Here's all you need to know ahead of the 2016 season...
Sunday 10 April 2016 10:10, UK
Just days after the heartbreak of England's World Twenty20 final defeat, our attentions turn to a summer of domestic cricket with the first set of Specsavers County Championship fixtures on Sunday.
Just one team will earn promotion from Division Two in 2016, making the fight for top spot all the more competitive.
So who has the best chance of topping the table? Can relegated Sussex or Worcestershire bounce straight back up? Will Kent's talented crop of youngsters get the job done? Or can Leicestershire replicate their footballing counterparts, going from worst to first?
Here's how we see the season unfolding...
SUSSEX
2015: Eighth Division One, relegated
2016 prediction: Champions, promoted
Sky Bet odds: 2/1 fav
Chances in a tweet: Sussex have the look of a Division One side. Complacency cost them their spot in the top division last year but expect them to bounce back.
What's new? Sussex stalwart Luke Wright takes over the captaincy from Ed Joyce, with the batting further bolstered by the arrival of New Zealand's Ross Taylor, available from the start of the season through to late July. Hampshire's slow-left-armer, Danny Briggs, joins looking to resurrect his flagging four-day career, while Sussex hope he can be the replacement spinner they've tried, and failed, to find since the departure of Monty Panesar. The latest example, Ashar Zaidi, has left for Essex over the winter. Michael Yardy has retired, as has James Anyon.
Wicket-taker: Ollie Robinson. The former Yorkshire prospect was signed in 2015 as cover but ended up taking 46 wickets in 11 matches at 24.71. With Anyon gone, Chris Jordan is likely to be busy a fair bit with England, and with continued fitness concerns over Ajmal Shahzad and Tymal Mills, Robinson will likely have to step up again. Steve Magoffin is 36 and can't be expected to do it alone like always.
Century-maker: You can't look past Luke. Wright averaged 46.53 in 2015, including a career highest score of 226 not out. It's not an anomaly either, Wright's average in the two seasons prior was above 50. Can the captaincy take his batting on even further?
Young player to watch: Harry Finch (batsman)
KENT
2015: Seventh
2016 prediction: Second
Sky Bet odds: 7/1
Chances in a tweet: A talented team tipped for great things for a while. It could finally be their year, except second spot for once won't secure promotion.
What's new? Kent have also changed their captain, with Rob Key - who will continue to play for the county - handing the role over to Sam Northeast. Also, having not signed one overseas player last year, Kent have picked up two of the finest around for 2016. New Zealand opener Tom Latham and South African quick Kagiso Rabada are available for all formats during their spells with the club.
Wicket-taker: Matt Coles returned to his home county in 2015 after a two-year spell with Hampshire and suitably impressed with 67 wickets at an average of 23.49. Veteran allrounder Darren Stevens took a next-best 61 scalps, which suggests the attack is a little thin, and is set to rely heavily on Coles again.
Century-maker: A year on from topping the Kent run-scoring charts, Daniel Bell-Drummond somewhat disappointed in 2015, averaging only 26.44. But this 22-year-old has so much more to give, as evident by his 127 off 112 balls against the touring Australians last year.
Young player to watch: Matt Hunn (right-arm seamer)
GLOUCESTERSHIRE
2015: Sixth
2016 prediction: Third
Sky Bet odds: 12/1
Chances in a tweet: Belief in the squad will be boosted by last season's Royal London One-Day Cup success, bringing with it greater four-day form.
What's new? Geraint Jones left in emotional fashion, bowing out with after that dramatic RL One-Day Cup final win over Surrey, while promising young quick James Fuller has moved on to Middlesex. But enough quality has been retained, with Hamish Marshall and Michael Klinger sticking around for another year, although young Australian opener Cameron Bancroft covers for Klinger in the early part of the season.
Wicket-taker: Liam Norwell was a surprise success story in 2015, taking 61 wickets at an average of 25.00, when he'd not managed more than 30 in any previous year. In truth though, wickets are shared among the attack, with Craig Miles, Benny Howell and David Payne also striking at under 30 a pop last year.
Century-maker: It has to be Klinger. Surely no-one has come close to matching his incredible run-scoring efforts of the last 12 months across all three formats? Focusing purely on his 2015 for Gloucestershire, Klinger scored three hundreds in each the T20 Blast and RL One-Day Cup, averaging over 100 in the latter. Add to that two hundreds and two fifties in 11 first-class innings.
Young player to watch: Miles Hammond (off-spinner)
WORCESTERSHIRE
2015: Ninth Division One, relegated
2016 prediction: Fourth
Sky Bet odds: 4/1
Chances in a tweet: County cricket's yo-yo club won't bounce back up to Division One this time, denied Moeen Ali's runs and Saeed Ajmal's wickets.
What's new? Overseas seamers, Matt Henry of New Zealand and Kyle Abbott of South Africa, add to the Worcestershire bowling attack. But the batting has been significantly weakened by the retirement of Alex Gidman, Moeen's likely absence with England, and the sad loss of 2015 top run-scorer, Tom Fell, who is undergoing a course of chemotherapy in his battle against testicular cancer.
Wicket-taker: Joe Leach. Leading wicket-taker in 2015 with 59, but Leach's personal highlight for the year actually came in Worcestershire's RL One-Day Cup match against Northamptonshire, albeit in a game they lost. The medium-pacer took a hat-trick with the first three balls of the match, following in Chaminda Vaas' footsteps when he did it for Sri Lanka at the 2003 World Cup against Bangladesh.
Century-maker: Tom Kohler-Cadmore hit his maiden first-class century in the final game of the 2015 season against Middlesex, putting on 229 in partnership with Fell. His absence for likely much of 2016 requires Kohler-Cadmore to do it alone this time, filling that hole left behind by Fell.
Young player to watch: Ed Barnard (all-rounder)
ESSEX
2015: Third
2016 prediction: Fifth
Sky Bet odds: 4/1
Chances in a tweet: Having captain Cook available for the first few games will help, but a winter of change sees this very much a rebuilding year.
What's new? A lot. Former Essex allrounder Ronnie Irani has arrived as chairman. After eight years as head coach, Paul Grayson has left the club by mutual consent, replaced by ex-England bowler, Chris Silverwood. England white-ball international Reece Topley has moved to Hampshire, and Mark Pettini, Leicestershire. Spinning allrounder Ashar Zaidi arrives from Sussex, while fellow left-arm-spinner - but most definitely not an allrounder - Monty Panesar leaves for Northamptonshire.
Wicket-taker: Surprising bowling sensation from the last two seasons, Jesse Ryder returns, and will be called upon again by a reasonably depleted bowling attack that relies too heavily on the aging David Masters (37) and Graham Napier (36).
Century-maker: Nick Browne excelled in his first full season in county cricket, scoring 1,157 runs at an average of 42.85, with five centuries. Can the opener's early season pairing with Alastair Cook at the top of the order inspire, and can he in turn help develop England Under-19 international Daniel Lawrence?
Young player to watch: Daniel Lawrence (opening batsman)
GLAMORGAN
2015: Fourth
2016 prediction: Sixth
Sky Bet odds: 12/1
Chances in a tweet: Well run, and well led club by skipper Jacques Rudolph. Not enough squad depth to launch a sustained promotion push though.
What's new? Ex-England offspinner, but also fiercely proud Welshman, Robert Croft, is the county's new head coach for 2016. A few low key additions to the squad have been made, Craig Meschede's loan from Somerset has been made permanent, while it's Harry Podmore who arrives on load this time, from Middlesex, for the early part of the season. Dutchman Timm van der Gugten also joins.
Wicket-taker: Michael Hogan. At 34-years-old, the Australian UK passport holder is no spring chicken, but he was quite considerably Glamorgan's best bowler in 2015, taking 48 wickets at 27.02.
Century-maker: Rudolph is still the star draw at the SSE Swalec. The former South Africa batsman fell just short of the 1,000 run mark last year, in part due to a poor conversion rate, with only one hundred to seven fifties - something he'll want to rectify in 2016.
Young player to watch: Aneurin Donald (batsman)
DERBYSHIRE
2015: Eighth
2016 prediction: Seventh
Sky Bet odds: 14/1
Chances in a tweet: Underachieved in 2015, finishing second from bottom. Set to struggle again in 2016 without leading left-armer Mark Footitt, left for Surrey.
What's new? It's pretty much as you were for Derbyshire in terms of personnel from 2015, but the county will hope that's not the case too in terms of results. Andy Carter arrives from Nottinghamshire to bolster the bowling and fill the void left behind by Footitt. New Zealand opener Hamish Rutherford adds strength to the batting too.
Wicket-taker: Footitt took 76 wickets in 2015, with Tony Palladino managing a paltry next-best of 31. Therefore, Derbyshire must hope the former Notts man, Carter, can bring with him a lorry load of wickets. He played only once in 2015, although did at least take decent match figures of 5-91 against Worcestershire.
Century-maker: Billy Goddleman. The once promising youngster seems to finally be fulfilling his potential - passing 1,000 runs, averaging over 40 and managing more than one century; all firsts in 2015 - and has been given the added responsibility as four-day captain.
Young player to watch: Matthew Critchley (all-rounder)
LEICESTERSHIRE
2015: Ninth
2016 prediction: Eighth
Sky Bet odds: 20/1
Chances in a tweet: Baby steps. Leicestershire registered their first win since 2012 last year, but still finished bottom. Moving up one spot would be progress.
What's new? Seasoned county pros, Paul Horton (Lancashire), Mark Pettini (Essex) and Neil Dexter (Middlesex) arrive, significantly bolstering the batting. Australian Clint McKay's return as their overseas pro brings further optimism, although don't quite expect the type of 'worst to first' turnaround currently being experienced by their football team.
Wicket-taker: McKay is the unquestionably the leader of the attack, but formed one part of a triple-threat of seamers who all managed over 50 wickets in 2015. Ben Raine led the way with 59, Charlie Shreck 57, and McKay sandwiched in-between with 58.
Century-maker: Angus Robson. He needs to improve on his woeful conversion rate, with only two centuries to show against 18 fifties, but his one ton last year was a crucial one, helping earn Leicestershire that long-awaited win with 120 first-innings runs against Essex, plus 71 just as important ones in the second innings when chasing 163.
Young player to watch: Rob Sayer (off-spinner)
NORTHAMPTONSHIRE
2015: Fifth
2016 prediction: Ninth
Sky Bet odds: 12/1
Chances in a tweet: The loss of David Willey, to Yorkshire, and veteran opener Stephen Peters, to retirement will nudge Northants to the bottom.
What's new? Quite a bit. Willey - so impressive for England at the World T20 - has moved on to the greener pastures of The Oval, and after nearly a decade with the county, Peters called it a day at the close of the 2015 season. There is at least one return for fans to celebrate - the Monty masks will be dominating at The County Ground crowd once again as Monty Panesar comes home.
Wicket-taker: Olly Stone, the 22-year-old quick, kicked on with his development last year, appearing in 12 of Northamptonshire's 18 fixtures, taking 38 wickets at 30.21. His ascent will need to continue for Northants as they look to cover the loss of Willey, and help an aging seam attack of Azharullah (36) and Rory Kleinveldt (33).
Century-maker: Ben Duckett also quickly turned from talented youngster to arguably Northamptonshire's best batsman last year, topping the ton table for the county with four, averaging 47.27, and all at a sprightly strike-rate of 72.48.
Young player to watch: Saif Zaib (all-rounder)
