Who Will be Relegated From The County Championship?

The last games of the County Championship Division One start this Wednesday and by the end of Saturday we will all know who the teams are going down to play Division Two cricket next season.

We already know Surrey will be one of those sides after their defeat by title-chasing Nottinghamshire, but after Yorkshire and Sussex both drew and Lancashire turned the match around against Kent to win, the second relegation spot is going to go down to the wire.

The final round of games involving teams at the bottom sees Kent V Durham, Somerset V Lancashire and Sussex V Yorkshire. Below is a look at the relegation contenders:

1) Yorkshire - Drew their last match against Somerset but occupy the second relegation spot with 147 points. The squad is announced on Tuesday and may be missing Darren Gough as it is as yet unclear whether or not he will make himself available before retiring.

They go to Hove and face Sussex who are also scrapping to avoid relegation so this game should be a cracker. A win would guarantee survival and a high scoring draw could see them escape relegation depending on other results.  

The White Rose County will be hoping Jacques Rudolph and Anthony McGrath continue their high scoring with the bat and the likes of Matthew Hoggard (40), Tim Bresnan (44) and Adil Rashid (53) can take the wickets.

2) Kent - They will be disappointed to be only four points clear of the relegation spot after bowling Lancashire out for 107 in the first innings and then failing to chase down 163 runs to win, they only have themselves to blame. 

Their opponents, Durham, are chasing the title so will not give anything away. Kent will need Martin van Jaarsveld to maintain his average of 51.68 and openers Joe Denly and Robert Key to get them off to a solid start before hoping Ryan McLaren (47), Yasir Arafat (38) and Robbie Joseph (53) can add to their wicket tallies.   

3) Sussex - Have won two, lost two and drawn 11 of their games so far leaving them four points ahead of their opponents Yorkshire, who are even more desperate for points to avoid the drop.

They will be hoping the experience of Murray Goodwin, averaging 57.57 and Matt Prior (56.18) will get them the necessary runs with Jason Lewry (39), Robin Martin-Jenkins (29) and Mohammad Sami taking the wickets. 

4) Lancashire - In trouble despite winning four, drawing eight and only losing two Championship matches but after their win against Kent they are five points away from the drop zone but play title chasing Somerset.

The Red Rose County need the likes of Paul Horton (43.19) Stuart Law (38.38) and Steven Croft (36.37) to amass as many runs as possible to ensure maximum batting points. Then they need Glen Chapple (37 wickets) to re-produce some of the form that saw him run through the Kent batsmen with 6-40 with help from Gary Keedy (22) and the other bowlers that are picked when the team is announced.

Overall, it will be interesting to look at the teams when they are announced tomorrow (Tuesday) and see which line-ups the Counties go with as futures in the division are at stake.

Kent and Lancashire may be playing teams chasing the title but it may also benefit them teams have to go all out to gain maximum bonus points while Yorkshire and Sussex know if they get their tactics wrong they will be playing Division Two cricket next year.

Whatever happens it is sure to be a fun-packed four days with plenty of ups and downs and fans of all the counties nervously watching the other games in the hope that their team survives. 

All we can do is watch and hope that nothing is decided by the weather and the players have the chance to decide each counties fate.