Who are the players to watch? Who’s in the squad? What are their strengths? What are their weaknesses? What is the fixture list? Your questions answered
Coach: David Ripley
Captain: Adam Rossington
Overseas: Wayne Parnell (South Africa)
Ins: Tom Taylor (Leicestershire), Wayne Parnell (Worcestershire)
Outs: Brett Hutton (Nottinghamshire), Blessing Muzarabani, Rob Newton, Tom Sole
Fixture list: April 8 - Kent (h), April 15 - Lancashire (a), April 22 - Glamorgan (h), April 29 - Yorkshire (a), May 6 - Sussex (h), May 20 - Lancashire (h), May 27 - Sussex (a), June 3 - Kent (a), July 4 - Yorkshire (h), July 11 - Glamorgan (a)
Remind me what happened last year?
Northants were foremost among those small counties who worried about the implications of staging four-day cricket during a pandemic.
But the club has maintained that its concerns were more “medical” for the players and their families when staying away in hotels, rather than anything existential about first-class cricket.
Even so, it was clear from an early stage that they would use the hastily-arranged Bob Willis Trophy to blood youngsters.
In normal times Northants would have played in Division One of the County Championship in 2020, and the jump to that level was made clear when Somerset razed them for 67 and 154 in the second match.
There were also instances of being thrashed around by the lower order, such as when Tim Bresnan scored a century on first-class debut for Warwickshire and Marchant de Lange broke Gary Butcher’s 23-year-old record for Glamorgan’s fastest hundred.
Northants did go on to claim their only win of the BWT campaign in that match at a Wantage Road buffeted by Storm Francis, with Emilio Gay’s 77 not out chasing down 189.
And there were some encouraging signs of batsmen knuckling down for big innings, notably Charlie Thurston, who took his extended chance in the middle order.
Once underway, the closest the rearranged county season came to being kyboshed by Covid-19 was when Ben Curran tested positive in early September. Though Curran had not travelled with the Northants squad to Bristol and was self-isolating at home, the Bob Willis Trophy fixture against Gloucestershire was abandoned after lunch on the opening day as a precaution, as he had come into contact with two players involved in the match.
Wicketkeeper-batsman Ricardo Vasconcelos in action
What’s happened over the winter?
As at all counties, the loss of conferences and events has been painful, and Northants have been forced to postpone the last two years of their partnership with the Singapore Cricket Club and Singapore Cricket Association, including pre-season tours for the first-team squad, to 2022 and 2023.
Northants considered hiring a marquee to allow spring training on grass pitches, but decided against the expense and sought to get outdoors as early as possible.
Who’s arrived and who’s left?
Northants’ Championship potency could be affected by the return of Brett Hutton to Nottinghamshire after three years at Northampton. He rejected the county’s offer of a new contract for a three-year deal at bigger-spending Notts.
There was also the regrettable release of Rob Newton during the first lockdown. The 31-year-old, though beset with various injuries during his career, had a decent first-class record of 15 hundreds, and averaged more than 35. In more free-spending times, he would have found another county by now.
Blessing Muzarabani’s departure was almost inevitable once Kolpak status was discontinued, and with a stress fracture to contend with he never quite hit his straps over two seasons. At just 24 the county experience will have done him good, and he is already opening the bowling for Zimbabwe again.
Although there are two overseas players now permitted for the counties in the Championship and Royal London Cup as well as the Blast, Northants’ funds don’t stretch that far, so they have plumped for Wayne Parnell, still only 31, as an all-format overseas player.
Who will be the key men in 2021?
Parnell could turn out to be one of the shrewdest signings in the country.
Much, though, rests on the fitness of the proven Dukes-ball maestro Ben Sanderson, who played just two first-class games last year, especially with his new-ball partner Hutton choosing a move back to Nottinghamshire.
Ricardo Vasconcelos is quickly emerging as the club’s most exciting and reliable batsman, and he keeps wicket too when Adam Rossington is absent. Even better, thanks to head coach David Ripley’s foresight, Northants should have, at minimum, four more seasons of his services.
What can we expect from this team this season?
For the last decade Northants have been operating with fairly meagre resources, and have tended to sign most players with white-ball cricket uppermost in mind. At times this has influenced the way they play four-day cricket, and encouraged fast finishes on green pitches. Ripley has scoured the country for loan signings, triallists and youngsters on development contracts.
This could change in 2021: with the club successfully raising funds and paying off their debts, there is a bit more money for the playing side.
Conferences are intended to benefit the smaller counties who have trouble competing financially, but Northants may not feel that way about it right away.
“As a club there’s plenty of support for the idea of conferences,” says Ripley. “There’s a feeling it might do something to stop smaller counties losing players to bigger counties. Then again I would have liked to see how 10 teams in the top flight and eight in the second worked. And maybe we might still see that in 2022.”
Either way, Northants should fancy their chances of competing in Group 3, though there are imposing trips up north to Old Trafford and Headingley in April.
Keeping the seamers fit and rotated will still be key, but with more numbers in the squad than for some time, Ripley is hoping he won’t need to dip into the loan market unless there is a terrible spate of injuries.
Northants have missed a class spinner in the Championship since the departure of Monty Panesar in 2009, but how much Simon Kerrigan features will depend on conditions, at a ground where seamers have tended to dominate recently.
“I think it could be a really good story,” says Ripley. “Certainly based on how well we’ve seen Simon bowling indoors, and the fact he’s in a good place – putting behind him some of his negative experiences in the past. Hopefully we’ll get some pitches with a bit of turn that play into his hands. He’s got a two-year deal so he doesn’t have to do it all in year one.”
One to watch
Twenty-six-year-old Tom Taylor has played just 52 first-team county games in seven years due to injuries. But he has shown bang with bat and ball when fit, and Northants will be hoping he wants to settle down at his third East Midlands county. Ripley says: “Tom has definitely suggested he has the ability to fill Brett’s boots, even if he hasn’t got the miles on the clock due to injuries over his career so far.”
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