County Championship preview

Current leaders in Division One Surrey face a trip to Bristol to face Gloucestershire in the next round of County Championship matches starting on Thursday.

Surrey, who have won two of their three opening matches in the division, winning two of them, travel to Gloucestershire on the back of their recent success against Somerset at the Kia Oval on Sunday with a three wicket victory.

The home side welcome New Zealand all-rounder Colin de Grandhomme, who was signed this week as cover for the injured Kemar Roach. The Kiwi will be eligible for the next three county championship matches.

The home side are still awaiting their first win of the new campaign after losing in their last match by six wickets to Yorkshire at Bristol.

At Chelmsford, Essex welcome Northamptonshire to the County Ground. Essex will be looking to get back to winning ways again after a disappointing loss to Warwickshire by 10 wickets in their last outing.

Northamptonshire are still awaiting their first win in the division after two draws in their opening two games.

The Ageas Bowl hosts two sides who were favourites to figure highly in the quest to be crowned champions at the end of the season.

Hampshire face Lancashire with both sides coming into the game on the back of innings victories. Hampshire defeated Kent at Canterbury by an innings and 51 runs with Lancashire thrashing Gloucestershire by an innings and 57.

Lancashire boast a 100 per cent record of two wins in their opening two fixtures with Hampshire suffering just one defeat so far in their campaign.

At Taunton bottom of the table Somerset are up against Warwickshire. Somerset have really struggled in the early exchanges so far, and currently sit rooted at the foot of the table with just ten points from three games.

Warwickshire sit in fifth place in the table with one win and a draw from their opening two matches.

The final match in Division one starting on Thursday will see Yorkshire lock horns with Kent at Headingly.

Yorkshire have one victory so for from their two matches played with Kent still looking for their first win in the division after  a draw and two losses.

In Division Two, there is little to choose between the top two, Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire, just one point separates both sides.

Leaders Notts face Worcestershire at Trent Bridge, looking for their third win of the season. They will go into the game against Worcestershire full of confidence after inflicting a heady defeat over Durham last week.

Worcestershire will also go into the game having a recent innings victory over Sussex to their name. However, it is a big game for Worcester who find themselves 15 points behind Notts, but have played one game less.

Second in the table Derbyshire are up against Glamorgan at Derby. The home side will once again be looking to Pakistan opener Shan Masood to continue his purple patch with the bat after a double century in his last innings against Leicestershire.

Glamorgan will be looking to bounce back to winning ways after suffering a heavy defeat against Middlesex at Cardiff.

At Hove, Sussex entertain Durham with both sides smarting from recent losses against Worcester and Notts respectively.

The final game in Division Two will see Middlesex face Leicestershire at Lords. The home side picked up their first win in the division last week after crushing Glamorgan by an innings and 82 runs.

The visitors Leicestershire are still looking for their first win in division two. So far they have drawn two matches and lost the other one.

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