There are a lot of Kolpak players around but I’m glad we haven’t gone down that route. Our signings are English signings and we’re hoping to be successful with home-grown talent. Apart from our overseas players, the ones who are not England-qualified are Irish boys — and I feel they should be qualified anyway.

ROD BANSGROVE
Hampshire chairman

I feel Hampshire should now have the most international set-up of the counties, from the physio to new floodlights, and I want us to make a profit and to consolidate. I am planning to see an improvement in the public transport serving the Rose Bowl. I am expecting the ground to be seen as a main venue for big matches.

TRACY SANSOM
Gloucestershire supporter

There is a lot of talk about Twenty20 cricket taking over from 50-over cricket, but I think there’s room for both. It’s getting people in, but it’s not the bread and butter. I don’t think we should lose our 50 overs and 45 overs, that’s the lifeblood. If you’re a first-timer going to Twenty20 you should then move on to one-day cricket, then county cricket.

ALAN WEST
Lancashire scorer

I’ve just taken delivery of my computer for the season and, like the players, it’s been given a trial run in the pre-season practice matches. There were a few bugs in it at the end of last season, but it seems to be working OK now. It’s coped with Andy Flintoff’s batting anyway, so it should cope with most things.

ANDREW HIGNELL
Glamorgan scorer and prolific author

Glamorgan are different. We represent a nation, everybody else represents a county and we are proud to have a Welsh identity to the team. We have seen other counties with short-term Kolpak players. I would like to see the ECB insist on nine players registered for England in a county XI.

JOHN MAJOR
Surrey president

If England regain the Ashes, we shall suddenly find that Tony Blair is a great cricket fan. As president of Surrey, I am looking to us to win the championship and Mark Butcher to be restored to the England team. For someone who saw his father, Alan, make his debut, I find it hard to believe Mark is now in his benefit year.

KEPLER WESSELS
Northamptonshire team manager

Because of the financial setback at the club in 2003, we had to let the likes of Mike Hussey and Phil Jaques go without being able to replace them with players of similar stature. That meant we struggled in the championship last year but we have a more competitive unit this season. It is, nevertheless, a small squad.

CHRIS ADAMS
Sussex captain

David Gower, fabulous player that he was, would struggle in today’s environment. To be good at only one aspect of the game is not enough, no matter how good you are. Inevitably, we’re losing players of flair and character, but they’re being replaced by proper athletes playing a very professional sport.

NEIL MALLENDER
First-class umpire

After a winter completely away from cricket, I can’t wait for the start of the new season. I think that the standard in the county game is high, that a lot of good cricket is played in it and that we should all be behind it. The pitches in the main are very good at four-day level.

DAVID MEASOR
Durham groundsman

Although the weather forecasters keep saying it’s been a dry winter, we seem to have had a fairly wet one. We’ve not been able to get out on to the square very much. But it’s dried up quite nicely in the past few weeks and the ground’s looking fairly good.

MARK BUTCHER
New captain of Surrey

Taking the captaincy was a difficult decision for about 15 seconds. This is a club that’s incredibly close to my heart. I’ve been coming to the Oval since I was 2 and to lead the team is an enormous honour. The timing isn’t perfect but you have to meet these challenges head-on.

NICK KNIGHT
Warwickshire captain

My responsibility is not just to try to win the championship but to produce Test cricketers. That’s why we’ll always try to play on good wickets at Edgbaston, as to succeed in Test cricket you have to learn to be patient and have good disciplines. Test cricket is a war of attrition.

STEPHEN HARMISON
Durham and England

Everybody is talking about the Ashes but before then I’m really looking forward to playing for Durham. It is a fantastic place for young players because there is so much enthusiasm. I haven’t played much county cricket for two years and I want to help us to a good start.

RONNIE IRANI
Essex captain

We’ve signed three international players since the start of last season — Darren Gough, Grant Flower and Alex Tudor. We now have a far stronger squad than last year and I hope we can win something. I’m positive and upbeat, but so are 17 other county captains — if not, they shouldn’t be in the job.

BASHER HASSAN
Former player and marketing man, now Nottinghamshire committee member

I hope Nottinghamshire can stay in the top division. Fitness permitting, we should have a good chance. It is a shame Kevin Pietersen left us but I wish him all the best. I hope counties in general give chances to the young, local players who have come through their own academies and coaching systems instead of relying on Kolpak players.

TROY COOLEY
ECB fast bowling coach

It should be a great summer. I’ll be driving round the country looking at fast bowlers at all levels from “Harmy” through to the youngsters who might come to the Academy next year. So I guess I hope the motorways stay clear and we get some good weather.

CHRISTOPHER MARTIN-JENKINS
Chief Cricket Correspondent

The fixture list — peculiar, to use no stronger word — will allow me to see more four-day County Championship cricket than sometimes has been the case. I hope for competitive matches played to high standards of skill and behaviour, with home-bred players to the fore. Naturally, I also hope that Sussex win a trophy.