogers and Graham Wagg.
Glamorgan, with young all-rounder James Harris to the fore, are also rebuilding steadily after a difficult few years, and competition between division two counties in 2010 will be fierce and clearly of a very decent standard. All the 'best' p