Josh Cobb lauds Northants ambition after signing new two-year deal

Cobb has won the club’s T20 Player of the Year award for three of the past four seasons and his signature is the latest significant move by the club in a busy winter

• County Hub

Northamptonshire white-ball captain Josh Cobb has praised the ambition of the club after agreeing a two-year contract extension.

Cobb has won the club’s T20 Player of the Year award for three of the past four seasons and his signature is the latest significant move by the club ahead of an important season that will also see them return to the first division of the Specsavers County Championship.

Pakistan allrounder Faheem Ashraf has been signed across formats until the end of the Vitality Blast while the club secured a major coup after announcing West Indies skipper Kieron Pollard for eight games of the T20 tournament.

Cobb and Pollard will form one of the most powerful double acts in the Blast, with the club also signing Ireland international Paul Stirling in addition to agreeing new deals with key players Alex Wakely, Ben Sanderson, Richard Levi, Rob Keogh and Luke Procter this winter.

Off the pitch Northamptonshire last month announced increased profit of almost half a million pounds, for the financial year ended September 30, and is preparing to become debt-free this year.

“I’m very pleased to extend my stay at Northamptonshire,” said Cobb, who will remain at Wantage Road until at least the end of 2022.

“Last year we showed glimpses of what we are capable of in white-ball cricket and I’m looking forward to playing some more of that positive cricket consistently.

“They’re a great group of lads to lead and to see the graft they’ve been putting into upskilling with the coaches over the winter points to an exciting future.

“The club’s shown great ambition and faith in the leadership group too, particularly with some really strong recruitment so it’d be great to repay them with some entertaining cricket.”

Cobb took over as captain of Northamptonshire’s white-ball teams last season with coach David Ripley praising his leadership with bat and ball.

“Josh’s always been a tactician of the game, we asked him to go about the leadership side of being captain and setting that bar for the squad with what he says and how he commands himself and he really stepped up in that regard.” he said.

The Northamptonshire squad is set to fly out to Singapore for a pre-season tour before their County Championship season opener away to Warwickshire, which starts on April 19.

Courtesy of the ECB Reporters Network.