Two wins and nine draws secured fourth place for Northamptonshire in the County Championship, their relatively impotent bowling attack meaning they were never a serious promotion contender. They won just two games in the Metro Bank One Day Cup, but fared better in the Vitality Blast, finishing second in the North Group, then losing to Somerset at the quarter final stage. Following the Blast exit, head coach John Sadler was shown the door after three years in the role.
Northants have found it difficult to win four day games since the four wins they enjoyed in 2021. They managed just two Championship wins in each of the last three seasons, relegated from Division One in 2023 on the back of eight losses. This year they only lost three games, their draw record second only to Leicestershire.
Ben Sanderson was the main threat with the ball, taking 41 Championship wickets. The next ranked seamer was Luke Procter with 21 at 34.42, combining his bowling with batting in the top order and captaining the side. Justin Broad took 19 wickets at 30.36, but the two wins were really down to the recruitment of Indian leg spinner Yuzvendra Chahal for four of the last five Championship games. He took nine wickets in both the wins; against Derbyshire and Leicestershire. Rob Keogh was the second highest wicket taker, with his off spin, capturing 23 at a creditable 26.73.
Australian seamer Chris Tremain was signed for the early season, but took just two wickets in his four games. He was replaced by Siddarth Kaul who was more successful, taking 13 wickets in three games at 29.84. Of note, a total of 26 different players turned out for Northants in the Championship.
While wicket taking was a problem, run scoring was generally a lot easier. Luke Procter led the way with 923 at 48.57, with the departed Emilio Gay not far behind with 919 at 57.43. He scored an additional 100 runs for his new county Durham, thereby passing a thousand for the season. Northants will be glad to see a return to form of Ricardo Vasconcelos, scoring 708 Championship runs at 54.46. Unfortunately he was a casualty from the abandoned game at Bristol and missed the rest of the Championship season with a broken hand.
The Steelbacks had a strong showing in the Blast, the squad reinforced by David Willey, Ravi Bopara, South Africa’s Matthew Breetzke, Zimbabwean Sikandar Raza and Australia’s Ashton Agar. They were reliant on three of their T20 specialists for runs, Breetzke leading the way with 460 runs, followed by Bopara with 340 and Willey contributing 313. Raza made 206 runs from seven innings, while Agar was less productive, scoring just 92 runs in his six matches. Willey skippered the side and also led the wicket taking with 19, Sanderson taking 15 and Bopara 13. 19-year-old Raphael Weatherall played nine games and showed some steel when called upon to bowl the last over against Worcestershire, defending 10 runs. It was his first over of the game and conceded just four runs, dismissing the set batter in Gareth Roderick. He took 11 wickets in his nine matches, but will need to improve on an economy rate of 11.48.
Without the likes of Willey and Bopara, the side that took the field in the One Day Cup was far less competitive. Prithvi Shaw was their leading run scorer with 343 at 42.87 and George Bartlett made 253 runs at 36.14, but there were not enough contributions from others. Justin Broad led the bowlers with 13 wickets and Saif Zaib took 12 with an excellent economy rate of 4.70.
Results
Vitality CC: Fourth in Division Two
Vitality Blast: Losing quarter finalists
Metro Bank ODC: Eighth in Group B
Leading run-scorers
Vitality CC: Luke Procter 923 at 48.57
Vitality Blast: Matthew Breetzke 460 runs at 38.33; Strike rate 153.84
Metro Bank ODC: Prithvi Shaw 343 at 42.87; Strike rate 117.86
Leading wicket-takers
Vitality CC: Ben Sanderson 41 at 26.73
Vitality Blast: David Willey 16 at 26.43; Economy rate 8.81
Metro Bank ODC: Justin Broad 13 at 16.30; Economy rate 5.02
Player of the season
Ben Sanderson was signed by Northants in 2015, having been released by Yorkshire in 2011 after just three games. Since then he has become a bowler who is regularly near the top of the Championship wicket takers, his fast-medium bowling ideally suited to the Dukes ball in English conditions. This season he took 38 wickets at 24.18 with the Dukes ball, but just three wickets at 59.00 in the three Kookaburra games he played.
He has a contract until the end of next season, by which time he will be 36. However, there is no reason to believe he will not be around for a few years more. He has now played 110 first class matches and in the penultimate game of the season reached 400 first class wickets. These are at an average of 22.56, putting him right up with the best.
Breakthrough Player
24-year-old Justin Broad has mixed loyalties having been born in Cape Town and then moving to England, at the age of 18 to play club cricket. He played for MCC Young Cricketers and then made his debut for Germany in 2022. He was signed by Northamptonshire in 2023.
This season he has become a regular in the first team, taking 19 Championship wickets at 30.36 and topped the wicket taking in the One Day Cup. He also scored 128 runs at 64.00 in the same competition although would have liked to have scored more Championship runs, finishing with 284 at 17.75.
Need to work on
Northants need to work out how to win some more games in the Championship and that requires a more potent bowling threat to be able take 20 wickets cheaply enough. At the end of the season that was provided by the leg spin of Chahal. They have relied heavily on Sanderson with the new ball, dependent on assistance from the pitch when delivering the ball at a speed in the mid 70’s. They need to recruit an overseas quick to take wickets and provide him with support at the other end. Tremain was disappointing this season whilst Kaul made more of an impact. Hopefully they can find someone who will be around for a large part of the season.
What’s next?
When writing this, the post of head coach has yet to be filled. There have been a number of high profile occupants in the 2000’s including John Emburey, Bob Carter, Kepler Wessels and the late David Capel. Ex-Northants player Rory Kleinveldt, who currently occupies the position of bowling coach, is now a strong candidate for the top job.
They are one of the counties never to have won the County Championship and Northants’ last trophy was the Blast back in 2016. With the resources available to the club it is difficult to see how they will progress, but there may be some hope with the likes of Gus Miller and Weatherall coming through.
Breetzke has been signed for a longer stint next season, playing in the first eight Championship games as well as the Blast.
Season Rating
A rebuilding phase is perhaps how things can best be described at Northants. Supporters will be hoping for a bit more in 2025.
Mark: 6/10