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Charles Runcie looks ahead to the start of our county cricket coverage on the 主播大秀.

This time of year sees a hardy band of 主播大秀 sports reporters getting very busy.  They’re checking their luggage, writing preview notes, updating their stats, preparing their broadcast equipment and installing maps and satnavs into their cars.  There may even be a thermos or two.  Why?  Well, all this is needed for spending another 6 months on the road following their county cricket teams all over England (and into Wales, of course) to bring 主播大秀 listeners daily news, commentary and reports from the County Championship as well as the many one day matches. 

For the fourth year running 主播大秀 Local Radio will provide a unique service of ball-by-ball commentary of every first class county game.  It’s something appreciated by fans in the UK and indeed around the world tuning in via the , on their mobiles, tablets and apps, plus many hours of top matches which will be broadcast on 5 live Sports Extra too.  Some of them, like our Durham broadcaster reporter/commentator Martin Emmerson clocks up around 10,000 miles each year.  

Martin and many of our 主播大秀 reporters will have to get used to new journeys, with Surrey and Lancashire having been promoted to Division 2, while Worcestershire and Sussex have replaced them.  Some of the venues will look a little different, too.  Taunton’s County Ground is now the owner of a sparkling new stand, and Leicestershire’s Grace Road has another of its stands being refurbished to give us another commentary box.

For listeners there are also some team changes to get used to in the commentary box.  Adrian Harms succeeds the long-serving John Lees as the principal Sussex broadcaster, with Lizzy Ammon also covering the county at many matches.  Dave Fletcher is the new voice of Derbyshire cricket, replacing the former NZ Test player Iain O’Brien.

The names of some grounds are ever changing, as the inclusion of sponsors’ names becomes an everyday feature of county cricket life. The broadcasters have to get used to calling where Derbyshire play “The 3aaa County Ground” while Kent play many of their games at the suitably patriotic “Spitfire Ground, St Lawrence” in Canterbury.

The rather easier to remember County Ground at Chelmsford was the scene of one of last year’s highlights for many listeners. 主播大秀 commentators always strive for objectivity, but 主播大秀 Radio Leicester's Richard Rae admits he was taken aback by the strength of emotion he felt when Leicestershire recorded their first championship win there for two-and-a-half seasons last June. The Foxes beat Essex to record a first success in 38 matches, with local boy Lewis Hill hitting the winning runs.

Richard remembers that thousands of people, not just Leicestershire supporters, got in touch with him from all over the world after his commentary was picked up and featured on the 主播大秀 Sport website - a number even admitted they’d been in tears.   Almost as many in fact as those who follow the photos Richard tweets of the delicious puddings sent up to his commentary eyrie at Leicestershire's Grace Road ground, where lunch is widely acknowledged to be the best in the shires.

So while some things may change for 2016, what won’t change is our comprehensive service of online ball-by-ball commentary, news and updates every day on 主播大秀 Local Radio, plus regular online text updates and summaries all season long at .  We’d love to hear from county cricket fans about the service too, via our new feedback email: cricket@bbc.co.uk.  We can’t offer you a pudding, but we can promise you won’t have to drive thousands of miles to hear us.

Charles Runcie is Head of Sport, 主播大秀 English Regions

• a press release about our county cricket coverage on the Media Centre website. 
• our ball-by-ball coverage on the 主播大秀 Sport website.