Northamptonshire County Cricket Club
File:Northants Cricket Badge.jpg | |
Second XI | Northamptonshire Second XI |
---|---|
Personnel | |
Captain | Alex Wakely |
Coach | David Ripley |
Team information | |
Founded | 1878 |
Home ground | County Ground, Northampton |
Capacity | 6,500+ (10,000 with temporary seating) |
History | |
Championship wins | 0 |
Clydesdale Bank 40 wins | 0 |
Twenty20 Cup wins | 1 (2013) |
Official website | northantscricket.com |
Northamptonshire County Cricket Club is one of the 18 major county clubs which make up the English and Welsh domestic cricket structure, representing 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]
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 2014 season, Northamptonshire played in Division 1 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
- Runners Up (4) - 1912, 1957, 1965, 1976
- Division Two: Winners (1) - 2000
- Runners Up (2) - 2003, 2013
- Winners (1) - 2013
- Division One: Runners Up (1) - 2006
- Division Two: Runners Up (1) - 2003, Promoted (1) - 1999
- Winners (2) - 1976, 1992
- Runners Up (5) - 1979, 1981, 1987, 1990, 1995
- Winners (1) - 1980
- Runners Up (2) - 1987, 1996
- Winners (2) – 1903, 1904
- Shared (2) – 1899, 1900
Second XI honours
- Winners (2) – 1960, 1998
- Winners (2) – 1986, 1998
Records
Most first-class runs for Northamptonshire
|
Most first-class wickets for Northamptonshire
|
Team totals
Record | Score | Opposition | Venue | Year | Link |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Highest Total For | 781–7 declared | Nottinghamshire | Northampton | 1995 | [1] |
Highest Total Against | 673–8 declared | Yorkshire | Headingley | 2003 | [2] |
Lowest Total For | 12 | Gloucestershire | Bristol | 1907 | [3] |
Lowest Total Against | 33 | Lancashire | Northampton | 1977 | [4] |
- Batting
Player | Information | |
---|---|---|
Highest score[4] | 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[5] | 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 | [5] |
2nd | 344 | G Cook & RJ Boyd-Moss | Lancashire | Northampton | 1986 | [6] |
3rd | 393 | A Fordham & AJ Lamb | Yorkshire | Leeds | 1990 | [7] |
4th | 370 | RT Virgin & P Willey | Somerset | Northampton | 1976 | [8] |
5th | 401 | MB Loye & D Ripley | Glamorgan | Northampton | 1998 | [9] |
6th | 376 | R Subba Row & A Lightfoot | Surrey | The Oval | 1958 | [10] |
7th | 293 | DJG Sales & D Ripley | Essex | Northampton | 1999 | [11] |
8th | 179 | AJ Hall & JD Middlebrook | Surrey | The Oval | 2011 | [12] |
9th | 156 | R Subba Row & S Starkie | Lancashire | Northampton | 1955 | [13] |
10th | 148 | BW Bellamy & JV Murdin | Glamorgan | Northampton | 1925 | [14] |
- Bowling
Player | Information | |
---|---|---|
Best bowling (innings)[6] | 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)[7] | 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[8] | 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[9] | 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[10] | 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.[11] 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.[12]
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.[13] 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,[14] 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
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 Peterborough, 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: Vacant
- 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
- Performance Coach: U/K
- Club Physiotherapist: Barry Goudriaan
Players
Current squad
The Northamptonshire squad for the 2014 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 | ||||||
3 | Joshua Cobb | ![]() |
17 August 1990 | Right-handed | Right arm off break | |
13 | Alex Wakely* | ![]() |
3 November 1988 | Right-handed | Right arm off break | Club captain 2015 |
11 | Stephen Peters | ![]() |
10 December 1978 | Right-handed | Right arm leg break | Red ball only |
14 | Rob Keogh | ![]() |
21 October 1991 | Right-handed | Right arm off break | |
21 | Rob Newton | ![]() |
18 January 1990 | Right-handed | Right arm leg break | |
30 | Kyle Coetzer ‡ | ![]() |
14 April 1984 | Right-handed | Right arm medium-fast | Red ball only |
— | Richard Levi ‡ | ![]() |
14 January 1988 | Right-handed | Right arm medium | Kolpak Registration |
All-rounders | ||||||
15 | David Willey* | ![]() |
28 February 1990 | Left-handed | Left arm fast-medium | Vice Captain |
25 | Steven Crook | ![]() |
28 May 1983 | Right-handed | Right arm fast-medium | |
25 | Saif Zaib | ![]() |
22 May 1998 | Left-handed | Left arm Slow left-arm orthodox bowling | |
Wicket-keepers | ||||||
19 | David Murphy ‡ | ![]() |
24 June 1989 | Right-handed | — | Red ball only |
17 | Ben Duckett | ![]() |
17 October 1994 | Left-handed | — | |
17 | Adam Rossington | ![]() |
17 October 1990 | Right-handed | — | |
Bowlers | ||||||
9 | Oli Stone | ![]() |
9 October 1993 | Right-handed | Right arm fast-medium | |
29 | Maurice Chambers | ![]() |
14 September 1987 | Right-handed | Right arm fast | Red ball only |
87 | Graeme White | ![]() |
18 April 1987 | Right-handed | Slow left arm orthodox | |
92 | Azharullah | ![]() |
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.[15] Therefore making them notable to the county and international cricket scene.
County captains
A complete list of officially appointed Northamptonshire captains can be found here: List of Northamptonshire cricket captains.
Notable captains:
![]() | This list of "famous" or "notable" people has no clear inclusion or exclusion criteria. Please help improve this article by defining clear inclusion criteria to contain only subjects that fit those criteria. (May 2013) |
- 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:
Notes
- ^ 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
- ^ Club History: Why the Steelbacks? northantscricket.co.uk Retrieved 2010-06-30.
- ^ "The Home of CricketArchive". Cricketarchive.com. Retrieved 2013-05-04.
- ^ "The Home of CricketArchive". Cricketarchive.com. Retrieved 2013-05-04.
- ^ Highest score for Northamptonshire CricketArchive. Retrieved 18 September 2009
- ^ Most Runs in a Season for Northamptonshire CricketArchive. Retrieved 18 September 2009
- ^ Most Wickets in an Innings for Northamptonshire CricketArchive. Retrieved 19 September 2009
- ^ Most Wickets in a Match for Northamptonshire CricketArchive. Retrieved 19 September 2009
- ^ Most Wickets in a Season for Northamptonshire CricketArchive. Retrieved 19 September 2009
- ^ Most Victims in an Innings for Northamptonshire CricketArchive. Retrieved 19 September 2009
- ^ Most Victims in a Season for Northamptonshire CricketArchive. Retrieved on 19 September 2009.
- ^ Waghorn (1899), p27.
- ^ "Deaths in 1936". Wisden Cricketers' Almanack (1937 ed.). Wisden. pp. Part I, 276.
- ^ 1949 County Championship table CricketArchive. Retrieved 30 October 2009
- ^ Frank Tyson, In the Eye of the Typhoon, Parrs Wood Press, 2004
- ^ *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