Division One

Chelmsford: Essex v Surrey

Essex won the toss and will bat

Utilita Bowl: Hampshire v Yorkshire

Yorkshire won the toss and will bat

Trent Bridge: Nottinghamshire v Durham

Notts won the toss and put Durham in

Taunton: Somerset v Worcestershire

Somerset won the toss and put Worcestershire in

Edgbaston: Warwickshire v Sussex

Warwickshire won the toss and put Sussex in

Division Two

Derby: Derbyshire v Gloucestershire

Derbyshire won the toss and put Gloucestershire in

Cardiff: Glamorgan v Leicestershire

Leicestershire won the toss and put Glamorgan in

Lord's: Middlesex v Lancashire

Lancashire won the toss and put Middlesex in

Northampton: Northamptonshire v Kent

Northamptonshire won the toss and put Kent in

Image source, Getty Images

We have had six coaching and six captaincy changes over the winter.

Head coach Anthony McGrath left Essex to return to Yorkshire who he served as a player, which left a vacancy at Chelmsford to be filled by Chris Silverwood who is back at the county he led to the title in 2017.

Former Warwickshire captain Ian Westwood has replaced Mark Robinson at Edgbaston and Darren Lehmann has taken the hot seat Northamptonshire.

Richard Dawson has taken interim charge of Gloucestershire and Adam Hollioake is back in the county game at Kent.

Johnny Bairstow has followed in the footsteps of his late father, David by taking the captaincy of Yorkshire's red-ball side while just up the road Alex Lees will lead Durham.

Hampshire have appointed former Sussex skipper Ben Brown to replace James Vince.

In Division Two Wayne Madsen is starting a second stint as Derbyshire captain while Australians Peter Handscomb and Cameron Bancroft will lead Leicestershire and Gloucestershire respectively.

Bancroft misses Gloucestershire's first game at Derbyshire and will join the team next week.

Some areas of England will supposedly be balmier than the Algarve today so if you're reading this having just landed at Faro airport or if you're contemplating a coffee in Albufeira - bad luck!

"There is no immediate end in sight to this glorious weather we're seeing all across the UK," says BBC Weather forecaster Elizabeth Rizzini.

All good as far as our nine County Championship games are concerned then - a full day of play lies ahead.

In case you've forgotten......

County champions: Surrey

Relegated from Division One: Kent, Lancashire

Promoted from Division Two: Sussex, Yorkshire

Leading run-scorer Division One: David Bedingham (Durham) 1,331

Highest score Division One: David Bedingham (Durham) 279 (v Lancs)

Leading wicket-taker Division One: Jamie Porter (Essex) 56

Leading run-scorer Division Two: Colin Ingram (Glamorgan) 1,351

Highest score Division Two: Sam Northeast (Glamorgan) 335no (v Middlesex)

Leading wicket-taker Division Two: Ben Coad (Yorkshire) 56

Image source, Rex Features

Another year and another one where Surrey are once again the favourites to lift the trophy.

Rory Burns' side are going for a fourth successive title which would be the first time anyone has done that since Surrey themselves won it seven years in a row in the 1950s.

So, who can challenge them?

You can read a full preview of the 2025 season provided by our BBC local radio colleagues, including a look at the runners and riders in Division Two.

Image source, Rex Features

Good morning and welcome to the 2025 County Championship season.

The sun is out, the temperature is pleasant and the teams are ready to go for six months of action which will no doubt provide plenty of ups and downs or should that be swing, seam and spin?

Anyway, let's get cracking.