Know the County cricket and the Indian player who's all set to play this season

This year the tournament will be played in two divisions with the return of the promotion and relegation system. The first seven rounds are scheduled from Thursday-Sunday in successive weeks in the build-up to the LV= Insurance Test Series against world champions New Zealand.

Know the Counties

County cricket got its roots in the early 18th century. This is a first-class competition involving eighteen first-class county clubs, among which seventeen are English, and one is from Wales. 

The first-class counties are Derbyshire County cricket club, Durham County cricket club, Essex County cricket club, Glamorgan County cricket club, Gloucestershire County cricket club, Hampshire County cricket club, Kent county cricket club, Lancashire, Leicestershire County cricket club, Middlesex county cricket club, Northamptonshire County cricket club, Nottinghamshire County cricket club, Somerset county cricket club, Surrey County cricket club, Sussex County cricket club, Warwickshire County cricket club, Worcestershire County cricket club and Yorkshire County cricket club.

County Championship 2022

With the return of two division structures, there will be ten counties in Division One and eight in Division Two. Each county will play seven home and seven away matches. Each county can have a maximum of two 'overseas' players.

Division One: Essex, Gloucestershire, Hampshire, Kent, Lancashire, Northamptonshire, Somerset, Surrey, Warwickshire, Yorkshire

Division Two: Derbyshire, Durham, Glamorgan, Leicestershire, Middlesex, Nottinghamshire, Sussex, Worcestershire.

Role of County Cricket in finding new talents

The County Championship brings out England's future talent and helps them get an international breakthrough. England's recent loss in the Ashes raised many questions and harsh introspection on the new talent. Still, the management believes that with the help of County cricket, they will get some fantastic players who can turn England's ailing test fortunes. 

Some of the players who are under the scanner and considered potential futures are: Tom Haines, Chris Dent, Rob Yates, James Bracey, Harry Brook, Harry Swindells and Mathew Fisher (he got to debut for England recently in March 2022)

Indians who played County cricket

It is considered to be one of the most prestigious platforms by all Test-playing nations. It gives you an edge to prepare to play in English conditions. Many Indian players have a chance to participate and contribute in the league. Few of the popular ones are:

Sachin Tendulkar- In 1992, he played 16 games for Yorkshire

While struggling in international cricket, Gautam Gambhir went on to play five games for Essex in 2013.

Rahul Dravid- In 2000, he played 16 games for Kent and happened to be one of India's best players on English soil.

Harbhajan Singh- He has been part of county cricket and represented three counties in his career.

Sourav Ganguly- Former Indian Captain, represented three counties: Glamorgan, Lancashire, and Northamptonshire.

Hanuma Vihari also joined the bandwagon in 2021. Even Virat Kohli tried to sign up, but things couldn't materialise. Apart from them, Yuvraj Singh, VVS Laxman, Zaheer Khan, Anil Kumble, and Virendra Sehwag had their stints done in the County Championship.

Pujara in County Championship 2022

For this season, India's top-order red ball batter Cheteshwar Pujara has been signed by Sussex County Cricket Club. He has been roped in as the replacement for Australia's Travis Head following the request from the latter to be released from his contract due to increased international commitments, along with the news that he and his partner are expecting their first child.

Sussex Club in their statement said, "We are delighted to welcome such an experienced international top-order batter to the squad and look forward to his contribution both with the bat and in helping our younger top-order batters continue their development in first-class cricket. We are sorry Travis will not be joining us and wish him all the best with his international commitments and congratulate him and his partner Jessica on their news".

"I am excited and honored to be a part of the historic Sussex County Cricket Club for the upcoming season," said Cheteshwar Pujara. He added, "I do look forward to joining up with the Sussex family soon and [being] a part of its rich cricketing history".

Cheteshwar Pujara will be seen sharing the dressing room with Pakistan's wicket-keeper batter Mohammad Rizwan who the Sussex County Cricket Club already signed.