County Championship 2024 season: Ben Stokes’ quest for fitness, England’s search for the next Stuart Broad and which teams will contest for the title? | Cricket News

The English cricket summer officially gets under way on Friday – yes, hard to believe given the frigid early-April conditions – and so what should we be looking out for in the County Championship?

England are not in action in Test cricket until they face the West Indies on July 10, so there is quite the red-ball run-up to that opening Test at Lord’s for players to stake their claim.

Here we take a look at some of the biggest names to keep an eye out for in the early-season exchanges as well as assessing which counties look best-placed for a title push in the top tier and who is gunning for promotion from Division Two.

Stokes’ quest for fitness

Durham were the runaway winners of Division Two last season and could prove surprise challengers in their first year back dining at the top table since a 2016 points deduction for financial issues relegated them.

Such reason for optimism is in large part due to the increased availability of England’s Test captain Ben Stokes, who this week ruled himself out of playing in the Men’s T20 World Cup which will take place in June in the West Indies and USA.

Having had surgery on a long-standing knee injury over the winter, Stokes said of his self-imposed absence: “I’m working hard and focusing on building my bowling fitness back up to fulfil a full role as an all-rounder in all formats of cricket.

“The recent Test tour of India highlighted how far behind I was from a bowling point of view after my knee surgery and nine months without bowling. I’m looking forward to playing for Durham in the County Championship before the start of our Test summer.”

Stokes certainly will not feature in all eight of Durham’s red-ball matches prior to that first of three Tests against the West Indies but he can hopefully gradually build the miles back into his legs in a handful of run-outs.

And with the bat, England’s loss is most certainly Durham’s gain. His last three first-class appearances for the county came back in 2022 and included among them was a simply devastating innings of 161 off just 88 balls in a win against Worcestershire, a knock that contained a County Championship-record 17 sixes.

County bowling attacks, look out!

Who will fill Broad’s sizeable shoes?

Talking of county bowlers, there is an opportunity for the Test cricket hopefuls among them to really stake a claim for an England starting spot over the early months of the season following the legendary Stuart Broad’s retirement last year.

James Anderson, and his 700 Test wickets, is still going strong aged 41 – and will no doubt be taking his usual hatful of wickets for Lancashire in helpful early-season conditions – but who will fill the sizeable void of Broad’s 604 Test scalps alongside him in leading England’s attack?

Mark Wood’s pace will be prioritised, albeit he will be wrapped up in cotton wool ahead of the T20 World Cup, while Ollie Robinson told Sky Sports ahead of the season’s start with Sussex: “It’s about putting my name forward to take over and take the reins with Jimmy.”

Both have had problems staying fit, however, as has Nottinghamshire pace bowler Olly Stone and 2019 World Cup hero Jofra Archer, with his availability this summer still unknown.

Josh Tongue, who impressed with 10 wickets in two Tests last summer – including a maiden Ashes bow at Lord’s – is in the early stages of recovery from a pectoral injury and so will not be rushed back for new team Notts, neither will Saqib Mahmood at Lancashire after an injury-plagued two years since making his Test debut in early 2022.

So, could that open the door for the likes of Gus Atkinson (Surrey), Matthew Potts, Brydon C



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