Adam Rossington and the philosophy behind a promotion built from the bottom up

NICK FRIEND: From bottom of the second tier to County Championship promotion in the space of four months, the Northants wicketkeeper-captain is aggressive by nature; he speaks as an impressive leader and knows what makes his club tick

There was a moment when everything made sense for Adam Rossington – all the trials and tribulations of an arduous county campaign instantly replaced by a joy shared among a tightknit group of colleagues.

The video went as viral as is possible of a County Championship Division Two promotion party: a celebration that took place in the confines of Bristol’s home dressing room, featuring two teams embracing each other’s success.

Northamptonshire and Gloucestershire will take their place in red-ball cricket’s top flight this year, a feat that was finally rubberstamped on the very last day of the season; a rain-wrecked encounter between Durham and Glamorgan meant a draw that never progressed beyond the first innings of the match was sufficient for both sides at the County Ground on a surreal September Thursday.

“We turned up and we didn’t know if they were going to try to prepare a result wicket,” Rossington recalls.

“We knew they’d struggled for results down there at home when they’d played at Bristol. So, we weren’t sure whether they’d try to get a result just to make sure and try to beat us and come second, or whether it was actually a case of knowing that Glamorgan were up at Durham and knowing the chances of them getting maximum points with a bit of weather about.

“When we turned up, we thought it was going to be a draw. I think we could have played for four days on that wicket and we wouldn’t have had a result. It got to a stage where you knew that no one else was going to get a result; we were happy because we were sat second.

“It was a nice end to the week and it was nice to have a celebration with them in the changing room afterwards. It’s not often something like that happens. They’re a good bunch of lads. It was a real nice moment.”

It doesn’t often fall into place quite like that. And that Northants pulled it off in 2019 was one of the stories of the year – even if it slipped for the most part beneath the radar in the summer of all summers. For, to rewind to June 27 is to return to an altogether different time; a home draw with Leicestershire was the latest in a line of frustrations.

^{Rossington led Northants to promotion, despite being bottom of Division Two in mid-June}

Seven games in, Rossington was in charge of the only side in the second tier without a win; they had lost just twice, but drawing had become a problem. Alex Wakely, red-ball captain since 2015, had stood down three weeks earlier, opening up on the effect of the role on his own mental health – “I was starting to carry things home and change my personality a little bit,” he admitted at the time.

There is nothing but respect between Rossington and Wakely – current skipper and former leader of the ship. Wakely, 31 and an icon of the club, is entering his testimonial year, having racked up 364 first-team appearances since 2007. “We were travelling back one day,” Rossington remembers, “and he just said: ‘Look, you have to do it your own way.’ But he stood at first slip for most of the year, so having him right there was still a great sounding board.”

Of the players across the division to face more than 1,000 balls in 2019, only four scored at a quicker rate than Rossingon. Certainly, none of them had the audacity to slog-sweep seamers, while few had the nerve to counterattack as he did. Leadership, however, is about the courage of your convictions.

And for Rossington, that has always been his way. He was domineering as a youngster, a hitter of a long ball – he played 31 white-ball games for Middlesex and just nine first-class matches, before joining Northants initially on loan in 2014. He is a big unit – an unusual wicketkeeper, some might say, though the speed of his hands suggests otherwise.

Captaincy, though, came naturally; he has led as far back as county age-group level and the Bunbury Festival of 2008, in a London and East lineup featuring Ben Foakes, Fabian Cowdrey, Daniel Bell-Drummond and Adam Ball.

“There’s a way we play at Northants,” he explains. “For me, it all comes back to a point – certainly with the ball in hand – that I want as many catchers as possible to take those 20 wickets. I’d rather encourage that and be positive like that.

“We’re going to bowl you out here and we’re good enough to bowl you out. You don’t need a cover, for instance; I’d rather you had a fourth slip. That’s my way of looking at it – I’m not saying that wasn’t Alex’s way, but that would be my only thing. I’m going to choose my attacking option. The mindset was that we would get whatever you set us.

“Now, you’re getting five points for a draw, gone are the days when if you were hard to beat you’d do all right. You’re going to have teams that play on result wickets. You’ve only got to look at Essex and Somerset – they play on result wickets every week and it’s no coincidence where they are.

“People are thinking more and more now that they’ll chance their arm and say: ‘Well, if we’ve got a result wicket here and if we win two of them, we’re in a much better place than if we’ve drawn four.’ It’s that fine balance – you want to be aggressive and you want to be attacking, but at the same time some days you’re not going to have your day.

“For us, it was making sure that once we couldn’t win the game, we weren’t going to lose it. It’s getting that balance of not being reckless – when we need 400 on the last day and we’re six down, it’s accepting that it might be a case of shutting up shop, being tough to beat and not giving them 16 points.”

^{Rossington is full of praise for Jason Holder, who spent two County Championship games with the club}

The 26-year-old has a lovely way of talking about the game of cricket and his adopted county. Not so long ago, there was a time when David Ripley’s side were known as the ‘chubsters’, but Rossington believes the club has progressed since then, though without losing the primary ethos of what made them successful.

“We’re still massive on enjoying yourself,” he stresses. “You spend so much time with each other and it’s a long season. Results aren’t always going to go your way, but as long as you’re enjoying yourself, wanting to train and putting in every day, you’re going to get better as a group.

“That’s always been our thing; we still want to improve with our fitness and our fielding. But we don’t want to lose from our environment what we think a lot of people would like to be a part of, because you enjoy yourself, you have a good time, you play hard but you actually enjoy being there every day. In a way, we’re trying to improve rather than change the environment.

“Everyone gets along with everyone, really. It’s just a group of mates.”

He is immensely proud of a small squad – 23 players represented the county in red-ball cricket, but seven on temporary deals as the club dealt with injuries and tired bodies.

As well as loan spells for Jamie Overton and Luke Wood, Jason Holder, Temba Bavuma and Doug Bracewell all spent time as overseas players.

All three made a positive impression, but Holder stands out. “Brilliant,” he gushes of the West Indian allrounder. “Just a really good bloke and a fantastic cricketer.” He was only available for two Championship games; but that is the challenge faced by counties as they look to balance up class against availability in their search for star imports.

“You have to get the right fit,” Rossington emphasises. “A lot of the time, if you get someone of the quality of Jason Holder, he’s not going to be around all year. It’s weighing up the balance of whether you want a world-class allrounder – one of the best in the world – for your bowlers and your young lads to learn off for that period, or would you rather have someone else who’s there for the whole year.

“We’ve gone down that route, where we’d rather have someone like that, where you can learn a lot from them in a short space of time. With the amount of international cricket, people find it so hard to commit to a full season.”

2019 was always viewed as a vital year, given the quirk of the domestic restructure meaning that there would be three promotion places available come the end of the season.

“The main thing for us in the last few weeks was that we wanted to go up in second rather than it being that extra spot,” he explains. “We wanted it to be a position where we’d have gone up in any other year.”

^{Rossington grew up at Middlesex, before joining Northants initially on loan in 2014}

In professional terms, he remains a novice in the leadership game, though he adds that “the main job was still wicketkeeping”. Picking up the captaincy of the bottom-placed club at the very midpoint of the season is no easy task. Dragging it from the depths of a humiliating wooden spoon to the heights of promotion, he scored 468 runs at 36 as the man in charge, while keeping wicket at the same time is something else entirely.

That is why this writer picked him out jointly as the standout County Championship cricketer of the year six months ago.

He is quick, however, to qualify his own impact. “We were lucky,” he points out, “because we had Ben Sanderson and Brett Hutton doing a great job. The way we bowled for the second half of the year was phenomenal. Things like bowling changes weren’t too difficult.

“For me, it was just about keeping people happy with the ends they wanted to bowl. But the lads were good as gold.”

Even before his appointment, he insists, it had been results rather than performances that had been missing from Wantage Road. “We had Middlesex on the ropes and we dropped Dawid Malan,” he reflects. The England man ended unbeaten on 160. “Then we dropped Billy Root on nought.” The Glamorgan batsman made 229.

“We were playing good cricket but in those key moments, we were being punished. But we never felt a million miles off it. And then it just all clicked. We started to be a bit more ruthless and to take control of those moments. Before you know it, you’re on a bit of a run. It was over the last few weeks when we started thinking: ‘God, we’re in with a shout here.’”

Sanderson and Hutton took 95 wickets between them, with Hutton taking 35 in 10 games despite splitting the peroneal tendon in his ankle in May.

“I think you’d struggle to find a new-ball pairing who bowled as well as they did for a period of time last year.”

There are no illusions as to the challenge that now follows, but Northants have acted to make the most of a terrific year. There have been new deals for Wakely, Sanderson, Josh Cobb, Richard Levi, Rob Keogh and Luke Procter. Pakistan allrounder Faheem Ashraf has re-signed, this time for a spell across all formats, while Paul Stirling and Kieron Pollard have joined for parts of the T20 Blast.

It is the mark of a club comfortable in its own skin and happy with where it finds itself. As Rossington looks back on his days somewhat marooned in second team cricket, it is a reminder of how far he has come.

“I’m very proud,” he admits, reflecting on the shift in his existence as a professional cricketer – reputationally, as much as anything. The talent was always there.

“When I was in the first team at Middlesex, I wasn’t knocking on the door or putting in the performances to keep me in the side. As soon as I went on loan to Northants, I knew I was going to get a run of games – if I didn’t get a score this week, I had another opportunity next week.

“When they offered to keep me, it was just a no-brainer. I’m really glad I made the move when I did.”

Once a gifted but unfulfilled bludgeoner, he has become a well-respected figure, an adopted son of Northampton and an unlikely promotion-winning skipper. For Captain Rossington and his crew, Division One awaits.