With the County Championship season heading our way, here’s a look at some players that could make a difference in 2026 or 2027.
Josh Hull
The departures of fast bowlers Ajeet Singh Dale to Lancashire, Zaman Akhter to Essex and Josh Shaw to Somerset and whilst making a move to sign Craig Miles they do remain slightly light in that section of the bowling department.
Josh Hull of Leicestershire fits the England Test side mould and that earned him the opportunity to feature for the national side against Sri Lanka after an injury to Mark Wood ruled him out of the side.
He took three wickets on debut and whilst his bowling average in County Championship cricket does leave a lot to be desired at the figure of 42.72, he’s young at the age of 21 and has a lot of opportunity to grow into a successful fast bowler.
Having appeared for Manchester Originals and Welsh Fire in the Hundred, that shows his ability to be a crucial bowler in all formats of the game which is something that is key in today’s game.
Ben Curran
Having not been signed to a county since 2022 at Northamptonshire, Ben Curran offers an interesting proposition in the batting department.
Despite being a brother to Tom and Sam Curran who are both England internationals, Ben decided to follow in his dad’s footsteps and become an international for Zimbabwe.
His decision rose to prominence when Ben played against England at Trent Bridge in a test in 2025, which he made 6 & 37.
The batter currently averages 38.46 in first class cricket and 36.20 in List A cricket so could be an option in both the County Championship and One Day Cup.
Dan Lawrence
Out of contract at the end of the year, Dan Lawrence’s time at Surrey hasn’t gone completely to plan with his bid to secure his place in the England side coming to a calamitous end as opener against Sri Lanka in 2024.
The 28-year-old started his career at Essex where he featured between 2015 and 2023 and played a pivotal role in the side’s County Championship successes in 2017 and 2019 as well as the Vitality Blast win in 2019.
His move to Surrey was controversial but it set out a clear path for him to make his mark on the England side after three years of being in and out at number three. However, that was ultimately not how it transpired with those aforementioned games against Sri Lanka all he got to take part in.
He now enters his third year of his contract at Surrey and could be looking for a way-out which Gloucestershire could provide but Lawrence will have lots of options and at the end of the deal and he’ll have to way up if he wants to be the star of a team or in the background again.
