The new English cricket season is upon us with the County Championship beginning on Friday.

The 2019 cricket season promises to be a special one with the World Cup and Ashes series, but attention for now is all on the County Championship as Surrey look to defend their title.

We take a look at every county with Betfred delivering the odds for the new campaign, whilst we predict a finishing position and try and pick out the star men…

And we spoke to Betfred to get their thoughts on the campaign.

Betfred spokesman Peter Spencer said: “Cricket is proving more popular than ever with the excitement of T20, the fast pace of the IPL where so many world stars add so much to the drama and of course the world cup and Ashes here this summer.

“It is a big year for the sport and this is reflected in the early punting for the county championship with the early favourites for Division One are the holders Surrey while Lancashire are followed by Middlesex in being favoured for Division Two.”

DIVISION ONE

Essex
Captain: Ryan ten Doeschate
Coach: Anthony McGrath
Star batsman: Alistair Cook
Star bowler: Peter Siddle
Last season: 3rd
County Championship odds: 2/1
TGT Prediction: 4th

Hampshire
Captain: James Vince
Coach: Adrian Birrell
Star batsman: James Vince
Star bowler: Fidel Edwards
Last season: 5th
County Championship odds: 8/1
TGT Prediction: 7th

Kent
Captain: Sam Billings
Coach: Matt Walker
Star batsman: Zak Crawley
Star bowler: Matt Milnes
Last season: Promoted – Second in Division Two
County Championship odds: 16/1
TGT Prediction: 8th – Relegation

Nottinghamshire
Captain: Steven Mullaney
Coach: Peter Moores
Star batsman: Joe Clarke
Star bowler: James Pattinson
Last season: 6th
County Championship odds: 7/1
TGT Prediction: 2nd

Somerset
Captain: Tom Abell
Coach: Jason Kerr
Star batsman: Azhar Ali
Star bowler: Jack Leach
Last season: 2nd
County Championship odds: 15/2
TGT Prediction: 3rd

Surrey
Captain: Rory Burns
Coach: Michael Di Venuto
Star batsman: Ollie Pope
Star bowler: Morne Morkel
Last season: Winners
County Championship odds: 2/1
TGT Prediction: Winners

Warwickshire
Captain: Jeetan Patel
Coach: Jim Troughton
Star batsman: Will Rhodes
Star bowler: Ollie Stone
Last season: Promoted – Division Two champions
County Championship odds: 8/1
TGT Prediction: 6th

Yorkshire
Captain: Steve Patterson
Coach: Andrew Gale
Star batsman: Gary Ballance
Star bowler: Duanne Olivier
Last season: 4th
County Championship odds: 15/2
TGT Prediction: 5th

DIVISION TWO

Derbyshire
Captain: Billy Godleman
Coach: Dave Houghton (Head of cricket), Dominic Cork (T20)
Star batsman: Wayne Madsen
Star bowler: Logan van Beek
Last season: 7th
County Championship odds: 20/1
TGT Prediction: 10th

Durham
Captain: Cameron Bancroft
Coach: James Franklin
Star batsman: Cameron Bancroft
Star bowler: Chris Rushworth
Last season: 8th
County Championship odds: 25/1
TGT Prediction: 5th

Glamorgan
Captain: Chris Cooke
Coach: Matt Maynard
Star batsman: Shaun Marsh
Star bowler: Timm van der Gugten
Last season: 10th
County Championship odds: 25/1
TGT Prediction: 7th

Gloucestershire
Captain: Chris Dent
Coach: Richard Dawson
Star batsman: Chris Dent
Star bowler: Dan Worrell
Last season: 5th
County Championship odds: 20/1
TGT Prediction: 9th

Lancashire
Captain: Dane Vilas
Coach: Glen Chapple
Star batsman: Liam Livingstone
Star bowler: Tom Bailey
Last season: Relegated – 7th in Division One
County Championship odds: 7/4
TGT Prediction: Winners – Promotion

Leicestershire
Captain: Paul Horton
Coach: Paul Nixon
Star batsman: Colin Ackermann
Star bowler: Mohammad Abbas
Last season: 6th
County Championship odds: 16/1
TGT Prediction: 6th

Middlesex
Captain: Dawid Malan
Coach: Stuart Law
Star batsman: Stevie Eskinazi
Star bowler: Toby Roland-Jones
Last season: 4th
County Championship odds: 11/4
TGT Prediction: 3rd – Promotion

Northamptonshire
Captain: Alex Wakely
Coach: David Ripley
Star batsman: Ben Curran
Star bowler: Blessing Muzarabani
Last season: 9th
County Championship odds: 25/1
TGT Prediction: 8th

Sussex
Captain: Ben Brown
Coach: Jason Gillespie
Star batsman: Stiaan van Zyl
Star bowler: Jofra Archer
Last season: 3rd
County Championship odds: 4/1
TGT Prediction: 2nd – Promotion

Worcestershire
Captain: Joe Leach
Coach: Alex Gidman
Star batsman: Callum Ferguson
Star bowler: Joe Leach
Last season: Relegated – 8th in Division One
County Championship odds: 6/1
TGT Prediction: 6th