Aussie stars and attacking intent: Reasons to be cheerful as the County Championship returns

SETH NOBES picks out what you can look forward to when the County Championship returns on April 6

The County Championship returns on Thursday, April 6, amidst constant chatter about its' future in an ever-changing red-ball landscape.

However, the time for speculation is over: the cricket about to start.

From Australian imports to attacking intent, here's why you should be ecstatic the County Championship is back.

Test is best for Sam Billings

The start of the County Championship often coincides with the IPL, with many big-name English players opting for Delhi and Mumbai rather than Durham and Manchester. This year is no exception, with no fewer than 13 players - including Test captain Ben Stokes, who has attracted a lot of criticism for opting to honour his contract with CSK despite his injury issues - opting for India over England.

However, one player has made the unusual decision to snub the IPL in favour of facing the red-ball in England this April. 

Sam Billings will be available to Kent for the start of a red-ball season for the first time since 2015, with the wicketkeeper opting out of his £200,000 contract with the Kolkata Knight Riders.

In an interview with ESPNCricInfo, Billings said: "For me, I felt with the home Ashes - again, if I go home, score some runs in the early season and really dominate county cricket, then that gives me the best chance of getting back in that Test team."

An in-form, inspired Billings is a joy to watch, so it is certainly worth keeping an eye on his progress in Division One as he pushes for a recall.

^{Sam Billings has opted to play for Kent instead of KKR [Alex Davidson/Getty Images]}

Australian invasion

With the Ashes only a couple of months away, Australian players have been signing county contracts left, right and centre.

For some, the Championship offers a final opportunity to push their case for selection; for others, it is a valuable chance to adapt to English conditions. Others might simply be hoping that being in England could lead to a call-up as a last-minute replacement.

Peter Handscomb (Leicestershire), Cameron Bancroft (Somerset) and Nathan McAndrew (Sussex) have all moved to new counties while Sean Abbott and Marcus Harris are returning to Surrey and Gloucestershire, respectively. Michael Neser and Marnus Labuschagne, meanwhile, have signed on for yet another stint on the south Wales coast with Glamorgan.

Even vice-captain Steve Smith is dipping his toe into the world of county cricket, joining Sussex for a three-match stint ahead of the World Test Championship final.

These Aussies will pose a great test to the domestic batters and bowlers they face, and vice versa, making for some excellent viewing in the Championship's early rounds.

^{Marnus Labuschagne will be back in action for Glamorgan [Stu Forster/Getty Images]}

Not just three hours, but four days' worth of action

If Mitchell and Webb were to make their sketch show today, it would almost make sense for David Mitchell to be walking around the boundary of a cricket pitch rather than a football ground, explaining the seemingly never-ending list of fixtures of international and T20 games, before exclaiming: "the cricket is officially going on forever!"

Indeed, since the 2022 County Championship season ended in dramatic fashion on September 29, the number of professional cricket matches played around the world is not worth trying to count.

However, despite the somewhat infinite number of matches, the most memorable was the second Test between England and New Zealand, which, after 377.2 overs, and five days, was decided by one run.

There is something about red-ball cricket which just makes it watchable for days on end. Whether it's a bowler setting up a plan against a batter, or a batter using all his experience and knowledge to see off a constant barrage of fast bowling, there is nothing like it.

And finally, after a long winter, county fans are finally able to enjoy nearly a dozen rounds of Championship action from Easter weekend to the start of the summer holidays.

^{Tom Kohler-Cadmore has swapped Yorkshire for Somerset [Harry Trump/Getty Images]}

All-out attack following rule changes

There is no need to explain just how much has changed with the England Men's Test team since Brendon McCullum and Stokes took over. The most important thing, and something we can all agree on, is this England side is a joy to watch, and as Billings testified earlier, it is something everyone wants to be a part of.

To try and incentivise the counties to embrace this more attacking approach, there has been rule change to how bonus points are awarded.

Teams will now need to score 250 inside 110 overs in the first innings to secure the first bonus point, an increase from 200. Extra points will be awarded every time another 50 runs are scored, up to a maximum of five. To achieve this, a county would have to score 450 runs in 110 overs - that's a run rate of more than four an over.

It's not the only change either, with the number of points for a draw reduced to the pre-pandemic level of five, down from eight.

Durham's Matthew Potts said in a pre-season interview: "You'd rather lose every game this year and know you're doing it with the right intent to try and win the game."

Sound familiar? It will certainly make for exhilarating viewing.

^{Ben Stokes and Brendon McCullum are championing attacking red-ball cricket [Matthew Lewis/Getty Images]}

New signings with a point to prove

A new season represents a clean slate, an opportunity to forget any poor performances from 2022 and start afresh. And for players who have been on the move over the winter, they have a point to prove.

Dom Sibley is one of the most high-profile movers, returning to Surrey after five years at Warwickshire. He will be reunited with his former England partner Rory Burns, and will hope to demonstrate why he was once seen as the solution to England's opening issues.

Tom Kohler-Cadmore has swapped north for south, moving to Yorkshire from Somerset, Olly Stone has traversed the Midlands to Nottinghamshire, and Adam Hose is hoping to revive his red-ball career at Worcestershire. Marchant de Lange has crossed enemy lines, trading Somerset and Gloucestershire, and Shan Masood is Yorkshire's new captain after a successful season with Derbyshire.

Several of these players hold international aspirations and will hope they can show why they deserve a place on the Test stage once the County Championship gets underway. Only time will tell who has made the right move.