Club-by-club guide to the 2026 County Championship
I began my look ahead to the 2025 campaign by suggesting things could only improve for Derbyshire in the County Championship – and boy, did they improve. Last season was the team's best since 2014, climbing from bottom of the second division to third in the table and only missing out on promotion by five points. The task head of cricket Mickey Arthur has is to improve on that – and he has had a strong off-season.
Pakistan's Mohammad Abbas has joined from neighbours Nottinghamshire on a two-year deal and ought to be a key man in the quest for wickets. After all, he took 32 of them at just 21. 46 in nine first division matches in 2025.
England spinner Shoaib Bashir has arrived from Somerset looking for more game time to relaunch his career after what must have been a frustrating winter. Still only 22 years old, he will surely get plenty of opportunities. And there is also Matt Montgomery, who had a loan spell with Derbyshire in the One-Day Cup last season when he scored two centuries in six innings.
He has joined permanently on a three-year deal to further strengthen an already-impressive batting line-up which includes Australian Caleb Jewell, who returns after reaching 1,000 Championship runs last year, and skipper Wayne Madsen who also hit that mark. Luis Reece will be looking to build on a campaign in which he was the leading wicket-taker in Division Two with 50 at just 19 in addition to scoring more than 600 first-class runs. Expectations have been raised.
It will be fascinating to see how they deliver. Luis Reece took more wickets (50) than any other bowler in Division Two in the County Championship in 2025 Durham find themselves in Division Two once again, just a couple of years after going up. The last time they were relegated – due to poor form – they won only two Championship games.