Northamptonshire County Cricket Club

Northamptonshire County Cricket Club

One-day name:	Northants Steelbacks
Second XI:	Northamptonshire Second XI
Captain:	Alex Wakely
Coach:	David Ripley
Founded:	1878
Home ground:	County Ground, Northampton
Capacity:	7,000+
First-class debut:	Hampshire in 1905 at Southampton
Championship wins:	0
Royal London One Day Cup wins:	0
Twenty20 Cup wins:	1
Official website:	northantscricket.com

Northamptonshire County Cricket Club is one of eighteen first-class county clubs within the domestic cricket structure of England and Wales. It represents the historic county of Northamptonshire. Its limited overs team is called the Northants Steelbacks – a reference to the Northamptonshire Regiment which was formed in 1881. The name was supposedly a tribute to the soldiers' apparent indifference to the harsh discipline imposed by their officers.^[1] Founded in 1878, Northamptonshire (Northants) held minor status at first but was a prominent member of the early Minor Counties Championship during the 1890s. In 1905, the club joined the County Championship and the team was elevated to major status as an official first-class team.^[2][3] Northants has been classified as a List A team since the beginning of limited overs cricket in 1963;^[4] and as a major Twenty20 team since 2003.^[5]

The club plays the majority of its games at the County Cricket Ground, Northampton, but has used outlier grounds at Kettering, Wellingborough and Peterborough (formerly part of Northamptonshire, but now in Cambridgeshire) in the past. It has also used grounds outside the county for one-day games: for example, at Luton, Tring and Milton Keynes.

During the 2015 season, Northamptonshire played in Division 2 of the LV= County Championship, Group A of the Royal London One Day Cup and the North division of the NatWest t20 Blast.

Honours

First XI honours

• County Championship (0)

Runners Up (4) - 1912, 1957, 1965, 1976

Division Two

Winners (1) - 2000

Runners Up (2) - 2003, 2013

• NatWest t20 Blast

Winners (1) - 2013

Runners Up (1) - 2015

• National League/Pro40

Division One

Runners Up (1) - 2006

Division Two

Runners Up (1) - 2003

Third/Promoted (1) - 1999

• NatWest Trophy^{[notes 1]}

Winners (2) - 1976, 1992

Runners Up (5) - 1979, 1981, 1987, 1990, 1995

• Benson and Hedges Cup

Winners (1) - 1980

Runners Up (2) - 1987, 1996

• Minor Counties Championship

Winners (2) – 1903, 1904

Shared (2) – 1899, 1900

Second XI honours

• Second XI Championship

Winners (2) – 1960, 1998

• Second XI Trophy

Winners (2) – 1986, 1998

Records

Most first-class runs for Northamptonshire Qualification – 20000 runs [6] Player Runs Dennis Brookes 28980 Geoff Cook 20976 John Timms 20433 Wayne Larkins 20317 Rob Bailey 20181 Allan Lamb 20128

Most first-class wickets for Northamptonshire Qualification – 800 wickets [7] Player Wickets Nobby Clark 1102 Vallance Jupp 1078 George Thompson 1078 George Tribe 1021 Albert Thomas 817 Brian Crump 807

Team totals

Record	Score	Opposition	Venue	Year	Link
Highest Total For	781–7 declared	Nottinghamshire	Northampton	1995
Highest Total Against	673–8 declared	Yorkshire	Headingley	2003
Lowest Total For	12	Gloucestershire	Bristol	1907
Lowest Total Against	33	Lancashire	Northampton	1977

Batting

	Player	Information
Highest score[8]	1. Mike Hussey 2. Mike Hussey 3. Mal Loye	331* v Somerset at County Ground, Taunton in 2003 329* v Essex at County Ground, Northampton in 2001 322* v Glamorgan at County Ground, Northampton in 1998
Most runs in season[9]	1. Dennis Brookes 2. Norman Oldfield 3. Mike Hussey	2,198 in 1952 2,192 in 1949 2,055 in 2001

Record partnership for each wicket

Wicket	Score	Batting partners	Opposition	Venue	Year	Link
1st	375	RA White & MJ Powell	Gloucestershire	Northampton	2002
2nd	344	G Cook & RJ Boyd-Moss	Lancashire	Northampton	1986
3rd	393	A Fordham & AJ Lamb	Yorkshire	Leeds	1990
4th	370	RT Virgin & P Willey	Somerset	Northampton	1976
5th	401	MB Loye & D Ripley	Glamorgan	Northampton	1998
6th	376	R Subba Row & A Lightfoot	Surrey	The Oval	1958
7th	293	DJG Sales & D Ripley	Essex	Northampton	1999
8th	179	AJ Hall & JD Middlebrook	Surrey	The Oval	2011
9th	156	R Subba Row & S Starkie	Lancashire	Northampton	1955
10th	148	BW Bellamy & JV Murdin	Glamorgan	Northampton	1925

Bowling

	Player	Information
Best bowling (innings)[10]	1. Vallance Jupp 2. Albert Thomas 3. Vincent Broderick	10–127 v Kent at Nevill Ground, Tunbridge Wells in 1932 9–30 v Yorkshire at Park Avenue, Bradford in 1920 9–35 v Sussex at Cricketfield Road, Horsham in 1948
Best bowling (match)[11]	1. George Tribe 2. Vallance Jupp 3. George Tribe	15–31 v Yorkshire at County Ground, Northampton in 1958 15–52 v Glamorgan at St. Helen's, Swansea in 1925 15–75 v Yorkshire at Park Avenue, Bradford in 1955
Most wickets in season[12]	1. George Tribe 2. George Thompson 3. Nobby Clark	175 in 1955 148 in 1913 141 in 1929

Wicket-keeping

	Player	Information
Most victims in innings[13]	1. Keith Andrew 2. David Ripley	7 v Lancashire at Old Trafford, Manchester in 1962 6 v Sussex at County Ground, Northampton in 1988
Most victims in season[14]	1. Keith Andrew 2. David Ripley	90 in 1962 81 in 1988

History

Earliest cricket

Cricket had probably reached Northamptonshire by the end of the 17th century and the first two references to cricket in the county are within a few days of each other in 1741. On Monday 10 August, there was a match at Woburn Park between a Bedfordshire XI and a combined Northants and Huntingdonshire XI.^[15] Woburn Cricket Club under the leadership of the Duke of Bedford was on the point of becoming a well known club. On Tuesday 18 August, a match played on the Cow Meadow near Northampton between two teams of amateurs from Northamptonshire and Buckinghamshire is the earliest known instance of cricket being played in Northamptonshire county.

Origin of club

On 31 July 1878, the official formation of Northants CCC took place at a meeting in the George Hotel, Kettering based on an existing organisation that dated back to 1820. The 1820 date, if it could be verified, would make Northants the oldest club in the present-day County Championship. The club came to prominence in the Minor Counties Championship during the 1890s as, between 1900 and 1904, the bowling of George Thompson and William East was much too good for almost all batsmen at that level. The county applied for first-class status in 1904 and was promoted the following year when it joined the County Championship. They played its inaugural first-class match versus Hampshire CCC at Southampton on 18, 19 & 20 May 1905 when making its County Championship debut.

Stepping up to first-class

Although Thompson and East proved themselves to be bowlers of high class, a weak batting line-up meant that the team remained close to the bottom of the championship table until Sydney Smith arrived in 1909. After three years in the middle of the table, Northants surprisingly improved to finish second in 1912 and fourth in 1913. Thompson, Smith and William "Bumper" Wells formed one of the strongest attacks in county cricket at the time, whilst Smith and Haywood were the county's best batsmen.

Thompson and Smith finished playing after World War I and, during the inter-war period, Northamptonshire were regularly one of the weaker championship sides. This was exacerbated when Vallance Jupp declined due to age and, despite the arrival of Nobby Clark, a young left arm fast bowler from Huntingdonshire who burst onto the scene at the age of 20 in 1922 with 20 wickets at an average of 17.10 and Fred Bakewell, an exciting batsman who regularly exceeded 1000 runs a season, Northamptonshire could only finish above second from last four times between 1923 and 1948, finishing last every year from 1934 to 1938 and enduring a run of 99 matches from 14 May 1935 to 29 May 1939 without a single championship victory, a record that has never been beaten and doesn’t look like being beaten in the future. Things got worse for Northamptonshire during this time when Bakewell's career ended due to a broken arm in a car crash that also resulted in the fatality of teammate, Reginald Northway.^[16]

The post-war recovery

After the Second World War, things could only get better for Northamptonshire and they started by recruiting widely from other counties and countries, bringing in Freddie Brown from Surrey; the Australians Jock Livingston, George Tribe and Jack Manning; the New Zealander Peter Arnold; and the Cambridge University opening bat and leg-spinner Raman Subba Row. Brown joined as captain in 1949, and led the team to six place in his first season after previous years of disappointment.^[17] Under the new leadership of Dennis Brookes (a stalwart batsman for over 20 years), finished second in 1957, their best finish for 45 years. This was mainly due to the bowling attack of Frank Tyson,^[18] Vincent Broderick, Michael Allen, George Tribe and Manning. Northamptonshire were widely considered the best team in England in the late 1950s and early 1960s, during this time Keith Andrew, Northants best ever Wicket-keeper broke the records of most victims in an innings and a season.

Subsequently, the club has seen mixed fortunes. The club has had intermittent success in one-day competitions, but it has still not won the County Championship, although second place was achieved in each of 1957, 1965 and 1976. Nonetheless it has included several famous players qualified for England, including the South African-born batsman Allan Lamb; fast bowler David Larter; the hard hitting opener Colin Milburn, whose career was cut tragically short by an eye injury sustained in a car crash; the reliable batsmen David Steele and Rob Bailey; opening batsman Wayne Larkins; and all-rounders Peter Willey and David Capel.

Several notable overseas players such as Matthew Hayden, Curtly Ambrose, André Nel, Kapil Dev, Mike Hussey, Sarfraz Nawaz, Mushtaq Mohammad, Anil Kumble, Dennis Lillee and Bishen Bedi have starred for the club, which was particularly formidable as a one-day batting outfit in the late 1970s and early 1980s. More recently, Lance Klusener and Monty Panesar have been notable players.

Northants have recently been criticised for the number of Kolpak players in the team, but for the 2009 season there were only three in Andrew Hall, Johan van der Wath and Nicky Boje, and only one in 2013 in Hall.

Ground history

County Ground

As with all county cricket clubs, Northamptonshire CCC represents the historic county and not any modern or current administrative unit. In Northamptonshire's case, this means the county of Northamptonshire and the Town of Northampton, although the club have in the past played some home matches outside the historic borders such as in Luton and Milton Keynes.

Northamptonshire first played at the county ground in Northampton in 1905, and continue to do so till this day even though Northampton Town F.C. shared the ground up until 1994 when The Cobblers moved to Sixfields Stadium. After the football club moved, the ground at the Abington Avenue was demolished and replaced by a new indoor school which includes seating looking on to the ground. In 2009, Northants cricket announced plans to improve the ground by building two new stands on the scoreboard side of the ground, there will also be a permanent commentary box with a view to have a ' mini Lords ' style media centre.

This following table gives details of every venue at which Northamptonshire have hosted a first-class, List A or Twenty20 cricket match:

Name of ground	Location	Year	FC matches	LA matches	T20 matches	Total
County Ground	Northampton	1905–present	969	341	17	1327
Town Ground	Kettering	1923–1973	65	4	–	69
School Ground	Wellingborough	1946–1991	43	17	–	60
Town Ground	Peterborough	1906–1966	46	–	–	46
Wardown Park	Luton	1973–2004	11	24	1	36
Town Ground	Rushden	1924–1963	22	–	–	22
Tring Park	Tring	1974–1991	–	16	–	16
Manor Fields	Bletchley	1976–1987	3	7	–	10
Baker Perkins	Peterborough	1967–1974	3	5	–	8
Campbell Park	Milton Keynes	1997–present	–	2	3	5
Buckingham Road	Brackley	1971–1975	–	4	–	4
Dolben Ground	Finedon	1986–1989	–	3	–	3
Bedford School	Bedford	1971–1982	–	2	–	2
Horton House	Horton	1976–1977	–	2	–	2
Ideal Clothiers Ground	Wellingborough	1929	1	–	–	1
Stowe School	Stowe	2005	–	1	–	1
Source:CricketArchive Updated: 6 November 2009

Current officials

• President: The Rt Hon the Lord Naseby
• Chairman: Gavin Warren
• Chief Executive: Ray Payne
• Scorer: Tony Kingston
• Head Groundsman: Paul Marshall

Coaching staff

• Head Coach: David Ripley
• Academy Director/2nd XI Coach: Phil Rowe
• Performance Coach/Fielding Coach: Kevin Innes
• Head Physiotherapist/ Science and Medicine Lead: Barry Goudriaan
• Head Strength and Conditioning: Chris Tombs

Players

Current squad

The Northamptonshire squad for the 2016 season consists of (this section could change as players are released or signed):

• No. denotes the player's squad number, as worn on the back of their shirt.
• denotes players with international caps.
•  *  denotes a player who has been awarded a county cap.

No.	Name	Nat	Birth date	Batting Style	Bowling Style	Notes
Batsmen
4	Josh Cobb	England	17 August 1990	Right-handed	Right arm off break
8	Alex Wakely*	England	3 November 1988	Right-handed	Right arm off break	Club captain
14	Rob Keogh	England	21 October 1991	Right-handed	Right arm off break
21	Rob Newton	England	18 January 1990	Right-handed drinker	Right arm leg break
88	Richard Levi	South Africa	14 January 1988	Right-handed	Right arm medium	Kolpak registration
—	Jake Libby	England	3 January 1993	Right-handed	Right arm off break	On loan from Nottinghamshire
All-rounders
5	Saif Zaib	England	22 May 1998	Left-handed	Slow left arm orthodox
6	Rory Kleinveldt	South Africa	15 March 1983	Left-handed	Right arm fast-medium	Overseas player
25	Steven Crook*	England	28 May 1983	Right-handed	Right arm fast-medium
—	Seekkuge Prasanna	Sri Lanka	27 June 1985	Right-handed	Right arm leg break	Overseas player (Predominantly T20)
Wicket-keepers
7	Adam Rossington	England	17 October 1990	Right-handed	—
17	Ben Duckett	England	17 October 1994	Left-handed	—
19	David Murphy	Scotland	24 June 1989	Right-handed	—
Bowlers
9	Olly Stone	England	9 October 1993	Right-handed	Right arm fast-medium
26	Ben Sanderson	England	3 January 1989	Right-handed	Right arm fast-medium
33	Richard Gleeson	England	2 December 1987	Right-handed	Right arm medium
77	Monty Panesar*	England	25 April 1982	Left-handed	Slow left arm orthodox
87	Graeme White	England	18 April 1987	Right-handed	Slow left arm orthodox
92	Azharullah*	Pakistan	25 December 1979	Right-handed	Right arm fast-medium	British passport

Notable players

This list is compiled of International cricketers who have played Test and/or ODI cricket. It also includes players who have been mentioned in the '100 Greats:Northamptonshire county cricket club' book.^[19] Therefore making them notable to the county and international cricket scene.

England Usman Afzaal Michael Allen Keith Andrew Rob Bailey Fred Bakewell Desmond Barrick Bill Barron Benjamin Bellamy Robin Boyd-Moss Vincent Broderick Dennis Brookes Freddie Brown David Capel Bob Carter Nobby Clark Geoff Cook Nick Cook Bob Cottam Brian Crump John Dye John Emburey Alan Fordham Frederick Jakeman Vallance Jupp Allan Lamb Wayne Larkins David Larter

Albert Lightfoot Mal Loye Devon Malcolm Neil Mallender Austin Matthews Colin Milburn John Murdin Buddy Oldfield Monty Panesar Tony Penberthy Roger Prideaux David Ripley David Sales George Sharp Sydney Smith David Steele Raman Subba Row Haydn Sully Graeme Swann Paul Taylor Albert Thomas George Thompson John Timms Frank Tyson Roy Virgin Fanny Walden

David Willey Peter Willey Claud Woolley Australia Mike Hussey Matthew Hayden Phil Jaques Cameron White Ian Harvey Martin Love Dennis Lillee Jock Livingston Matthew Nicholson George Tribe Trent Copeland South Africa Hylton Ackerman Lance Klusener André Nel Andrew Hall Johan van der Wath Martin van Jaarsveld Johann Louw Johan Botha Richard Levi Rory Kleinveldt

India Bishan Bedi Kapil Dev Anil Kumble Sourav Ganguly Pakistan Mohammad Akram Mushtaq Mohammad Sarfraz Nawaz Shahid Afridi West Indies Curtly Ambrose Winston Davis Roger Harper New Zealand Peter Arnold Ken James Lou Vincent Zimbabwe Elton Chigumbura Kevin Curran Ireland Niall O'Brien Sri Lanka Chaminda Vaas Seekkuge Prasanna Scotland David Murphy

County captains

A complete list of officially appointed Northamptonshire captains can be found here: List of Northamptonshire cricket captains.

Notable captains:

• Freddie Brown (1949–1953)
• Dennis Brookes (1954–1957)
• Raman Subba Row (1958–1961)
• Keith Andrew (1962–1966)
• Mushtaq Mohammad (1976–1977)
• Allan Lamb (1989–1995)
• Matthew Hayden (1999–2000)
• Mike Hussey (2002–2003)

County caps

Northamptonshire do not automatically award caps to players on their first appearance; instead, they have to be "earned" through good performances. In recent times, cricketers who are awarded a county cap are given a new cap with yellow stripes on the maroon instead of a plain maroon cap. The following players have received caps:

1946 W. Barron, P.E. Murray-Willis 1947 V. Broderick, A.W. Childs-Clarke, C.B. Clarke, K. Fiddling, J. Webster 1948 A.E. Nutter, N. Oldfield 1949 F.R. Brown, R.W. Clarke, R.G. Garlick 1950 L. Livingston 1951 F. Jakeman 1952 D.W. Barrick, G.E. Tribe 1953 E. Davis 1954 K.V. Andrew, S. Starkie, F.H. Tyson 1955 A.P. Arnold, R. Subba Row 1956 J.S. Manning, B.L. Reynolds 1957 M.H.J. Allen 1960 L.A. Johnson, M.E.J.C. Norman 1961 J.D.F. Larter, A. Lightfoot 1962 B.S. Crump, R.M. Prideaux, P.D. Watts, P.J. Watts 1963 C. Milburn 1964 M.E. Scott 1965 D.S. Steele 1966 H. Sully 1967 Mushtaq Mohammad 1969 H.M. Ackerman 1971 P. Willey 1972 B.S. Bedi, R.M.H. Cottam, J.C.J. Dye 1973 G. Sharp

1974 R.T. Virgin 1975 G. Cook, Sarfraz Nawaz 1976 A. Hodgson, W. Larkins 1978 B.J. Griffiths, A.J. Lamb, T.M. Lamb, T.J. Yardley 1979 R.G. Williams 1984 R.J. Boyd-Moss, N.A. Mallender 1985 R.J. Bailey 1986 D.J. Capel, R.A. Harper, D.J. Wild 1987 N.G.B. Cook, W.W. Davis, D. Ripley, A. Walker 1990 C.E.L. Ambrose, N.A. Felton, A. Fordham, M.A. Robinson 1991 J.G. Thomas 1992 K.M. Curran, J.P. Taylor 1994 M.B. Loye, A.L. Penberthy 1995 A. Kumble, R.R. Montgomerie, R.J. Warren 1999 M.L. Hayden, D.E. Malcolm, D.J.G. Sales, G.P. Swann 2000 J.F. Brown, D.M. Cousins 2001 M.E.K. Hussey 2003 T.M.B. Bailey, J.W. Cook, P.A. Jaques, A. Nel 2005 U. Afzaal, B.J. Phillips 2006 L. Klusener, M.S. Panesar 2007 S.D. Peters 2008 R. A. White, N. Boje 2009 J.J. van der Wath, A.J. Hall, D.S. Lucas 2011 J.D. Middlebrook, N.J. O'Brien, W.P.J.U.C. Vaas

Notes

1. Previously known as the Gillette Cup between 1963 and 1980, the NatWest Trophy between 1981 and 2000 and the Cheltenham & Gloucester Trophy between 2001 and 2006

References

1. Club History: Why the Steelbacks? northantscricket.co.uk Retrieved 2010-06-30.
2. ACS (1981). A Guide to Important Cricket Matches Played in the British Isles 1709 – 1863. Nottingham: ACS.
3. ACS (1982). A Guide to First-Class Cricket Matches Played in the British Isles. Nottingham: ACS.
4. "List A events played by Northamptonshire". CricketArchive. Retrieved 6 December 2015.
5. "Twenty20 events played by Northamptonshire". CricketArchive. Retrieved 6 December 2015.
6. "The Home of CricketArchive". Cricketarchive.com. Retrieved 2013-05-04.
7. "The Home of CricketArchive". Cricketarchive.com. Retrieved 2013-05-04.
8. Highest score for Northamptonshire CricketArchive. Retrieved 18 September 2009
9. Most Runs in a Season for Northamptonshire CricketArchive. Retrieved 18 September 2009
10. Most Wickets in an Innings for Northamptonshire CricketArchive. Retrieved 19 September 2009
11. Most Wickets in a Match for Northamptonshire CricketArchive. Retrieved 19 September 2009
12. Most Wickets in a Season for Northamptonshire CricketArchive. Retrieved 19 September 2009
13. Most Victims in an Innings for Northamptonshire CricketArchive. Retrieved 19 September 2009
14. Most Victims in a Season for Northamptonshire CricketArchive. Retrieved on 19 September 2009.
15. Waghorn (1899), p27.
16. "Deaths in 1936". Wisden Cricketers' Almanack (1937 ed.). Wisden. pp. Part I, 276.
17. 1949 County Championship table CricketArchive. Retrieved 30 October 2009
18. Frank Tyson, In the Eye of the Typhoon, Parrs Wood Press, 2004
19. • Radd, Andrew (February 2001). 100 Greats: Northamptonshire County Cricket Club. Northampton: Tempus Publishing Limited. ISBN 0-7524-2195-6.

Bibliography

• Radd, Andrew (February 2001). 100 Greats: Northamptonshire County Cricket Club. Northampton: Tempus Publishing Limited. ISBN 0-7524-2195-6.

Further reading

• H S Altham, A History of Cricket, Volume 1 (to 1914), George Allen & Unwin, 1962
• Derek Birley, A Social History of English Cricket, Aurum, 1999
• Rowland Bowen, Cricket: A History of its Growth and Development, Eyre & Spottiswoode, 1970
• H T Waghorn, Cricket Scores, Notes, etc. (1730–1773), Blackwood, 1899
• Roy Webber, The Playfair Book of Cricket Records, Playfair Books, 1951
• Playfair Cricket Annual – various editions
• Wisden Cricketers' Almanack – various editions

External links

• Official website
• BBC Sport
• Sky Sports
• Cricinfo
• ECB