Yorkshire retained the County Championship title in 2015
All the signings, moves and news from every county in the build-up to and during the 2016 season.
Counties are allowed to field two overseas players in Twenty20 games, with up to four registered for that competition, although only two can be registered at any one time, and registrations must be for a minimum of 10 days.
Only one overseas player is permitted in the County Championship and One-Day Cup competitions.
Guide to abbreviations
KPK: Kolpak contract
REL: Released
RET: Retired
YTH: From youth teams
EUP: European Union passport
UKP: Born overseas, but has UK passport
Also shows, where relevant, players' previous counties
Kolpak contracts are signed by foreign players, using a European Court ruling to avoid counting against the quota of one overseas player per club.
Players who moved counties or retired during the 2015 season are included on the 2015 list. Have we missed anyone? Please let us know.
Other news: Billy Godleman replaced Wayne Madsen as County Championship captain, with Wes Durston continuing as limited-overs skipper and Hamish Rutherford as vice-captain. Elite performance director Graeme Welch resigned in June, with elite performance coach John Sadler taking over.
Other news: Chris Silverwood replaced Paul Grayson as head coach, assisted by ex-Yorkshire all-rounder Anthony McGrath. James Foster lost the captaincy with Ryan ten Doeschate taking over in the Championship and Ravi Bopara leading in limited-overs cricket.
GLAMORGAN
Overseas player: Jacques Rudolph (South Africa), Dale Steyn (South Africa, for Twenty20, for first half of group stage), Shaun Tait (Australia, for Twenty20, for second half of group stage)
Other news: Gareth Roderick replaced Ian Cockbain as Championship captain, with Klinger retaining the limited-overs role.
HAMPSHIRE
Overseas player: Ryan McLaren (South Africa), Shahid Afridi (Pakistan, for limited-overs cricket until 29 July); Darren Sammy (West Indies, for Twenty20 from 2-25 June)
Trialist Hamza Ali, who had made one first-class appearance for Hampshire, died in June.
Other news: Jimmy Adams stepped down as club captain, with James Vince taking over. Sean Ervine led the limited-overs side while Vince was on England duty, with Will Smith deputising in the County Championship.
KENT
Overseas player: Kagiso Rabada (South Africa, 30 June-24 July); Tom Latham (New Zealand, until mid-July); Hardus Viljoen (South Africa, for final four Championship games)
Other news: The county "restructured" their coaching staff over the 2015-16 winter, with senior coaches Lloyd Tennant and Ben Smith leaving, while Keith Piper (elite development coach) and Pierre de Bruyn (Second XI & assistant skills coach) joined elite performance director Andrew McDonald's staff. Charlie Shreck became bowling development coach but remains a player. Nic Pothas joined as academy director but left the club in July to become Sri Lanka's fielding coach, while Carl Crowe arrived in the same month to help coach the Second XI until the end of the season. Pettini took over the limited-overs captaincy from Mark Cosgrove, who continues to lead in the County Championship.
MIDDLESEX
Overseas player: Brendon McCullum (New Zealand, for limited-overs cricket between end of the IPL and 25 June), Mitchell McClenaghan (New Zealand, after IPL finishes until 23 June), Adam Voges (Australia, until early June), George Bailey (Australia, late June until mid-August)
Other news: Voges captained Middlesex in the County Championship, while Dawid Malan and James Franklin led the side in the T20 Blast and One-Day Cup respectively. They replaced Eoin Morgan, who led the club in limited-overs cricket in 2015.
Other news: The county reverted to their traditional name Northamptonshire and were given a loan of up to £250,000 by the local council.
NOTTINGHAMSHIRE
Overseas player: Dan Christian (Australia, primarily for limited-overs cricket), Jackson Bird (Australia, for Championship cricket until 6 July); Andre Russell (West Indies, for Twenty20, 10-24 June plus Finals Day), Imran Tahir (South Africa, from July)
Other news: Championship captain Chris Read led in the One-Day Cup, with Dan Christian skippering the T20 side. Last season's limited-overs captain James Taylor retired because of a heart problem.
Other news: Marcus Trescothick stepped down as captain. Rogers led the side in the County Championship, with Jim Allenby as limited-overs skipper.
SURREY
Overseas player: Kumar Sangakkara (Sri Lanka), Dwayne Bravo (West Indies, for Twenty20 until July), Aaron Finch (Australia, for July while Sangakkara is at the Caribbean Premier League), Chris Morris (South Africa, for Twenty20 from July)
Overseas player: Ross Taylor (New Zealand, until late July), Mustafizur Rahman (Bangladesh, for Twenty20 after IPL finishes), David Wiese (South Africa, for Twenty20 on 1 & 3 June, then from 3 August), Nuwan Kulasekara (Sri Lanka, for Twenty20, 30 June-7 July)
Other news: Ed Joyce stood down as Championship and one-day captain, with Twenty20 captain Luke Wright taking over in all forms of the game. Coach Mark Robinson was appointed head coach of the England women's team and replaced by Mark Davis. Keith Greenfield is director of cricket, with bowling coach Jon Lewis becoming assistant head coach, Carl Hopkinson as academy director and Murray Goodwin as batting coach. After several years as Sussex's overseas player, Steve Magoffin was able to feature as a local player from 2016 after gaining UK citizenship.
WARWICKSHIRE
Overseas player: Jeetan Patel (New Zealand), Luke Ronchi (New Zealand, for Twenty20, until 1 July), Matthew Wade (Australia, for Twenty20 from 8 July)
Overseas player: Matt Henry (New Zealand, until end of June), Kyle Abbott (South Africa, July until mid-August), Mitchell Santner (New Zealand, for Twenty20, until 27 May); Miguel Cummins (West Indies, from 29 August)
Overseas player: Kane Williamson (New Zealand, 9 June-18 July); Travis Head (Australia, 18 July-8 August); Jake Lehmann (Australia, from 9 August, for first-class cricket)
