County Championship 2023 season: Will 'Bazball' feature in new campaign?

Surrey won their 21st County Championship title last season

The whites have been dusted off, woolly hats and hand warmers are at the top of the kit bag and the smell of freshly cut grass is in the air. The County Championship returns on Thursday.

With England revolutionising Test cricket over the past 12 months with a win at all costs strategy under Brendon McCullum and Ben Stokes, could we now see this in the domestic game?

BBC Sport takes a look at whether or not 'Bazball' might spice up four-day matches, and some of the other things to look out for in the 2023 campaign.

Time for 'Bazball'?

With fewer points on offer for a draw this year, five instead of eight, teams might be more inclined to go all-out for victories. Coaches have always made it clear that their sides try to win every game, but could a bit of 'Bazball' give them a better chance?

Yorkshire head coach Ottis Gibson said he was taught to play positive cricket growing up in Barbados

Yorkshire head coach Ottis Gibson said he wanted to see positive cricket but "good decisions" from his side.

"We have spoken about how we want to play cricket this year and I don't think it will go as far as 'Bazball' but it will be somewhere between," he told BBC Radio Leeds. "Trying to be positive, trying to take the game on and win.

"We still expect people to read the situation of the game and make good decisions. If you look at how England are playing it might seem reckless at times, but more often than not they are making good decisions.

"I don't think we are going to go down the 'Bazball' route, but we are going to find a way of playing cricket suits the players we have in the dressing room and that helps us to win. If it means we have to bat out a session on day three or four then that is what we will do, and we will be positive. Positive doesn't always mean hitting fours and sixes.

"When I was growing up in Barbados we were taught six, four, three, two, one, block. The last shot was a defensive shot, you were always taught to be positive and that is how I played."

Kent head coach Matt Walker said it would be difficult to simply go and copy England's attacking style of play.

"You don't want to compromise what works for you by trying something you may think is going to get you ahead of the game," he told BBC Radio Kent.

"You can't just say, 'we need to play like England', we've got to score at six an over, it just doesn't work like that.

"You've got to be a bit careful, not everyone is built with an array of shots they can pull out at any stage. You've got to be able to work with what you've got as a player.

"It's very inspiring watching England play, they've certainly revolutionised Test cricket, and you can learn a lot from it, but we've got to do it our way."

Essex opener Alastair Cook, the former England captain, believes weight of runs will remain the most important factor in terms of achieving international selection.

"You've got to look after your bread and butter, try and win a game for your county and score runs in that next innings. Bazball might change a few things but it hasn't changed that," he said.

"For players that want to be pushing for selection, yes there's a way that Ben [Stokes] and Brendon [McCullum] want them to play but if there's a young guy comes up and scores a hell of a lot of runs, with the potential of pushing on when the game needs to be pushed on, they will be fine."

Northants boss John Sadler said he was "sure his side would play their part" in the exciting brand of cricket England are encouraging, while former Warwickshire and England opener Dennis Amiss told BBC Radio WM he would love to see more 'Bazball' being played in the Championship.

More runs needed for bonus points

Another rule change which might see teams look to score more quickly is an increase in the first-innings runs needed to earn batting bonus points.

A first batting bonus point is now awarded when a side scores 250, up from 200 in previous years. A score of 450 or more inside 110 overs will result in the maximum five points. Bowling bonus points have not changed.

As already mentioned, clubs will get fewer points for a drawn game, but 16 points for a win is unchanged.

The ECB wanted more four-day cricket played at the height of the English summer

The first seven rounds will be played from Thursday to Sunday in successive weeks in the build-up to June's Ashes series, followed by a further five rounds in June and July.

The season concludes on Friday, 29 September, with all teams playing 14 matches.

One thing to look out for is the use of the Kookaburra ball in two rounds in late June and early July, replacing the Dukes ball.

The Kookaburra, used in Australia, has a less prominent seam and tends to go out of shape quicker. The ECB wants English players to get more experience facing or bowling with it, but it is unlikely many England Test players will be involved, in the midst of a home Ashes series.

2023 first-round fixtures

Division One:

• Hampshire v Nottinghamshire

• Kent v Northants

• Lancashire v Surrey

• Middlesex v Essex

• Somerset v Warwickshire

Division Two:

• Derbyshire v Worcestershire

• Glamorgan v Gloucestershire

• Sussex v Durham

• Yorkshire v Leicestershire

What happened in 2022?

In short, plenty. Surrey won their 21st County Championship title, while 2021 champions Warwickshire only avoided relegation on the final afternoon with a five-run win over Hampshire, inspired by Liam Norwell's nine wickets.

Victory for the Bears sent Yorkshire down to Division Two.

The early part of the season also saw a run fest. After the first six rounds, there had been 13 innings scores of 500 or more, and Surrey went past 600 twice. Their 671-9 against Kent was the highest score in first-class cricket without a batter making a century.

Ben Stokes hit 34 off one over from Worcestershire spinner Josh Baker in his innings of 161

Stokes also set a new record in his first Championship match since becoming England Test captain. He smashed 17 sixes, the most in a County Championship innings, in making 161 off 88 balls against Worcestershire.

Glamorgan's Sam Northeast then made his own bit of history in July. His unbeaten 410 against Leicestershire was the highest score in the competition since Brian Lara's 501 not out for Warwickshire in 1994, and the third-best County Championship innings in history.

County champions: Surrey

Relegated from Div One: Yorkshire & Gloucestershire

Promoted from Div Two: Nottinghamshire & Middlesex

Leading run-scorer Div One: Keaton Jennings, Lancashire - 1,233 runs

Leading wicket-taker Div One: Simon Harmer, Essex - 59 wickets

Leading run-scorer Div Two: Wayne Madsen, Derbyshire - 1,273 runs

Leading wicket-taker Div Two: Toby Roland-Jones, Middlesex - 67 wickets

The big moves

Chris Rushworth (Durham - Warwickshire)

Warwickshire signed Durham's all-time leading wicket-taker on a two-year deal in October.

The 36-year-old took 603 first-class wickets for the county, who had been his only club, at an average of 22.61.

Rushworth is arguably one of the finest county bowlers to have never been capped by England.

Rushworth has career-best bowling figures of 9-52

Olly Stone (Warwickshire - Nottinghamshire)

As Rushworth arrived at Edgbaston, England paceman Stone exited for Trent Bridge.

If he can stay clear of injuries, which have plagued the 29-year-old in recent years, and with no certainty of a starting place for his country, Stone could prove a huge asset for Notts and their title ambitions.

Tom Kohler-Cadmore (Yorkshire - Somerset)

After being touted as one of the most promising young batters in the game a decade ago, Kohler-Cadmore has not quite found the consistency to break through to the highest level.

But on his day the 28-year-old can be devastating, and has become sought after in franchise cricket. A move to Taunton might be what he needs to take his consistency up a notch.

Dom Sibley (Warwickshire - Surrey)

Opener Sibley has fallen down the pecking order for England, with the last of his 22 Test caps coming in August 2021.

It is easy to forget he is still only 27, having made his debut for the county he is rejoining a decade ago.

Flat Oval pitches and linking up with the defending champions might see the right-hander rediscover some of the form which sprung him into the international fold in 2019.

Shan Masood (Derbyshire - Yorkshire)

Pakistan international Masood enjoyed an incredible start to last season, becoming the first batter to reach 1,000 County Championship runs.

He will become Yorkshire's new captain as part of the county's new era following the racism scandal.

The 33-year-old was too good for Division Two cricket in 2022, there is no reason why he cannot lead Yorkshire straight back up this campaign.

However, the county revealed on Wednesday that the left-hander will be unavailable for the initial rounds of the campaign after being selected for Pakistan's upcoming home series against New Zealand.