The Reverse Sweep

County Championship 2012 Preview: Division 2 - Yorkshire

In the words of their own Chairman, Yorkshire's players were a bloody disgrace as they were relegated last season. Their woes were compounded when Lancashire finally ended their 77 year long wait for the title.

Strengths

Where do you start? The squad is a seriously good one. Ryan Sidebottom oozes class with the new ball, Tim Bresnan should play a few games, Ajmal Shahzad can surely not endure as poor a season as last nor Adil Rashid. The batting is bristling with talent with Joe Root, Jonathan Bairstow and captain Andrew Gale leading the way. Phil Jacques is an excellent choice as overseas batsman and could do what Jacques Rudolph did for years.

Weaknesses

An unerring ability to shoot themselves in the foot. Expectations will be high so a good start will be necessary to prevent the loss of form and confidence suffered by the likes of Shahzad, Rashid and Adam Lyth last season

Main man

The star of Adil Rashid waned dramatically in 2011, but leg spinners tend to mature like a fine bottle of Chateau Lafitte - it takes time, care and patience. The arrival of Jason Gillespie as coach and the prospect of a long line of quivvering Division 2 batsmen could provide the spur that the 24 year old needs to revive his fortunes.

Look out for

Plenty of quips, barbs and controversy as Geoffrey Boycott takes a turn at being President. The sight of him in the nets with a stick of rhubarb will be one to behold.

Prediction

Champions - far too good for Division 2.

Where next? 

Read our Division 1 previews: Durham, Lancashire, Middlesex, Notts, Somerset, Surrey, Sussex, Warwickshire and Worcestershire

Division 2 previews: Derbyshire, Essex, Glamorgan, Gloucestershire, Hampshire, Kent, Leicestershire, Northants and Yorkshire

2011 County Cricket Review: including Heroes of the Season, Best and Worst XIs, and a whole host of other nonsense

County Championship 2011 Preview - Yorkshire

Yorkshire chairman Colin Graves gets straight to the point

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County Championship 2012 Preview: Division 1 - Surrey

Promoted on the final day of the season last year, how will County Cricket's equivalent of Manchester City fare back in the top flight?

Strengths

In most cases, it is all about survival for teams in their first season after promotion from Division 2. However, given the strength of Surrey's squad, this may not be the case here. The bowling stocks appear to be as good as any with new signing Jon Lewis making it a quartet of England seam bowlers along with Chris Tremlett, Jade Dernbach and Stuart Meaker. Murali Kartik looks a good choice of overseas player as does Jacques Rudolph who will fill in until Kartik arrives after the IPL. The batting looks just as strong with the evergreen Mark Ramprakash, Rudolph and Zander de Bruyn joined by some tremendously talented young batsmen such as Jason Roy, Tom Maynard, captain Rory Hamilton-Brown and keeper Steven Davies. All in all, Surrey look to have a formidable side on paper.

Weaknesses

The lack of a genuinely top-class opening batsman - although Rudolph can fill in for the first couple of months - could mean Ramprakash and de Bruyn are exposed to the new ball too frequently. The England selectors could come calling on a regular basis, which could test the depth of the squad as could likely injuries to the likes of Tremlett.

Main man

Whilst Tremlett (if fit) is likely to play more games than last season given his likely slip down the pecking order of England seamers and Maynard looks a great prospect, it's harder to look further than Mark Ramprakash. Injuries and a subsequent meagre return of runs (by his lofty standards) may have plagued him last season, but the challenge of scoring runs in Division 1 is likely to revive him.

Look out for

Some partcularly quick, green and bouncy Oval tracks - with a seam quartet like this, it would be silly not to play to their strengths. 

Prediction

3rd - They could go all the way and will certainly go close to lifting the title, but not quite this year in our view.

Where next?

Read our Division 1 previews: Durham, Lancashire, Middlesex, Notts, Somerset, Surrey, Sussex, Warwickshire and Worcestershire

Division 2 previews: Derbyshire, Essex, Glamorgan, Gloucestershire, Hampshire, Kent, Leicestershire, Northants and Yorkshire

Mark Ramprakash: English cricket’s great lost talent

2011 County Cricket Review: including Heroes of the Season, Best and Worst XIs, and a whole host of other nonsense

County Cricket 2011 Heroes: Rory Hamilton-Brown

County Championship Preview 2011 - Surrey 

Check out all our Reverse Sweep cricket heroes and zeroes 

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2nd Test: South Africa v Australia - South Africa marks out of 10

Graeme Smith - 5: Undone by Johnson first time around and the extra bounce of Lyons in the 2nd innings. Gamble to bring on Tahir in the final throes of the chase failed.

Jacques Rudolph - 5: Looked well set in both innings before two tame dismissals. Will need to start kicking on to resist the claims of Alviro Petersen for his spot in the side.

Hashim Amla - 9: Was content to be circumspect as Kallis blasted away at the other end on day one, before playing what appeared to be the crucial knock of the Test with his 2nd innings hundred. Averages over 70 since the start of 2010 and on this form has a claim to be the best batsman in the world today.

Jacques Kallis - 6: 1st innings 54 off just 41 balls was very un-Kallis like, before the big man was out-foxed by Cummins second time around. Disappointing with the ball again: he now averages 53 with the ball since the start of 2010 in stark contrast to the 80 he offers with the bat. Can he now be classed as an all-rounder?

AB De Villiers - 7: A pair of fluent fifties only tells half the story as his shocking 2nd innings dismissal poking at one from Cummins started South Africa's slide.

Ashwell Prince - 6: Nice 50 on day one before needlessly holing out to mid-on and then run out by Amla second time around.

Mark Boucher - 5: Safe enough with the gloves, but his batting powers look in decline as evidenced especially by his ridiculous dimissal in the 1st innings when his side needed him to dig in. 

Vernon Philander - 8: Two Tests, two five-fors and 14 wickets at 14. Where has he been? Bowled intelligently throughout and led the attack admirably as Steyn and Morkel failed to deliver in the 2nd innings.

Dale Steyn - 7: Brilliant in the 1st innings to inspire the South African fightback and Australian collapse, but not at his best second time around and will rue his late drop of Cummins. Useful 41 with the bat looked to have made Australia's target too stiff.

Morne Morkel - 5: Disappointing on a ground that usually suits him - think England in 2010. Can be a top bowler but is inconsistent too often.

Imran Tahir - 5: Mopped up the tail nicely in the 1st innings as a good leg-spinner should, but perhaps a bit disappointing second time around. But it was only his 2nd Test and Tahir is clearly a better option than Paul Harris.

Where next?

2nd Test: South Africa v Australia - Australia marks out of 10

1st Test: South Africa v Australia - South Africa marks out of 10

1st Test: South Africa v Australia - Australia marks out of 10

Dale Steyn's formidable statistics

What Jacques Kallis had for breakfast this morning

Has Ricky Ponting lost his punch?

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1st Test: South Africa v Australia - South Africa marks out of 10

Graeme Smith - 9: Guided his side to victory with his fourth hundred in a successful fourth innings run chase - the first man to do so in Test history.

Jacques Rudolph - 5: His first Test in five years and he made two appearances in the middle on the same day. Made 18 and 14, but he can't be judged on this crazy game.

Hashim Amla - 8: Amla is to batting what Beethoven and Sinatra are to music, Shakespeare to writing and Olivier to acting. Was given two lives and made the Australians pay with a sublime hundred. Bradman must have been some batsman to have had a career average over twice that of Amla.

Jacques Kallis - 3: Undone on review by Bowden and bowled too short on day one, but at least he was there when the winning runs were scored. 

AB de Villiers - 3: Another to fall victim to the merciless Bowden on review as the South African first innings collapse reached epic proportions.

Ashwell Prince - 2: Missed a full and straight one from Watson to register an unwelcome golden duck.

Mark Boucher - 4: In all the hullabaloo, it was easy to forget that Boucher registered his 500th Test catch when he snared Hughes in the first innings.

Vernon Philander - 9: A stunning debut by anyone's standards even if conditions helped. Put the ball in the right place and was rewarded with eight wickets.

Dale Steyn - 9: Bowled magnificently on day one to show that he is the best bowler in the world today by a country mile: hostility, pace, movement and aggression, Steyn has it all.

Morne Morkel - 8: Bowled too full on day one, but his radar was well and truly functioning on day two as he and Philander inspired the mother of all collapses.

Imran Tahir - 4: Struggled against the quick feet of Clarke, but this was not a pitch or a match for a leg-spinner to make his Test bow.

Where next?

1st Test: South Africa v Australia - Australia marks out of 10

Michael Clarke, Lara Bingle and Australia's 47 all out

Dale Steyn's place in the cricketing pantheon alongside Sachin Tendulkar

Dale Steyn's duel with Michael Clarke

Cricket Heroes: Hashim Amla

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County Championship Preview - Division 1: Yorkshire

 
The White Rose county are swiftly becoming our second favourite team for their exciting young side and a seemingly endless supply of talented English cricketers. They were in the mix for the title right up until the final round of matches in 2010, before finishing third. Can they climb the final two steps in 2011?

Strengths

One would think that such a young side can only get better. The squad certainly looks well-balanced with a good leader in Andrew Gale and an abundance of talent in the batting ranks with the likes of Gale himself, Adam Lyth, Jonathan Bairstow, Anthony McGrath and the dogged Joe Sayers.

The bowling looks strong also with England stars Tim Bresnan and Ajmal Shahzad, backed up by the returning Ryan Sidebottom, Steven Pattinson and Oliver Hannon-Dalby. That’s the pace department taken care of and then you have spinners Adil Rashid and the hopefully rehabilitated David Wainwright.

All in all Yorkshire have the look of a side that could go all the way.

Weaknesses

The loss of Jacques Rudolph is massive – whereas as last season the likes of Lyth and Bairstow provided support to Yorkshire’s main batting star, this time they will have to be the ones getting the big hundreds. The talent in the squad means the likes of Bresnan, Shahzad and possibly Rashid and Gale will be called away by England.

Main man

After being messed around a bit by England, Adil Rashid took some time to get started last season but when he did wickets and runs flowed in equal measure. Expect the upward curve to continue in 2011.

Look out for…

A serious tilt at the title and more plaudits for Gale’s captaincy.

Prediction

3rd – If Rudolph was still around then we’d be backing them for the title, but otherwise we expect them to fall a bit short.

Where next?

County Championship Preview - Division 1: Sussex

County Championship Preview - Division 1: Somerset

County Championship Preview - Division 1: Nottinghamshire

County Championship Preview - Division 1: Lancashire

County Championship Preview - Division 1: Hampshire

County Championship Preview - Division 1: Durham

2010 County XI of the season

Read all our 2011 World Cup posts here

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Our County XI of the season

What a finish and how disappointing for Somerset to be the bridesmaids in each of the three domestic competitions. In a season where so much was wrong: the alleged corruption, the elongated FP Twenty 20 tournament and the sidelining of the county championship, the ECB were fortunate that each of its three competitions had a dramatic conclusion.

So with the prizes handed out, it is now time to pick our team of the season, which is based on the championship only given that we didn't really follow the CB 40 until the latter stages and the FP T20 until the finals day.

1. Marcus Trescothick (Captain) (1397 runs at 58.20) - So near but yet so far in his first season as captain as Tresco again showed that he is still the best England qualified batsman in the country in all formats bar none.

2. Adam Lyth (1509 runs at 52.03) - The 22 year old finished as the leading run scorer in Division 1 and particularly in the first half of the season regularly propelled the White Rose county's batting. Just pips Michael Carberry as Trescothick's opening partner.

3. Mark Ramprakash (1595 runs at 61.34) - Just like a vintage Chateau Lafitte, Ramps keeps getting better with age. Once again finished as the leading run scorer in the championship and this wasn't even one of his better seasons with only the five hundreds this time.

4. Jacques Rudolph (1375 runs at 50.92) - South Africa's loss continues to be Yorkshire's gain as Rudolph keeps plundering the runs. Gets into our XI ahead of his county captain Andrew Gale.

5. James Hildreth (1440 runs at 65.45) - A stellar season for the batsman once described by Justin Langer as an "extraordinary talent" with seven hundreds. Must be close to England selection and is likely to tour with the Academy this winter.

6. Chris Read (916 runs at 45.80, 59 catches & 4 stumpings) - Gets the nod ahead of Stephen Davies who also had a good year. Read is still arguably the best keeper in the championship and can always be relied upon for runs. The fact that he managed to successfully captain Notts to the title is testament to his multi-tasking skills.

7. Adil Rashid (732 runs at 45.75, 57 wickets at 31.29) - Took some time to get into the groove with the ball, but then consistently took wickets. His batting continues to impress and surely he can't be ignored by the England selectors for much longer?

8. Chris Woakes (54 wickets at 21.57, 431 runs at 23.94) - A burgeoning all-rounder who had a strong start and end to the season. Could well find himself on the Academy tour this winter.

9. Chris Tremlett (48 wickets at 20.18) - Seemed rejuvenated by his move to The Oval and most importantly stayed injury free. Deserves to be in the Ashes squad where his height, bounce and accuracy could prove a potent weapon.

10. Andre Adams (68 wickets at 22.17) - The leading wicket-taker in the country was one of the prime reasons why Notts scraped their way to the title. A strike rate of 40.2 is phenomenal. Gets in ahead of Gemaal Hussain and James Harris.

11. Monty Panesar (52 wickets at 25.69) - Like Tremlett, Monty was reinvigorated by a change of county and seems to have rediscovered his mojo at Hove. Should be picked for the Ashes squad ahead of Rashid and Tredwell.