Derbyshire

Key man: Simon Katich was brought in as captain in close season, and will bring strong batting to the team.

One to watch: Boyd Rankin was impressive in the World Cup, now can he prove himself in England?

Chances

County Championship: Derbyshire will be hoping to be promoted this year, after underachieving and having bad luck with injuries recently.

Twenty20: Well, their target will be just to get out of their group.

Pro40: Second from last in Div 2 last season on run-rate, so they will aim for a respectable position.

Friends Provident Trophy: Like most teams, the target will be to pass through the group stage.

Durham

Key man: The captain Dale Benkenstein has been a success in England, and is a key player.

One to watch: Steve Harmision’s younger brother Ben was impressive in parts last season.

Chances

County Championship: Just stayed up last season after promotion, now will try to get into the top 6. They have a new coach after losing Moxon to Yorkshire.

Twenty20: Their target will be to get out of the Northern group.

Pro40: Last season they were relegated, can they get back to the top Division?

Friends Provident Trophy: Were second in the Northern group last season, if they can repeat that then they will reach the semi-finals.

Essex

Key man: Danish Kaneira. If the pitches spin, he will be a hit.

One to watch: The 18 year old promising batsman Tom Westley.

Chances

County Championship: Will aim for promotion this season, and have a strong batting lineup.

Twenty20: Had a good time last year, reaching the semis, can they follow it up well this time?

Pro40: Have won it in the two previous seasons, and are looking to repeat their success.

Friends Provident Trophy: They are a good one-day team, as shown in Pro40, so will aim to get through the group stage.

Glamorgan

Key man: David Hemp, the captain, scored buckets of runs last season and will be looking to get plenty more.

One to watch: Aaron Shingler, a promising 19 year old opening batsman.

Chances

County Championship: Some poor seasons recently, they’ll be wanting to climb off the bottom spots.

Twenty20: Will want to get through the group, and they are capable of hitting big.

Pro40: Will look for an improvement after narrowly avoiding relegation last season.

Friends Provident Trophy: Came second from last in the group last year, so will also want an improvement.

Gloucestershire:

Key man: If Jon Lewis’ season doesn’t get too disrupted by England call-ups, he will play a key part again.

One to watch: Anthony Ireland, a Kolpak who will want to impress in England.

Chances

County Championship: Have also had some poor seasons recently, and will aim for a respectable position in Div 2.

Twenty20: Got out of the groups last year to be thrashed by Surrey, and will try to get further this time.

Pro40: Gained promotion from Div 2 last season, so will want a respectable positon in Div 1.

Friends Provident Trophy: After finishing 5th in the group last season, will want to progress from the group.

Hampshire

Key man: Well it’s got to be Warney, arguably best spin bowler in the world and the captain of Hampshire.

One to watch: Chris Benham has potential to become a big player for the club.

Chances

County Championship: They’ve finished 3rd and 2nd in the past two seasons, and will be hoping to make the leap to 1st.

Twenty20: They will want to make a serious impact on the competition this season.

Pro40: They are a good one-day team and have a chance of gaining promotion to Div 1.

Friends Provident Trophy: Won it in 2005, but this year’s target will be to get out of the group.

Kent

Key man: Rob Key will play a big part in captaining the side and scoring enough runs.

One to watch: Joe Denly may get a good chance up the order now Kent don’t have Fulton.

Chances

County Championship: The only team not to have been in Div 2, they will aim for a respectable position this year.

Twenty20: Will hope to get out of the group, but there are some tough teams in there.

Pro40: After coming 5th in Div 2 last year, they will be aiming for promotion.

Friends Provident Trophy: Will hope to do better in the group than 7th, which they achieved last time.

Lancashire

Key man: Mal Loye, he builds platforms at the beginning of innings and can destroy bowlers with the slog-sweep.

One to watch: The young fast bowler Tom Smith, who was impressive last season.

Chances

County Championship: Narrowly missed out on the title last year, and could win it this season. If the rain doesn’t come.

Twenty20: They have a good team for this, lots of aggressive batters, so will be looking to get to finals day.

Pro40: They have a good one-day team, so will want to break into the top 3.

Friends Provident Trophy: Last year’s finalists, they will aim for one better this time.

Leicestershire

Key man: Stuart Broad, who was a revelation last year, will play a key part until he gets called up by England.

One to watch: Tom New, a keeper who will get a chance in the absence of Nixon.

Chances

County Championship: Will have their eyes on promotion this season, and should finish in the top 5.

Twenty20: Along with Surrey, have got to finals day every year. They are the current Champions and with their high standards a semi final place is expected at least.

Pro40: Last season were 6th in Div 2, and will want to improve on that.

Friends Provident Trophy: Also finished 6th in this, can they do better this time?

Middlesex

Key man: Nick Compton started to be famous for more than being Denis Compton’s grandson last season, will he do it again this season?

One to watch: The promising Irish batsman, Eoin Morgan.

Chances

County Championship: Last season they were relegated from Div 1, so will aim to get back there this season. Good batting lineup.

Twenty20: Yet another team aiming to get out of the group stage. It is anyones game.

Pro40: Were also relegated from this last season, so promotion will be another target.

Friends Provident Trophy: Missed out on qualification for the final by a single point, and will aim to get out of the group for the semi finals this season.

Northamptonshire

Key man: Uzman Afzaal should get a lot of Northants runs.

One to watch: They signed Irish wicketkeeper Niall O’Brien from Kent and he will be looking to impress.

Chances

County Championship: Are in Division 2, and have an outside chance of promotion.

Twenty20: Not known for their 20-20 game, can they prove theirselves this year?

Pro40: Equal points last year with Essex, but lost out on runrate. Can they go one better this time?

Friends Provident Trophy: They will just want to avoid finishing last, as they did last year in their group.

Nottinghamshire

Key man: Unless he’s back with England, Chris Read should play a big part in the season.

One to watch: Promising Samit Patel, can he make it at first team level?

Chances

County Championship: Up, down, up, champions, down has been a pattern for Notts recently, so it looks like they’ll be going up.

Twenty20: A good run last year, and will want to repeat it this year.

Pro40: Will be a team looking to the top, after coming 4th last year.

Friends Provident Trophy: Will want to progress from the group in this, they came 4th in the group last time.

Somerset

Key man: Well, their overseas players are normally big hits, and he was impressive last year, so Justin Langer.

One to watch: Sam Spurway, a promising young keeper who will be looking for a first team chance

Chances

County Championship: In Div 2, may need a better bowling attack before serious challenging for the promotion places.

Twenty20: Well with Cameron White in the team, they are going to look strong.

Pro40: Will aim for a respectable Div 2 place.

Friends Provident Trophy: Will want to progress from their group, but it could be a tough challenge.

Surrey

Key man: Mark Ramprakash – can he replicate his legendary form of last season?

One to watch: Chris Schofield, can he begin to reconstruct his career?

Chances

County Championship: They gained promotion to the first division last season and will be looking to finish 6th or above.

Twenty20: Surrey’s best chance comes in the Twenty20, where they have never failed to reach the finals.

Pro40: Aiming for promotion to Div 1, they finished 4th last year so will want to get a bit better and grab a promotion spot.

Friends Provident Trophy: 4th in group last time, progress is a realistic target.

Sussex

Key man: Chris Adams, who took his team to a double last season, will want to show that he made the right decision in staying.

One to watch: Their promising medium fast all rounder Luke Wright.

Chances

County Championship: They are the current champions, so will be the team to beat.

Twenty20: They have a decent chance of progression from their group

Pro40: 3rd in Div 1 last time, so they will want to mount a serious title challenge.

Friends Provident Trophy: They are also the current chamions of this competition, and will be looking to get out of the group at least.

Warwickshire

Key man: Heath Streak, the captain who often performs well for them.

One to watch: Navdeep Poonia, can he follow up from last season where he showed some of his potential?

Chances

County Championship: Will want a return to the top 3 for this season.

Twenty20: Have a good team for this, aggressive batsmen like Carter and Maddy will play a big part.

Pro40: Will look to the top 3, after finishing 5th last season.

Friends Provident Trophy: Were second from bottom in the group last season, and will want a big improvement.

Worcestershire

Key man: Phil Jaques is consistently one of the best batsmen playing in England, and should get a lot of runs.

One to watch: Young Dutch batsman Alexei Kervezee

Chances

County Championship: Promoted last season from Division 2, so the target will be to stay up.

Twenty20: They have a capable team for this, it’s just a matter of performing.

Pro40: Promoted last season, will look to stay up and get a respectable position.

Friends Provident Trophy: 3rd in the group last season, they have a realistic chance of qualifying from the group this year.

Yorkshire

Key man: Antony McGrath, he wanted to go, decided to stay but can he get the runs and bowl well like last season?

One to watch: Adil Rashid, he got the country watching towards the end of last season, can he live up to the hype?

Chances

County Championship: It looked like they’d have no batsmen, but they have since got Rudolph (on a Kolpak) and McGrath decided to stay. Spin will play a key part and the tykes will look for a top 5 finish.

Twenty20: Got past the group for the first time last season, and will be keen to better it and get into finals day.

Pro40: Will be boosted by the return of captain Gough in this competition, but in recent seasons have not proven themselves, hitting bottom in Div 2 last season.

Friends Provident Trophy: Didn’t do well in last year’s competition, so will be looking to improve their performance.