By Dan Barnes
Div 2: Northants

WILL 2018 be the year that Northamptonshire secure a route back into Division One? They certainly know a thing or two about a nearmiss, having fallen just five points short last year, despite having won as many matches throughout the season as champions Worcestershire and two more than second-placed Nottinghamshire.
They even brought the curtain down on their 2017 campaign with a six-wicket victory at Leicestershire, Luke Proctor enjoying a knock of 94 in one of only two County Championship games he played during a loan spell at Wantage Road from Lancashire...