Bob Willis Trophy: Key early observations as county cricket returns with exciting new tournament

County cricket was almost four whole months late on parade this season, and returned with a new tournament, lots of fresh faces and a whole load of new regulations.

After such a long wait, any cricket would have done – but this was much better than that.

Here, Standard Sport's cricket correspondent Will Macpherson chews through some talking points from the Bob Willis Trophy…

There are no fans in the ground, but county cricket has never been more readily available.

The ECB’s new broadcast deal allows counties to pour more cash into what is now a vital commercial and marketing tool (not to mention a great way to engage with fans), which has led to enhanced streams around the grounds, with some using moving or roving cameras.

Hats off to Somerset, Nottinghamshire and Surrey for particularly high-tech efforts.

It paid off in the viewing figures. By the end of their win over Glamorgan, Somerset were receiving more than 100,000 hits a day, while Surrey were picking up around 200,000 per day on Facebook Watch.

It is far too early to say whether the Bob Willis Trophy might be the start of something new for county cricket.

But a regional conference system undeniably has its benefits – lots of local derbies (meaning less travel and fewer hotels) and every team being able to win the competition when it starts.

There is a long way to go, but it is worth keeping an eye on.

One of those benefits is the reinvigoration of counties supposed to be in Division Two this season.

Four of them beat opponents who were supposed to be in Division One, while Derbyshire turned over Nottinghamshire, who were relegated last year, and Northants showed huge character to battle for a draw at Edgbaston.

That Derbyshire win – hauling down 365 with one ball to spare – was a highlight, as was Leicestershire’s remarkable chase of 150 inside 16 overs against Lancashire. Those are two remarkable wins.

A word too for Middlesex and Sussex, who have endured tough times in red-ball cricket in recent years.

Division Two teams are generally less affected by the England bubbles, giving them a better shot at doing well. More strong performances this year could just reinvigorate certain counties’ interest in red-ball cricket, which has been waning.

2016 is a long time – two general elections and about 10 England Test openers ago. That summer, two young Englishmen enjoyed breakthrough seasons, scoring four hundreds each.

Nick Gubbins was among the stars of Middlesex’s first title since 1993, while Haseeb Hameed charmed fans well beyond Lancashire with his old school brand of blocking.

He then put in assured displays on his Test debut in India that autumn; when he went down injured, Gubbins just missed out to Keaton Jennings as a replacement.

For whatever reason, both players have gone quiet since. Gubbins suffered injuries and slipped with Middlesex, having three quiet seasons. Hameed had a mysterious lack of form and eventually left Lancashire for the warm embrace of Peter Moores at Nottinghamshire.

Both of them, happily, enjoyed brilliant starts to the season. Gubbins looked in super touch until a comical second innings dismissal, making 192 and 60 as they beat Surrey, while Hameed made fluent half-centuries in each innings in Notts’ unlikely defeat by Derbyshire.

Encouraging signs for two men once touted as having big international futures.

There was an interesting passage of play on the second morning of Surrey against Middlesex that showed off some tactical points around the changes in regulations.

Despite their quicks being rested overnight, Surrey sensibly opted not to take the new ball after 90 overs, the first opportunity, meaning Middlesex struggled to accelerate the scoring in the last 30 overs of their allocated 120 for first innings.

So, rather than flail away for the sake of it for nine more overs, Middlesex captain Stevie Eskinazi declared, giving his bowlers 15 minutes before lunch. In that time, Tim Murtagh – who else? – dismissed Ryan Patel.

Both sides had been smart in their own way, and you sense that we could see more tactical inventiveness in the coming weeks.

Somerset pulled off a famous win over Glamorgan, and look well-placed to thrive in this tournament. For their loyal fans, though, it might just have been tinged with regret, because it was a win built on the brilliance of the Overton brothers.

Jamie, who took six wickets with his sheer pace, has confirmed he is off to Surrey, while Craig took seven to move to 299 in first-class cricket.

He looks increasingly likely to leave the club at the end of the season too. The Devon twins will be a huge loss.

For the first round, Surrey were decimated by England call-ups (seven), missing Kolpaks (two) and injury to fast bowlers (four). It was not a surprise to see them lose to Middlesex, who were able to rest some quality players.

Things should get better for Surrey now the ODI series is over, and they are hopeful that Morne Morkel (but not Hashim Amla) will be on a flight from Australia, where he is based in the winter, soon.

It would be nice if England would allow Ben Foakes and the other Test reserves a game too.

Surrey are not the only team looking undermanned. Without internationals and Kolpaks, Hampshire are weak, while Lancashire handed out three first-class debuts.

Sussex – who will be favourites for next month’s Vitality Blast – put out an interesting side, preferring 19-year-old Tom Clark and other youngsters to Luke Wells and Laurie Evans and containing two debutant bowlers, including spinner Jack Carson over Danny Briggs.

Who knows, but this could be an example of counties, with belts to tighten, moving on from experienced players out of contract at the end of the season.

That Sussex still managed to beat Hampshire makes it unlikely that the policy will change any time soon.