The County Scene - Week 2: Weather Warning for ECB

First of all, the most important news in English cricket today - the death of the great Sir Alec Bedser at the age of 91. Not only did he possess 236 Test wickets, he was an integral part of the great Surrey team of the 1950s and served as an England selector for well over 20 years. He was regarded by Sir Donald Bradman no less as the greatest medium-fast bowler he ever faced. RIP

Now, to a review of the week's action. Durham trounced the MCC by 311 runs in Abu Dhabi, the sub-continental style pitch assisting their twin spin attack of Ian Blackwell and young Scott Borthwick, who finished the match with 8 wickets, although he did his all-rounder tag no favours by ending up with a pair! Scotsman Kyle Coetzer and Aussie Michael di Venuto both hit tons for the champions as Durham made the best of the batting conditions. The pink ball was given a "7 out of 10" rating by Keith Bradshaw of the MCC, meaning it will be at least a year before we see it in the international arena.

So, from the desert to cold and wet England, where 6 counties were beginning their campaigns with university warm-up matches. Except poor old Derbyshire and Lancashire did not get off the ground on account of the weather. This calls into question the ECB's decision to start the season so early - I've stood in the field for 75 overs in April before, bowling only 10 of those (an accomplished 2-39 if you must know) and it's bloody freezing! They have removed a one-day competition to "free up" the calendar but all they have done is extend the remaining competitions, thus negating their own ideas! Expect rain delays in the next couple of weeks! The remaining 4 matches were mostly unremarkable and, of course, weather affected. The main highlights were Steve Davies' unbeaten 122 on debut for Surrey and Ryan ten Doeschate's remarkable all-round performance for Essex. From 124-7, he lifted his side to 318-8 with 106 not out, following up with 3-28 and a swift 81(73) in the 2nd innings. Mind you, he will face tougher opponents than the universities of Leeds and Bradford!

Finally, as promised - the Championship preview. To my mind, much depends on how your overseas player performs. However, this will be subject to change this year due to the IPL, meaning that many teams have players for the first few weeks of the season, to be replaced by others currently in India. Take my Somerset boys for example - Murali Kartik is currently playing well for the Kolkata Knight Riders - he will be available in May. Until then, we have the relatively tame seamer Damien Wright - not the sort of man to get you breakthroughs on the road that is the Taunton wicket. Yorkshire have even more troubles - Daryl Tuffey had his hand broken by Mitchell Johnson in a recent Test match so he will be unavailable as an early-season replacement for Ryan Harris - who is to be rested by Cricket Australia until the end of May. There have been various other deals done but there is only so much I can expect a reader to take in. Here then are my predictably incorrect predictions for the 2010 season:

Div 1 winners: HAMPSHIRE - I didn't want to say Durham again so I've gone for Dimi Mascarenhas' men - the Rose Bowl track tends to produce fair results and I reckon Sri Lankan spinners Rangana Herath and Ajantha Mendis will be too good for most county batsmen. Nottinghamshire a close second

Div 1 relegation: YORKSHIRE and ESSEX - as I've already said, Yorkshire are not a settled team and may regret taking all the experience out of their seam attack with Matthew Hoggard. A lot rests on Ajmal Shahzad and new skipper Andrew Gale. Essex look a little young to compete at this level, although it could finally be the year for Billy Godleman after his move from Middlesex. I can't see a bowling attack of David Masters, Chris Wright and Maurice Chambers taking 20 wickets consistently - a lot depends on the availability of Danish Kaneria

Div 2 promotion: SUSSEX and SURREY - Sussex had a freak year, not helped by the weather at Hove. With Monty Panesar, they should bounce straight back. Surrey have spent the summer shrewdly investing in good English talent - they will want to turn around a miserable few years and see that Mark Ramprakash continues his golden autumn.

Expect the unexpected and a lot of rain - reports and key player profiles to come next week
RM