With many eyes in the cricketing world focused on the southern hemisphere, the drama of the Ashes and the high-octane Big Bash League, the 2014 county cricket season is at risk of sneaking up on cricket fans unaware. With the start of the LV= County Championship steadily approaching, here are five players tipped to excel in England over the coming season:
Usman Arshad - Durham
While teammate Ben Stokes has stolen all the headlines over the last few months with his performances for England in Australia, it's his potential replacement in their side who could be creating some of his own next season.
Having made his first appearance in the County Championship against Surrey in August, Usman Arshad went from strength to strength in the short space between then and the end of the season, and in his second game against Sussex took six wickets for just 29 runs across the two innings.
Adept with the bat too, 20-year-old Arshad signed a new two-year contract with Durham in October and is clearly one for the future, excelling across all forms of the game. Coach Jon Lewis has high hopes for Arshad.
"I think the bigger picture for him will be as a seamer who bats in the middle because he’s got good skills with the ball,” he said.
"He’s a good competitor, and the fact he’s been captaining the second team shows he’s got a good cricketing brain."
If he can carry on last season’s good form into this year, he should play a prominent part for his new coach.
Will Rhodes - Yorkshire
Yet to feature for Jason Gillespie’s first XI in the LV= County Championship, Will Rhodes can expect that to change next season, after excelling for Yorkshire last summer.
The 18-year-old made a century for the England U19s and his most impressive performance came when he scored 126 off 193 balls from number five while captaining Yorkshire’s seconds away at Leicestershire.
And the way that Gillespie speaks of his young charge, it looks like he really will leave his mark next season.
“He played a second XI game against Lancashire earlier in the season, a team who’ve got a lot of guys in there with first-class experience,” he said.
“Oliver Newby starts trying to get up him and he just pulls him for four, doesn’t engage in anything and stands on his bat wondering what all the fuss is about.
“He waits for him to go back to his mark and cuts him for four next ball.”
That’s a glowing reference for a young cricketer who clearly has a big future ahead of him.
Steven Mullaney - Nottinghamshire
Twelve months ago, Steven Mullaney found opportunities in Nottinghamshire’s LV= County Championship hard to come by. Used sparingly in the game’s longest format, his regular appearances for the limited-overs side displayed reliable medium-pace bowling and useful contributions with the bat.
Come September, the picture was very different. Promoted up the order to fill Notts’ troublesome opening berth, Mulllaney was reliable and confident, a century at Lord’s just reward for persistence and adaptability.
An important cameo in the Yorkshire Bank 40 final, again at Lord’s, pushed the contest in Notts’ favour and following the season’s culmination, Mullaney was named the county’s Player of the Year.
Trips to Bangladesh and Australia have occupied his winter, and by the time Lancashire visit Trent Bridge for the LV= CC curtain raiser, expect his name to be one of the first on the team sheet.
David Willey - Northants
Up until recently, most articles about David Willey start by talking about his Dad, former England player turned international umpire Peter.
But if 23-year-old David continues his rapid rise then he’ll make plenty of headlines in his own right.
A fiery all-rounder, he scored 60 off 27 balls and finished the FLT20 final with a hat-trick last season, as Northants beat Surrey to win the competition, and subsequently signed a new three-year deal with the county.
An England Lions call up followed, and next season should be his best yet.
Sam Robson - Middlesex
He represented Australia at U19 level, but having played for Middlesex since 2009, talented opener Sam Robson recently pledged his international future to England.
And currently with the England Performance Programme down under, he scored successive centuries in two games and given the full test team’s struggles during their tour of Australia, a call up isn’t beyond the realms of possibility.
A stylish right handed batsman, he averaged 47 in the County Championship last year, and now his international future is settled, he’ll be looking to really push on next term.