As the international cricketing calendar heads for its annual hiatus, and many stars head for the heat and dust of India to boost their bank balances for several interminable weeks, my own mind switches to more local matters. If it's April, it must be the start of the County Championship.
There have been some articles recently about how boring county cricket is. I have to disagree. Yes, it suffers from the uncertainty over who is playing for each county, because of the England central contract system and ludicrous short-term contracts for overseas stars, but there remains plenty of quality in the game, in whatever format. 2012 may not have produced the last-day drama of the previous two summers but the Championship still has plenty of excitement to offer. Where people criticise owes more to the media coverage. It used to have the May-August period to itself, but now there is wall-to-wall sport throughout the northern hemisphere summer. Sky TV hoovered up all the live broadcasting rights to domestic cricket but gives it next to no publicity, demoting cricket - other than the Ashes - below football (even when there aren't any competitive matches), rugby league, tennis, golf, fishing (FISHING??!!) and probably the ITPL (Indian Tiddlywinks Premier League).
So why should we sit up and take note of the 2013 Championship? I'll preview the two divisions shortly but today I'll focus on the likely imports set to descend on these shores. Right now, after three weeks of persistently cold, often very snowy conditions, Mumbai and Mohali must look far more inviting than Derby or Durham. However, a number of international cricketers have signed up to at least two months of county action. Some are old hands for whom the IPL is irrelevant, others just looking to keep their hands in during a break in international commitments. However, there are some real names to note.
After last year's distrubing season, Surrey have again splashed the cash, nabbing Graeme Smith as captain on a three-year contract. He'll give them some much-needed beef at the top of the order. And who is due to arrive in mid-season? Only Ricky Ponting! He may have nothing to prove, but then if the pressure is off, opposition bowlers may suffer at the hands of a true master of the past two decades.
In an Ashes summer, there are plenty of Aussies heading for England early. Nottinghamshire welcome Ed Cowan, who will be replaced by David Husey when the Test series starts. Michael Klinger, Rob Quiney, George Bailey and Joe Burns head for Gloucestershire, Essex, Hampshire and Leicestershire, respectively, while veterans Simon Katich, Marcus North and Chris Rogers beat a more familiar path to Lancashire, Glamorgan and Middlesex. ALviro Petersen, Ashwell Prince (potentially on a Kolpak contract) and Shivnarine Chanderpaul could all shine, too.
Note the dominance of batsmen. I suppose it's a sign of the times that bowlers are more interested in preserving their weak bodies for T20 than learning their craft in proper cricket. Jeetan Patel (Warwickshire) and Trent Copeland (Northants) are the only bowlers appearing in the first part of the summer, although Pakistan spin duo Saeed Ajmal and Abdur Rehman should be useful assets for Hants and Somerset as the season reached its climax.
I haven't mentioned T20 as the line-ups will no doubt change between now and July. The Champions Trophy in June also lead to greater demands, injuries and hasty new signings, so watch this space. Watch, too, for my previews of the Championship. It's likely to be unpredictable as ever (so predictable!?). Will Warwickshire follow Lancashire's fate and go straight form champions to relegation? Will Somerset finally, FINALLY win the pennant? Will Surrey take the title their wealth demands? Lots to look forward to. IPL? Pah!
