Kent's Promotion Push: Can a Faith Healer Bring Good Fortune?

As Kent strives to bounce back from consecutive disappointing seasons, they've taken an unconventional approach by hiring a faith healer to 'ward off evil spirits' at their home ground in Canterbury. Following a raft of injuries in recent years, the county has confirmed that a 'non-denominational geopathic surveyor' visited during the winter. While it may be easy to mock this decision, anything that can boost the team's morale after a dismal run has to be seen as a positive. With only three wins in red-ball cricket over the last two campaigns, can Kent turn their fortunes around in 2026? We assess the teams in County Championship Division Two, starting with Durham, who are among the favorites for promotion after a remarkable relegation last term. The team has veteran West Indies seamer Kemar Roach on board for the first half of the summer, supporting Ben Raine, Matthew Potts, and promising left-arm James Minto. A strong batting lineup featuring England hopefuls Emilio Gay and Ben McKinney, England alumnus Alex Lees, and South Africa's David Bedingham should provide ample runs. Lancashire, on the other hand, are looking to improve after a poor season that saw Dale Benkenstein sacked as coach and Keaton Jennings step down as captain. With Steven Croft and James Anderson at the helm, the team has acquired the zippy Ajeet Singh Dale from Gloucestershire to bolster their seam-bowling ranks. Derbyshire, meanwhile, will be hoping to follow Leicestershire's lead by backing up a season of progression with a promotion campaign. The signing of Pakistan seamer Mohammad Abbas is a significant coup, and he could form a potent pairing with Luis Reece. Kent has welcomed back old faces, including seamer Matt Milnes and batter Sam Northeast, as they aim for a fresh start. The team's batting lineup will see a fair bit of Zak Crawley early season, and perhaps more later on if the England axe falls. Worcestershire earned just 12 batting bonus points last year and will need a greater level of support from their batting lineup to return to the elite division. Middlesex have added nobody and lost Stevie Eskinazi to Leicestershire during a tame winter transfer-wise, with the big news being the appointment of Peter Fulton as coach. Northamptonshire have been busy in the transfer market, bringing in Australia batter Nathan McSweeney and leg-spinner Calvin Harrison on a permanent basis from Nottinghamshire. Gloucestershire, meanwhile, are most people's picks to finish last in Division Two, having suffered a seam-bowling exodus. With the new season just around the corner, all eyes will be on these teams as they battle it out for promotion.