The Reverse Sweep

County Championship 2012 Preview: Division 2 - Gloucestershire

A strong fourth in Division 2 last season but how will the departures of Jon Lewis, last season's leading wicket taker and Chris Taylor, the leading run scorer, over the winter affect their chances in 2012?  

Strengths

Even putting to one side the contribution of  Lewis, Will Gidman, David Payne and Ian Saxelby all took over 40 wickets in the Championship last season. Indeed, Gidman did the double of 50 wickets and 1,000 runs. Kane Williamson is back for a second season as overseas player. The batting looks thinner and will rely heavily on Gidman's brother Alex the captain, Hamish Marshall and Dan Housego who returns to the county from Middlesex where he was the leading run scorer in the 2nd XI Championship last season.

Weaknesses

Losing Lewis is a real blow as he has been the mainstay of the attack for several seasons. Payne and Saxelby have plenty of promise but at 21 and 22 respectively is it asking too much for them to make the step up to leading the attack? The loss of Taylor could prove even more devastating as the batting looks decidedly shaky.  

Main man

Can Will Gidman have as productive a season as last? Probably not, but even 10 wickets and 200 runs less would still be an outstanding return.

Look out for

Whether Payne and/or Saxelby can step up in the absence of Lewis.

Prediction

8th - Losing your best bowler is clumsy, but also releasing your top batsman is downright foolish.

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 - Gloucestershire 

Check out all our Reverse Sweep cricket heroes and zeroes 

If you like this, follow us on Twitter @thereversesweep

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 

If you like this, follow us on Twitter @thereversesweep