The County Championship returns on Monday for its monthlong conclusion, with plenty still to play for at the top and bottom of both divisions...
We know it'll be one of three counties who take this year's crown: Surrey, Hampshire and Lancashire all remain in the mix as the final furlong approaches following a month's break.
Surrey remain the only side in the country still unbeaten at this point, and their reward for that is to be 16 points clear going into September. A final-day run-chase against Warwickshire in their last game before the pause for The Hundred and Royal London Cup epitomised their strength in 2022, turning around a game in which they were on the back foot on the third day to win comfortably on the following afternoon.
Rory Burns hasn't played since then, taking six weeks off and missing the August white-ball window, so the county's captain will be refreshed, while Kemar Roach and Hashim Amla will also return after Surrey opted to field a youthful side through the 50-over competition.
Hampshire are their nearest competitors, with Lancashire 18 points further back, but crucially – and somewhat nonsensically – the top two aren't due to face one another for a second time this season. That farcical quirk is a result of staging a 14-game season in a division of 10 teams. Surrey don't return to action until September 12, facing Northamptonshire, before hosting Yorkshire and ending the season at Lancashire, who could have a deciding say in the destination of the title for a second season running.
Hampshire, therefore, need Surrey to slip up at some stage. No team has won more games this season, helped by a bowling attack featuring Kyle Abbott, Mohammad Abbas and Keith Barker, and it may benefit James Vince's men to be playing two of their final three games at the Ageas Bowl, where the three seamers all take their wickets at less than 22 apiece. They take on two sides – Kent and Warwickshire – towards the other end of the division and Northamptonshire, who have four games remaining and sit fifth.
Lancashire are similarly reliant on a Surrey slip-up, but they will know that successive wins against Yorkshire and Essex would set up a final-round showdown at Emirates Old Trafford against Alec Stewart's charges. Of course, their schedule is interspersed with the Royal London Cup final against Kent.
Nottinghamshire are runaway leaders in Division Two (George Wood/Getty Images)
Gloucestershire are all but gone, winless through 11 games – losing eight – having struggled to keep the pace with their opponents over four days.
They have seen multiple opportunities slip away in the third innings of matches, while an ambitious declaration against Northamptonshire in an attempt to manufacture a much-needed win ultimately fell short in a two-wicket defeat at Cheltenham. Three maximum-point victories would give the Bristol county 134 points; that unlikely scenario seems unlikely to save them.
Above them, however, the race is tighter: Somerset have a game in hand and begin this last tranche of fixtures with a crucial west-country derby against Gloucestershire. Thereafter, they face fellow strugglers Kent and Warwickshire – the two counties directly above them – and Northamptonshire.
Yorkshire, who've won just once so far in the LV= Insurance County Championship this year, also have four matches remaining and – in all likelihood – would be safe with a second victory of the campaign.
They end the season at home against Gloucestershire but would want their future sewn up before then. They will have to play well to achieve that, however, with clashes against three of the top four between now and late September.
Warwickshire face the opposite challenge of coming up against the two teams directly below them, with the reigning champions sitting eighth in the division they won last year. They have good memories of facing Somerset at Edgbaston, though, having clinched the title on the season's final day in that fixture in 2021.
Somerset are in a relegation battle (Harry Trump/Getty Images)
The pre-season expectation was that Nottinghamshire would dominate and, with six wins and a single defeat, that assumption has come to pass. They sit 30 points ahead of Middlesex, who have been similarly impressive at times but have drawn five times and suffered potentially vital losses against Derbyshire and Worcestershire, both of whom maintain their own interest in the promotion picture.
Division Two, with plenty of quality on show, is remarkably tight. Only the bottom two – Sussex and Leicestershire – are out of the equation, but expect both to have a say in what happens above them after promising Royal London campaigns.
Glamorgan are well placed to leapfrog Middlesex in the near future, five points behind and with a game in hand; they host Worcestershire, who need a strong finish to properly enter the picture, from Monday, while Middlesex don't play until next week and will almost certainly be fourth by the time they host the Welsh county at Lord's in a game that might just define both sides' promotion chances.
For Middlesex, that game is followed by trips to Leicester and Worcester to finish their campaign; Glamorgan face Derbyshire and Sussex after their trip to London. Derbyshire, under Mickey Arthur's leadership, retain their own aspirations: they host Durham this week, with a draw almost certainly taking them into the top three, and Arthur's men finish with a home tie against Leicestershire.
For Durham, who are set to part with their coach, James Franklin, at the end of the summer, draws have been a problem for a club where previously wicket-taking was never the issue. Only Leicestershire have taken fewer bowling bonus points in the division. They are 40 points behind Middlesex but have a game in hand to bring themselves closer before a final three-game push.
Will Darren Stevens get his first-class swansong? (Adrian Dennis/AFP via Getty Images)
Is the next month set to see the final throes of Darren Stevens' first-class career? Kent have announced their intention to release him, and as yet there has been no deal signed elsewhere. He hasn't been a regular in this year's County Championship, struggling for wickets on the flat surfaces that have typified 2022. He hasn't featured in the competition since May, but one wonders whether he might be given a final hurrah at Canterbury before the season's out.
His teammate, Ben Compton, is one of six men already at 1,000 runs for the summer, but watch out for three England candidates not far off them: Sam Hain, Harry Brook and Haseeb Hameed are all closing in. Sam Northeast – almost entirely down to his unbeaten quadruple hundred against Leicestershire – leads the list from Compton.
By contrast, no one is at the landmark of 50 wickets yet, but Kyle Abbott is closing in. He has 49 and is favourite to reach the half century first, especially with his closest rival – Toby Roland-Jones – not playing until next week with Middlesex. Behind them, Olly Hannon-Dalby and Simon Harmer have 46 each. Remarkably, the top 10 wicket-takers are all at least 31 years of age; Sam Conners – the recent England Lions debutant – has the most wickets of anyone in their 20s.
It will be intriguing to see how many of those who've thrived in the Royal London Cup are able to convert that form: Stephen Eskinazi, Ali Orr and Ollie Robinson are the leading English run-scorers in the competition, while Brett Hutton is the leading wicket-taker. He has played only five times for Nottinghamshire this season in four-day cricket.
Glamorgan have brought in India's Shubman Gill and New Zealand's Ajaz Patel for the finale to replace Australians Michael Neser and Marnus Labuschagne, while Middlesex hope to have Umesh Yadav available despite a recent thigh injury. Warwickshire have signed compatriots Jayant Yadav and Mohammed Siraj, while Somerset have bolstered their relegation-threatened squad with Pakistanis Imam-ul-Haq and Sajid Khan. They have also been boosted by news of Tom Abell's recovery from a hamstring problem.
Northamptonshire, meanwhile, have added South African seamer Lizaad Williams to their ranks, with Ryan Rickelton unavailable as part of his country's squad for the third Test against England. Leicestershire are without Wiaan Mulder for the same reason.
Shan Masood, Derbyshire's excellent overseas player, misses the first match of the restart due to his participation in Pakistan's National T20 competition.
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