Middlesex begin the 2021 County Championship with a home match against Somerset at Lord's on Thursday.
And they will be hoping to qualify from group two in the revamped competition to pursue another title to add to their most recent success in 2016.
Coached by Stuart Law, with Australian Peter Handscomb as their new captain looking to bring some ballast to a sometimes fraglie-looking batting order, they will look to improve on third place in the South Group last year.
Nick Gubbins scored 350 runs at 43.75, while Tim Murtagh took 25 wickets at 12.72 and Martin Andersson flew under the radar as he continued to mature into a genuine all-rounder.
Max Holden has added a gritty element to his attacking strokeplay and looks to have cemented his position as Sam Robson's opening partner, with Murtagh, Toby Roland-Jones, Steven Finn, Tom Helm and James Harris vying for seam-bowling places, as promising youngsters Ethan Bamber and Blake Cullen wait in the wings.
Here's a look at who they face in the first stage of the summer:
GLOUCESTERSHIRE
Coach: Ian Harvey (interim)
Captain: Chris Dent
Last Year’s Performance: Fifth (Central Group)
2020 Leading Runscorer: Graeme van Buuren (244 @ 30.5)
2020 Leading Wicket Taker: Ryan Higgins (17 @ 23)
Overseas players: Dan Worrall (Australia - full season), Kraigg Brathwaite (West Indies, April 8-June 6)
Key man: Chris Dent has scored consistent runs over the past five seasons and will need to do so again if Gloucestershire are to be competitive.
Flies under the radar: Tom Lace could be one to watch having followed Ryan Higgins and George Scott down the M4 from Middlesex. A highly-rated 22-year-old batsman.
Best Player Under 24: James Bracey’s talent has been obvious for some time and he’s been involved in senior England squads over the past 12 months. Signed a new three-year deal this winter.
The Season Ahead: Gloucestershire face a daunting start to the season, hosting Surrey before trips to Somerset and Hampshire. Their first-choice bowling attack is capable of taking 20 wickets regularly but their challenge is to find enough runs to be competitive against the stronger sides.
They have also had to battle some quite unresponsive pitches at Bristol in recent years with results hard to come by at Nevil Road. The increased reward for draws this season could help build their points tally.
Qualifying for Division Two in September would perhaps represent a good red-ball summer.
HAMPSHIRE
Coach: Adrian Birrell
Captain: James Vince
Last year’s performance: Fourth (South Group)
2020 Leading runscorer: Joe Weatherley (263, 43.83)
2020 Leading wicket taker: Ian Holland (17, 17.47)
Overseas players: Mohammad Abbas (Pakistan 8 April-30 May), Kyle Abbott (South Africa, full season)
Key man: Kyle Abbott - The big fast bowler is back after missing last season and looking to repeat his superb 2019 campaign where he took 72 wickets at 16.19.
Flies under the radar: Joe Weatherley - Made his breakthrough in last season’s Bob Willis Trophy, the 24-year-old is primed for a big summer after putting himself through a gruelling winter fitness programme.
Best player under 24: Felix Organ - At 21, the Sydney-born all-rounder already has a County Championship century and a five-wicket haul to his name.
The Season Ahead: After a third-place Division One finish in 2019, hopes were high for the 2020 season. However, with Covid-19 keeping overseas players away and a ruptured Achilles sustained by England allrounder Liam Dawson in the opening match of the Bob Willis Trophy against Middlesex, it proved to be disappointing finish in a truncated year. Abbott and the newly-signed Abbas will pose plenty of problems for opposing batsmen. But the pressure will be on Vince, Sam Northeast and the highly-rated Weatherley to provide the runs to steer the club to a first County Championship title since 1973.
LEICESTERSHIRE
Coach: Paul Nixon
Captain: Colin Ackermann
Last Year’s Performance: Fifth (North Group)
2020 Leading Runscorer: Colin Ackermann (379, 54.1)
2020 Leading Wicket Taker: Ben Mike (9, 31.0), Dieter Klein 9 (36.9)
Overseas players: Marcus Harris (Australia)
Key man: Colin Ackermann - The captain is also Leicestershire’s most valuable asset, a reliable source of middle-order runs who averaged 54 in the Bob Willis Trophy, a fine fielder and a handy off-spin bowler.
Flies under the radar: Hassan Azad - The buzz around the left-handed opener faded a little after modest returns in the Bob Willis Trophy, but if he can recapture his outstanding 2019 form he will frustrate many an opposition bowler.
Best Player Under 24: Harry Swindells - A young wicketkeeper-batsman of potential who has displaced Lewis Hill in the side and follows in a long line of home-grown talent to attract the interest of wealthier rival counties.
The Season Ahead: With Surrey, Somerset and Hampshire among their opponents, Leicestershire look to be in a tough group. After winning five matches in 2018 their form regressed in 2019 but they pulled off a morale-boosting win over Lancashire last season, albeit on the back of a century by the on-loan Nottinghamshire batsman Ben Slater. Coach Paul Nixon rarely lets his optimistic outlook desert him and he has assembled a squad who will not let him down in terms of attitude and effort. The permanent signing of Rishi Patel from Essex is a boost, as will be the arrival of Australian Test
opener Marcus Harris as overseas player in a line-up that looks capable of building decent scores. They look a little thin on the ground in terms of wicket-taking bowlers, however, which is a concern.
SOMERSET
Coach: Jason Kerr
Captain: Tom Abell
Last Year’s Performance: Runner-up
2020 Leading Runscorer: Tom Lammonby (459 @ 51)
2020 Leading Wicket Taker: Craig Overton (30 @ 13.43)
Overseas players: Marchant de Lange (South Africa - full season)
Key man: Tom Abell has grown into a confident leader and added an impressive haul of runs to his captaincy last season, proving leadership is not a distraction to his own development.
Flies under the radar: Despite over 13,000 first-class runs, Steven Davies doesn’t attract as many headlines as the younger talent but his experience and ability remain a keystone of the dressing room.
Best Player Under 24: Tom Lammonby made an incredible start to his career with three centuries in six innings and the 20-year-old appears to have a big future.
The Season Ahead: We ask again - “will this be Somerset’s season?” Despite coming so close to that elusive pennant in the past five years, Somerset have found other counties producing a more complete campaign.
They win a lot of tight matches - a good habit - but some that go the other way have been costly and they need to find more runs to control more matches.
That could be tricky if pitches at Taunton continue to be dominated by bowlers, either spin or, last season, seam. The emergence of Tom Lammonby, and Tom Abell’s form last year, will certainly help.
Nothing less than qualifying for Division One in September will do.
SURREY
Coach: Vikram Solanki
Captain: Rory Burns
Last Year’s Performance: Fifth (South Group)
2020 Leading Runscorer: Jamie Smith (274 @ 30.44)
2020 Leading Wicket Taker: Amar Virdi (22 @ 25.90)
Overseas players: Hashim Amla (South Africa – full season), Kemar Roach (West Indies – April & May).
Key man: Jamie Overton - Signed from Somerset on a three-year contract last August, the 6ft 5in tall paceman – capable of 90mph-plus speeds – sees his move as a potential stepping stone to England honours.
Flies under the radar: Jordan Clark - In 52 first-class appearances, the strapping all-rounder averages almost 28 with the bat and 34 with the ball. Expect more still from him this season in all formats.
Best Player Under 24: Ollie Pope - At 23 Pope already has 17 Test caps and averages 50 in first-class cricket. Available for all Surrey’s early-season championship cricket, he will be looking to score big runs at number four.
The Season Ahead: Surrey look strong in all departments and the early-season signing of West Indies fast bowler Kemar Roach, as a second overseas player behind South African batting great Hashim Amla, adds even more firepower to a seam attack also featuring the raw pace of Jamie Overton and Conor McKerr, plus the wiles of evergreen Rikki Clarke. The Curran brothers, Sam and Tom, are initially away at the IPL but Surrey’s squad is deep, there is an exciting and significant spin threat from Amar Virdi and Dan Moriarty – the young pair shared 39 Bob Willis Trophy wickets last year – and a guarantee of top-order runs from the likes of Amla, Rory Burns, Ollie Pope, Ben Foakes and Mark Stoneman. The experience of Laurie Evans is a further boost to a batting line-up also featuring the youthful talents of Jamie Smith, 20, and Will Jacks, 22.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here