With the temperature gauge set to brisk, but rain largely forecast to stay away, the County Championship rolls into another season. For the first time since 2019, red-ball cricket returns to some normality, two divisions restored to their rightful place, though this time split 10 to eight.
Alongside that, cricket bids farewell to most of the Covid regulations that have haunted the past two seasons: adieu multiple-hatted slips, good riddance sanitation breaks.
