County Championship preview: Who can stop Surrey?

A new English cricket season is almost upon us but, once again, as we count down to the start of the opening round of County Championship games, the same old question has to be asked - can anyone stop Surrey?

Rory Burns' side have lifted the trophy in each of the past three summers, winning a consistent eight out of 14 matches per season, and losing only five overall.

There are new coaches and new captains looking forward to the challenges which lie ahead but, at The Oval, there is unlikely to be any change to the approach that has served them so well, even though former director of cricket Alec Stewart will now occupy a more backseat role.

If there was any doubt about Surrey's desire to be the first team to win the title in four successive years since they did it seven times in a row in the 1950s, the recruitment of two internationals - Matthew Fisher and Nathan Smith - has dispelled it.

With stakes in The Hundred franchises in the process of being sold for huge sums, principally to the benefit of those counties who host teams, and talk of expanding that competition, it feels like English cricket may soon be undergoing further change, with even more pressure to squeeze in four competitions over the summer.

But this year's Championship begins on 4 April and will end on 27 September - and once again we can expect some great action along the way.

"I've always looked to strengthen our squad straight after we've won the Championship," said Surrey's Alec Stewart after adding Yorkshire fast bowler Fisher to their squad in October.

Stewart may have stepped down from his role but it is hard to see how the title can be wrestled from the grasp of those at The Oval especially with the addition of New Zealand all-rounder Smith from Worcestershire.

The one hope for Surrey's competitors could be a raft of international call-ups and prolific seamer Dan Worrall is now qualified to play for England.

Hampshire were the best of the rest last season but will miss James Vince who has chosen to play solely in the T20 Blast.

Former England opener Mark Stoneman has been drafted in from Second Division Middlesex but the loss of Pakistan seamer Mohammad Abbas could leave a big hole in their wickets column.

Somerset and Essex once again led the way for the non-Test venue clubs last year and will have familiar line-ups this summer after what have been quiet winters on the recruitment front.

At Taunton, overseas seamers Matt Henry and Migael Pretorius will share a lot of the work, while Essex's preparations were upset with the loss of India fast bowler Shardul Thakur barely two weeks before the start of the season - but they do still have Simon Harmer in their armoury.

Can Sussex and Yorkshire make a fist of it on their return to Division One?

Sussex are back after nine years away with their homegrown talent very much to the fore, bolstered by West Indies Test bowler Jayden Seales and Australian batter Daniel Hughes.

At Headingley, former skipper Anthony McGrath is now in charge, but a period of readjustment can be expected.

Both Warwickshire and Nottinghamshire continued to flatter to deceive last summer and considerable upheaval on the coaching front at Edgbaston may not help the Bears, along with the delayed arrival of marquee signing Tom Latham.

Durham's creditable fifth-place finish last season after promotion gives cause for optimism and they will still be able to rely on the runs of David Bedingham and Ollie Robinson - but Brydon Carse's continued injury problems will leave a lot of the heavy lifting in the seam-bowling department for Matthew Potts.

Worcestershire, to the surprise of many, survived comfortably last season but the loss of Smith to the champions will not help their cause and it could be a summer of struggle at New Road.

A lot of eyes in Division Two will be on Lancashire as they look to bounce back from relegation at the first attempt with the help of England's Test wicket record holder James Anderson, who has decided he is not yet ready to turn his back on the game.

Now 42, he is still a bowler no-one will relish facing in seamer-friendly conditions, although he is not expected to play this month because of a calf injury, and, at the other end of the age scale, there will also be interest in how 16-year-old Rocky Flintoff has progressed after spending part of the winter with England Lions.

Kent were the other side relegated from Division One last summer and have signed Pakistan Test bowler Kashif Ali and South African paceman Keith Dudgeon, with Australian fast bowler Wes Agar not rejoining the club until the end of May as his workload is managed at the end of the Australian campaign.

They have also given a two-year rookie deal to Rocky Flintoff's elder brother, Corey, who played for Lancashire's second XI last summer.

The signing of South African paceman Dane Paterson makes up for the departure of Ethan Bamber as Middlesex look to go at least one better than last year's third place and it will interesting to see what impact spinner Zafar Gohar will have at Lord's after moving from Gloucestershire.

Northamptonshire have South African batter Matthew Breetzke available for the first eight games and, in Ben Sanderson, have one of the most consistent wicket-takers around, but their most important move over the winter was surely the arrival of head coach Darren Lehmann.

After winning only one game last season and drawing 10, Leicestershire will look to a talented - and, in Louis Kimber, explosive - batting line-up boosted by the signing of Pakistan's Shan Masood while the acquisition of Dutch seamer Logan van Beek could also be a shrewd move.

The Glamorgan attack will feature England spinner Shoaib Bashir and Sri Lanka's Asitha Fernando in the early part of the season while Gloucestershire hope Australian Cameron Green can provide an early-season spark after last year's seventh place.

For Derbyshire, the only way is up and they will hope that last season's under-performing batting line-up can raise their collective game with elder statesman Wayne Madsen reinstalled as captain.

County champions: Surrey

Relegated from Division One: Kent, Lancashire

Promoted from Division Two: Sussex, Yorkshire

Leading run-scorer Division One: David Bedingham (Durham) 1,331

Highest score Division One: David Bedingham (Durham) 279 (v Lancs)

Leading wicket-taker Division One: Jamie Porter (Essex) 56

Leading run-scorer Division Two: Colin Ingram (Glamorgan) 1,351

Highest score Division Two: Sam Northeast (Glamorgan) 335no (v Middlesex)

Leading wicket-taker Division Two: Ben Coad (Yorkshire) 56

Six counties will start the season with new men in charge, including two former international head coaches.

Chris Silverwood has returned to Essex having left Chelmsford in 2018 for three years in charge of England and then two as head coach of Sri Lanka, with whom he won the Asia Cup in 2022.

Former Warwickshire captain Ian Westwood has stepped up from assistant to head coach at Edgbaston, replacing Mark Robinson, while at Yorkshire ex-skipper McGrath has returned to Headingley looking to replicate the success he had in seven years with Essex.

In Division Two, Northamptonshire have turned to former Australia head coach Lehmann while Glamorgan have handed the reins to Richard Dawson as interim for the season, although his commitments with Welsh Fire in The Hundred mean he will be absent for the One-Day Cup campaign.

The final new face is at relegated Kent where former England One Day captain Adam Hollioake returns to county cricket, having won the title three times during his playing days with Surrey.

There have been six captaincy changes across the County Championship over the winter.

The big news just one week before the start of the season was Jonny Bairstow taking over the leadership of Yorkshire's red-ball team and following in the footsteps of his late father, David, who captained the White Rose county between 1984 and 1986.

Whether this is an acceptance of his England Test career being over, only 35-year-old Bairstow will know but Division One bowling attacks will be on red alert.

Alex Lees has taken over at Durham with predecessor Scott Borthwick moving into a player-coach position, while former Sussex captain Ben Brown is back in a skipper's role, taking over from Vince at Hampshire.

In Division Two, another man returning to captaincy is Madsen at Derbyshire, who resumes the position nine years after stepping down from his first stint.

Gloucestershire have entrusted the captaincy to Australia batter Cameron Bancroft while another Australian, Peter Handscomb, has taken over at Leicestershire, having also led Middlesex in the past.