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Northamptonshire C.C.C - Rise To The Top

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  • #76
    Originally posted by GrahamB View Post

    Interesting tactic.

    Great win in the first playoff match. Looking forward to the next!
    Not sure it's a tactic I'd advise but with two very aggressive openers why not, we could be on 60 after 5 overs or going the other way.. Well the evidence is above

    Comment


    • #77
      County Championship Division Two
      Leicestershire v Northamptonshire

      Team: Curran, Newton, Wakely (C), Keogh, Levi, Cobb, Rossington (W/K), Arshad, Procter, Muzarabani, Buck.

      Big blow for our outside promotion hopes as main bowler Ben Sanderson has been ruled out for the rest of the season. He hasn't been a part of the Blast squad though, so thankfully it won't affect the semi final against Hampshire.

      Toss uncontested, Northamptonshire chose to bowl.

      I will be 100% honest and admit that this was without doubt my biggest mistake of the season as I did something I never ever do and bowl first in a 4 day match. Looking at the conditions I thought the best time to bat would be on day 2 + 3 but what I didn't notice was that it was a road from the start. This probably rivals the infamous Nasser Hussain "We're gonna have a bowl" debacle, and what makes it worse was that I forgot I was missing my best bowler!

      A mixture of the above and some inept, embarrassing bowling which cancelled out a good first showing with the bat combined to condemn us to a defeat which means we are now definitely preparing for another season in Division Two. Leicestershire racked up the runs, Dexter hitting a brutal 184 with help from a number of his teammates.

      Josh Cobb responded in kind with a century of his own, but even after Leicestershire had declared in their second innings with only 2 and a half sessions of the game to go, they skittled us out for a pitiful 114 to thrash us for the second time this season.

      Leicestershire: 593 (Dexter 184, Griffiths 93 - Keogh 3-66, Procter 3-83)

      Northamptonshire: 444 (Cobb 181, Rossington 66 - Lilley 3-68, Griffiths 3-112)

      Leicestershire: 232-3 dec (Ackermann 97, Azad 49*)

      Northamptonshire: 114 (Arshad 40* - Griffiths 6-42)

      Leicestershire win by 267 runs.

      Comment


      • #78
        County Championship Division Two
        Northamptonshire v Durham

        Team: Vasconcelos (W/K), Newton, Wakely (C), Keogh, Levi, Curran, Cobb, Arshad, Procter, Muzarabani, Buck.

        Adam Rossington suffered a slight knock, but thankfully he was only out for two days. This gives us another chance to look at Vasconcelos, who has spent most of the season in the physio room, whilst Ben Curran drops down the order to see if he has more luck there than he has opening.

        Durham won the toss and elected to bat.

        I would have batted, wouldn't have made the same mistake twice but thanks to some inspired bowling from Muzarabani we got off to a much better start in this encounter. Alex Lees made a century; but we could be pleased with our work with the ball as we got them for 247 on a nice looking pitch.

        Vasconcelos took his opportunity opening, falling just 8 short of a century but he batted extremely well, as did Josh Cobb (obviously). There wasn't much from elsewhere though and we only ended up with a narrow first innings lead.

        Lees frustrated us again in the second innings but he hardly got any support this time and we bowled them out even more cheaply this time, we still had a banana skin target to chase though but we managed to get over the line, Vasconcelos impressing again and staking his claim for a potential opening position for next season.

        Durham: 247 (Lees 107, Stokes 52 - Muzarabani 6-62, Keogh 3-41)

        Northamptonshire: 288 (Vasconcelos 93, Cobb 87* - Rushworth 4-76, Wood 3-68)

        Durham: 218 (Lees 75, Stokes 31 - Arshad 4-22, Keogh 2-52)

        Northamptonshire: 178-3 (Vasconcelos 85* - Rushworth 2-30)

        Northamptonshire win by 7 wickets.


        We're going to finish mid-table in Division Two this season, but this was a good response to the Leicestershire game and a feel good victory going into Finals Day of the Blast which is our next game.

        Comment


        • #79
          The semi final against Hampshire is next up.

          Team: Rossington (C + WK), Levi, Cobb, Curran, Ashraf, Pretorius, Sole, Zaib, Procter, Muzarabani, Cotton.

          Unchanged from the win over Surrey

          The Hampshire team looks strong, containing batsmen James Vince, Rilee Roussow and Sam Northeast, all-rounder Chris Morris and spin bowlers Liam Dawson and Mason Crane.

          I wasn't sure what we wanted to do if we won the toss, but that choice has been taken away anyway as Hampshire have won the toss and have elected to bowl. Hopefully we get off to a better start this time!

          Comment


          • #80
            T20 Blast Semi Final
            Hampshire v Northamptonshire

            We got off to the polar opposite of starts to the Surrey match, scoring 12 off the first over, 9 of which came from the bat of Richard Levi. However Rossington fell in the next over and then Cobb shortly after and Levi was forced to tone his aggression down a bit. He made an important 52 partnership with Ben Curran, and both ended up just short of half centuries.

            From here we had a good platform to build on and we took advantage. Ashraf, Pretorius and Procter made short but valuable cameos, and with a 6 from Muzarabani off the last ball of the innings we got over what seemed to be our average total of 150 during the group stage. Total was 165 and I would have took that at the start.

            Hampshire's spin duo were their most successful bowlers wicket wise, but they were quite expensive. However the star of the show for them was James Vince. A costly drop in the slips from Curran when he was on just 6 ended with us paying full price, as he tore our bowlers to shreds in the middle overs. Our most reliable bowler Pretorius went the distance, and we didn't have as much luck with the spin of Zaib as Hampshire did. Vince was helped by Tom Alsop and Rilee Roussow as he got Hampshire into touching distance of winning and with 2 overs remaining the scores were tied. Rather pointlessly Ashraf got Vince caught and bowled with the second ball of the over, but the damage had already been done and they got over the line with an over to spare. Our Blast run is over

            Northamptonshire: 165-9 (Curran 48, Levi 46 - Dawson 3-30, Crane 3-32)

            Hampshire: 166-5 - 19 overs (Vince 74, Roussow 33 - Cotton 2-27, Pretorius 2-40)

            Hampshire win by 5 wickets and went on to beat Nottinghamshire in the final.

            Comment


            • #81
              Hey Dave, I told you we were bad, good ton by Denly.
              Proudly supporting Nottingham Forest and Nottinghamshire CCC.

              Comment


              • #82
                Originally posted by MarksNotts View Post
                Hey Dave, I told you we were bad, good ton by Denly.
                Really pleased we dug in and won Mark after where we were in our first innings. Bowling is and has never been a concern so I hope the result this week will give us a boost and push us on to stay up.

                What is going on at Notts? Seen some heavy criticism of Moores recently but it can't be as simple as that surely as it's not like he actually bats for the players.
                The squad looks very one day/T20 orientated as well.

                Comment


                • #83
                  County Championship Division Two
                  Gloucestershire v Northamptonshire

                  Last game of the season and nothing to play for, so there's a number of players playing for their places next season including Vasconcelos, Thurston, Curran and Hutton. Josh Cobb opens the batting again as there was no-one else to do it and he succeeded there earlier in the season.

                  Team: Vasconcelos, Cobb, Wakely (C), Keogh, Thurston, Rossington (W/K), Curran, Sole, Arshad, Muzarabani, Hutton.

                  Northamptonshire won the toss and elected to bat.

                  There was nothing in the pitch for the bowlers here and it fizzled out into a draw, quite a fitting representation of our County Championship season

                  Key performers for us were Tom Sole, a key part of our Blast team who hit his first career century. Consistent performer Richard Keogh made 91 in the first innings, whilst Alex Wakely and Ben Curran made half centuries in the second.

                  Muzarabani took 4 wickets in Gloucestershire's first innings but the bowlers struggled. We declared at tea on day 4 and the final session was spamming auto play to get it over with as quickly as possible!

                  Northamptonshire: 404 (Sole 130*, Keogh 91 - van Buuren 6-109)

                  Gloucestershire: 477 (Dent 103, van Buuren 98 - Muzarabani 4-135, Arshad 2-69)

                  Northamptonshire: 329-9 dec (Wakely 60, Curran 50 - van Buuren 4-107, Worrall 2-75)

                  Gloucestershire: 84-3

                  Match drawn.


                  And that wraps up the 2019 season! I'll make a post later tonight reviewing the season and players, but it was a season of ups and downs with the Blast run being the highlight. Didn't expect I'd be saying that after the first 2 games of that particular campaign!

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                  Comment


                  • #84
                    A decent first season. Competitive in the Championship and nearly successful in the Blast. Looking forward to seeing who you sign!

                    Comment


                    • #85
                      Originally posted by MateGaming View Post
                      A decent first season. Competitive in the Championship and nearly successful in the Blast. Looking forward to seeing who you sign!
                      Thanks. The Blast was definitely an unexpected bonus, bit more consistency in the Championship and we'll be competitive.

                      Priorities signing wise will be an experienced opening bat (absolute must), a reliable spinner and a middle order batsman. I'd also like to put more into the youth team but probably won't be able to have it all!

                      Comment


                      • #86
                        2019 Northamptonshire Season Review
                        Club

                        County Championship - Division Two
                        DWLWLDLWWDLLWD
                        Position - 6/10

                        Top Batsmen - Runs

                        Josh Cobb - 1125 @ 46.88
                        Temba Bavuma - 924 @ 48.63
                        Alex Wakely - 923 @ 31.83
                        Adam Rossington - 706 @ 28.24
                        Rob Keogh - 703 @ 30.57

                        Highest score of the season - Josh Cobb 181 v Leicestershire

                        Top Bowlers - Wickets

                        Ben Sanderson - 49 @ 25.43
                        Blessing Muzarabani - 38 @ 33.61
                        Usman Arshad - 37 @ 27.16
                        Luke Procter - 24 @ 33
                        Nathan Buck - 23 @ 43.48

                        Best figures of the season - Ben Sanderson 7-72 v Sussex

                        One Day Cup - North Group
                        LLWLWLWL
                        Position - 7/9

                        Top Batsmen - Runs

                        Rob Newton - 384 @ 54.86
                        Adam Rossington - 361 @ 51.57
                        Temba Bavuma - 279 @ 46.50
                        Alex Wakely - 230 @ 28.75
                        Josh Cobb - 169 @ 28.17

                        Highest score of the season - Adam Rossington 118 v Warwickshire

                        Top Bowlers - Wickets

                        Ben Sanderson - 16 @ 21.81
                        Usman Arshad - 6 @ 46.87
                        Nathan Buck, Brett Hutton and Jack White - 4 wickets each.

                        Best figures of the season - Ben Sanderson 5-47 v Worcestershire

                        T20 Blast - North Group
                        LLWWLWLWLWWWLW
                        Position - 4/9 (Lost in semi finals to Hampshire)

                        Top Batsmen - Runs

                        Richard Levi - 540 @ 36
                        Josh Cobb - 448 @ 29.87
                        Ben Curran - 282 @ 31.33
                        Adam Rossington - 271 @ 20.85
                        Dwayne Pretorius - 254 @ 23.09

                        Highest score of the season - Richard Levi 93 v Derbyshire

                        Top Bowlers - Wickets

                        Dwayne Pretorius - 25 @ 19.48
                        Ben Cotton - 21 @ 19.14
                        Blessing Muzarabani - 18 @ 18.94
                        Stefan Zaib - 15 @ 19.20
                        Luke Procter - 14 @ 21.63

                        Best figures of the season - Faheem Ashraf 4-21 v Warwickshire

                        Player of the season (overall) - Easy one this. Josh Cobb has been outstanding with the bat especially in the 4 day stuff, and no-one really rivals him for this award this season.

                        Performance of the season (overall) - There was a good one against Lancashire in the Championship, but the one that stands out for me is the Blast Quarter Final v Surrey. A fantastic team performance after being dead and buried so early.

                        Comment


                        • #87
                          2019 Northamptonshire Season Review
                          Players

                          Batsmen

                          Temba Bavuma (Overseas) - A reliable player to come in at number 4. Hasn't let me down this season, 9 half centuries but the only problem was he never really turned any of them into huge scores. Will be looking to keep him around next season.

                          Josh Cobb - Outstanding. Nothing much else to add. Probably would have been even better if I hadn't kept moving him up and down the order, but there were holes that had to be filled and he's our best player!

                          Ben Curran - Didn't have a good season and really struggled opening the batting. Was decent in the Blast, but his contact is up and as of yet I'm not sure whether to offer him a new one.

                          Rob Keogh - Didn't pull up any trees but still a solid enough contributor, and I like his part time spin as well. Will be staying.

                          Richard Levi - Explosive in the Blast but didn't make the same impact in the longer format.

                          Rob Newton - Slightly better than Curran, but still struggled for consistency. I think he's shown enough to have another shot at opening though, alongside an experienced partner.

                          Charlie Thurston - Youngster who has shown glimpses of promise, but over all hasn't made much of an impact. Has another year on his contract to see if he can impress.

                          Alex Wakely - An up and down season for the skipper. I expected a little more from him, but there's no doubting his quality.

                          Adam Rossington - Overall a success, our number one gloveman and a solid middle order contributor. Opened well in the shorter formats, and a key player for us.

                          Ricardo Vasconcelos - Didn't see much of him as he was injured a lot. Probably won't play much next season, although has shown his quality on a couple of occasions. Behind Newton in the pecking order... just.

                          Bowlers

                          Nathan Buck - Started off in the team but lost his place to Muzarabani and never really got it back. Backup seemed now but a good option to have.

                          Ben Cotton - Didn't get a look in any competition apart from the Blast, where he performed well. I doubt that'll be enough to have a place in the squad next season though.

                          Brett Hutton - Didn't take his chance when it came to him, and because of that he's not very high in the pecking order.

                          Blessing Muzarabani - I was impressed. Turned into a key part of the team in all formats, and a good compliment to Sanderson. Will more than likely open the bowling next season as well.

                          Ben Sanderson - Our best bowler by a mile, was irresistible when he was on top of his game, but I'd like to see that more often. One of the first names on the team sheet for next season I think.

                          Graeme White - Literally never played a game.

                          Jack White - Started off in the one day team but didn't make much of an impact, and quickly became surplus to requirements.

                          Jamie Dickinson - I called this signing a "punt" and the start of the season and it's one that didn't work out. Only played 3 games and struggled to make an impact. Desperately need a spinner next season.

                          All Rounders

                          Faheem Ashraf (20 over only) - Really enjoyed having him in the team when we did, but he played the first 3/4 games and then disappeared on international duty until the knockout stages. For that reason I think he's played his last game for the club unfortunately.

                          Jason Holder (Reserve overseas) - Never played because he wasn't needed to. Bavuma was there all the time.

                          Dwayne Pretorius - Brilliant. Our best player in the Blast, economical bowling and terrific middle order batting. Will be doing everything I can to get him to return for the competition next season.

                          Luke Procter - Had a battle with Arshad as to who got the bowling all-rounder slot in the team all season, I'd say it finished about level. Reliable with both bat and ball.

                          Tom Sole - High hopes for him, was a key part of our run in the Blast and made a maiden century in the last Championship game.

                          Saif Zaib - It's just occurred to me that I've been calling him Stefan all the way through the season without realising it's not actually his name! No idea where I got that from but a left arm spinner who I don't trust that much, but he has a knack of picking up vital wickets. The man you turn to when you need a wicket but I can't see him sustaining down a regular place.

                          Usman Arshad - A successful signing I would say. Made vital contributions with both bat and ball, across all 3 formats. Got a good couple of all rounders in him and Procter.

                          Comment


                          • #88
                            Looking forward to the contracts now.

                            Comment


                            • #89
                              Northamptonshire Contracts And Squad 2020

                              It turned out to be a crazy contracts situation! We had a surprisingly big budget, but once we'd agreed deals with who we wanted to it shrunk somewhat. Here's some of the key happenings:
                              • Luke Procter retired, which didn't impress me in the slightest as I was just singing his praises in an earlier post as a key all rounder for us.
                              • We were dealt another blow as we weren't able to offer Bavuma an extension to his contract, due to international commitments.
                              • Ben Cotton left to join Gloucestershire, Jamie Dickinson had his contact terminated and we didn't offer extensions to Ben Curran, Graeme White, Jack White or T20 overseas players Holder and Ashraf.
                              • I was pleased with the incomings though as we unquestionably strengthened our batting, as well as tieing down Australian off spinner Nathan Lyon as our main overseas player. Pretorius will also return for the Blast campaign.
                              • I tried everything I could to sign Leus de Plooy from Derbyshire with a firm contract offer, but he wasn't interested and in the end signed an extension with Derbyshire.
                              • In the end I like to think we did well in the market, signing experienced and ex-England opener Adam Lyth, as well as two proven and still relatively young batsmen in Sam Hain and Tom Kohler-Cadmore.
                              • There wasn't enough budget left over to strengthen the youth team unfortunately.
                              Out: Ben Cotton (Gloucestershire), Luke Procter (Retired), Jamie Dickinson, Ben Curran, Graeme White, Jack White (Released), Temba Bavuma (Unable to extend contract), Jason Holder, Faheem Ashraf (Won't return for Blast campaign).
                              In: Adam Lyth (Yorkshire), Tom Kohler-Cadmore (Yorkshire), Sam Hain (Warwickshire), Nathan Lyon (Overseas), Robert Egan (Youth)

                              Squad:

                              Batsmen


                              Josh Cobb
                              Rob Keogh
                              Richard Levi
                              Rob Newton
                              Charlie Thurston
                              Alex Wakely
                              Adam Lyth
                              Tom Kohler-Cadmore
                              Sam Hain

                              WK/Batsmen

                              Adam Rossington (Will take over the captaincy in all formats, so that Wakely can concentrate more on his batting).
                              Ricardo Vasconcelos

                              Bowlers

                              Nathan Buck
                              Brett Hutton
                              Blessing Muzarabani
                              Ben Sanderson
                              Nathan Lyon (Overseas)
                              Robert Egan

                              All Rounders

                              Dwayne Pretorius (T20 only)
                              Tom Sole
                              SAIF Zaib (I will be calling him by his correct name this season!)
                              Usman Arshad

                              Comment


                              • #90
                                We had a University match before the season started. I was pleased to see this as whilst I knew the core of what my team was going to be, but there were still potentially some places up for grabs especially in the pace bowling area. For the likes of Newton, Wakely, Kohler-Cadmore and Rossington it was hopefully a game to get them into form ready for the first Championship game of the season which is against Gloucestershire.

                                Northamptonshire: 404-9 dec (Rossington 91, Newton 84)

                                Leeds MCCU: 93 (Egan 4-14, Muzarabani 3-25)

                                Northamptonshire: 281-8 dec (Kohler-Cadmore 98*, Vasconcelos 63)

                                Leeds MCCU: 253-6 (Muzarabani 2-74, Arshad 2-77)


                                Match drawn.

                                Overall I think the friendly goes down as a success, all of the top 6 managed a half century at some point during the match, whilst the wickets were spread out nicely. We didn't enforce the follow on simply so the batsmen could get as much time at the crease as possible.

                                Comment

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