Nottinghamshire’s Ben Duckett and Josh Tongue were both rested after busy winters, while Ben Stokes (cheekbone) and Mark Wood (knee) were unavailable for Durham. Bethell, Jordan Cox, Will Jacks and Brydon Carse are all in India for the early stages of the IPL season.

England’s heavy defeat in Australia means that there are likely to be changes to the Test squad for the New Zealand series in June. The position of national selector is still vacant after Luke Wright’s departure following the T20 World Cup, but England have made clear that they will pay attention to early-season performances in the Championship.

Rob Key and Brendon McCullum spoke to county directors of cricket on Wednesday evening ahead of the new season, and Stokes used the ECB’s media channels to tell players that he would be watching their performances closely.

“It’s a great opportunity for a lot of people around the country,” Stokes said. “The talent that we have in England is just unquestionable. The pool of players, the talent that we have, it’s probably as good as it’s been in a very long time.

“The first six or seven weeks of Championship cricket, it’s going to be a very big one and people should use that as an opportunity to push their case as far forward as they possibly can. I hope they’re giving themselves the best chance of coming up for selection when we get together to do that.”

Earlier this week, Northamptonshire head coach Darren Lehmann criticised the dearth of county cricket played by most England players. “The players don’t play enough county cricket,” he told the BBC. “They should play more, but that’s not my call.”