The 2025 Rothesay County Championship is in full swing, with just two more rounds to go until the Vitality Blast takes centre stage.
With each team having now played five games, we take a look at some of the major headlines from the first stretch of red-ball action.
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A formula to foil Surrey
The defending champions have not had it all their own way in 2025 so far, despite remaining unbeaten and sitting just 20 points back in fourth position.
The Three Feathers are targeting a fourth consecutive Division One title but have drawn four of their five games, the same number in each of their past two campaigns, with their solitary success coming against Somerset at The Oval.
There has been a pattern across all three of their away fixtures to date, with home sides producing pitches that even the star-studded Surrey line-up could not produce a result on.
None of those games at Chelmsford, Hove or Edgbaston saw a fourth innings, with the most recent draw against Warwickshire seeing just 15 wickets fall across the four days and a brief follow-on enforced despite scoring 504.
Whilst Essex did apply significant pressure in the opening game, a positive result for Surrey has never looked on the cards by the end of day one – and has led to them strategically rotating their vast stock of pace bowlers.
What is going on at Lancashire?
Just two years after recording successive second-place finishes, Lancashire were relegated to Division Two with many expecting the Red Rose to make an immediate return as they did with ease in 2019.
That has been far from the case, with Lancashire falling to the bottom of the table following their 70-run defeat at Northamptonshire last time out after a run of four straight draws.
It is the nature of those draws which has been the most concerning aspect.
After a thrilling finale in a see-saw battle with Middlesex, Lancashire have found themselves on the back foot in each of their three games at Old Trafford, with only the weather preventing a defeat against Leicestershire.
They have failed to make their opponents bat for a second time in each of the three home games, conceding scores of 496, 491-8d and 589-8d in the process.
Keaton Jennings has stepped down as the four-day captain with immediate effect, citing “the team will benefit from a change of captaincy”, with overseas batter Marcus Harris taking the reins on an interim basis.
The signing of Harris has been a rare highlight this year, with the 32-year-old Australian way out in front in the run-scoring charts across both divisions with 749 runs at an average of 83.22, including three centuries.
The imminent return of England legend James Anderson could provide a much-needed boost to a side with the joint-fewest bowling points in the division, though more consistency is also needed with the bat after collapses of 92-7 and 49-8 in Northampton.
Team efforts underpin East Midlands excitement
If Lancashire are an example of a side currently too reliant on the performance of a few individuals, then the early season form of Nottinghamshire and Leicestershire in particular can be attributed to contributions throughout.
Nottinghamshire and Warwickshire, who both laboured above the drop last year, are the surprise pace setters in Division One, with current leaders Notts already eclipsing their number of wins from 2024.
Trent Bridge has become somewhat of a fortress, with three wins from four, overcoming Hampshire by 366 runs last week for their first victory against that opposition in any format since 2018.
Six players have made three figures with the bat, whilst six players have also taken a five-wicket haul.
Australian Fergus O’Neill proved an astute signing with 21 wickets in four matches, covering until the arrival of experienced Pakistan seamer Muhammad Abbas.
Josh Tongue, meanwhile, has returned to fitness and earned himself a place back in the England squad with two five-fers in three matches.
Widely viewed as a club who relies on poaching players from elsewhere, Notts have also showcased the quality of their local talent with batter Freddie McCann, all-rounder Lyndon James and off-spinner Farhan Ahmed all providing match-winning contributions.
As for Leicestershire, 30 points ahead of third place Middlesex in Division Two, the Foxes have also enjoyed an unbeaten start to the campaign with three wins.
Sol Budinger, Peter Handscomb, Ben Cox and Lewis Hill have all made 300+ runs, with Rehan Ahmed and Rishi Patel also making centuries at the top of the order.
Ball in hand is where Leicestershire have been most effective, though, with Ian Holland the leading wicket-taker in the second division on 21 scalps.
The experienced seamer has been ably supported by Ben Green, Logan van Beek and Tom Scriven who have 45 wickets between them, whilst England hopeful Josh Hull has also featured after recovering from injury.
What about England’s Test cohort?
England’s summer begins next week with the one-off Test against Zimbabwe, before the high-profile series with India commences.
Captain Ben Stokes has yet to make an appearance for Durham so far after hamstring surgery in the new year, whilst key batters Joe Root, Harry Brook and Ben Duckett have only been limited to one game, in which Root made 90 and Duckett raced to a 31-ball 59.
The England selectors have kept faith with Zak Crawley, despite an indifferent start to the season for Kent in Division Two.
The opener has scored three half-centuries in his last three games but has also failed to score more than six in four first innings attempts.
The unfortunate Jordan Cox has once again been forced to pull out of the squad through injury, after averaging 76.80 in four matches, though that has opened the door to 21-year-old Somerset wicketkeeper James Rew who has scored two centuries so far this campaign.
The pace attack has been freshened up with a first call-up for Essex’s Sam Cook and the return of Josh Tongue, who has impressed with his pace in taking 15 wickets for Notts after missing the entirety of 2024.
Shoaib Bashir has been maintained as the frontline spinner, despite being behind Jack Leach in the pecking order for Somerset and subsequently being loaned out to Glamorgan in Division Two, where he has only taken two wickets at an average of 152 and conceded more than four runs per over.
By Dom Harris
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