Northamptonshire County Cricket Club

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. 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. 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.

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 sixth place in his first season after previous years of disappointment. 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, 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.

White ball success

Northamptonshire have played in the domestic T20 Blast competition since its inaugural season in 2003. They play as the Northants Steeelbacks, taking their nickname from the Northamptonshire Regiment.

Under the captaincy of Alex Wakely they first won the competition in 2013, defeating Surrey by 102 runs (D/L). This was the first white ball trophy won by the county since 1992. After finishing runners up to Lancashire in the 2015 edition, the Steelbacks once again won the competition in 2016, defeating Durham by 4 wickets.

Honours and achievements

First XI: Honours/Achievements

• County Championship (1905-1999) : Runners-up (4): 1912, 1957, 1965, 1976

:CC Division One (From 2000) : Best placing - 6th: 2022

:CC Division Two (From 2000) : Winners (1) - 2000 :Runners-up (3): 2003, 2013, 2019

• NatWest t20 Blast : Winners (2) – 2013, 2016 :Runners-up (1): 2015
• National League/Pro40 :Division One : Runners-up (1): 2006 :Division Two : Runners-up (1): 1999 : 3rd place/promoted (1): 2003
• NatWest Trophy :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 – 20,000 runs

Most first-class wickets for Northamptonshire

Qualification – 800 wickets

Team totals

;Batting

Record partnership for each wicket

;Bowling

;Wicket-keeping

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 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 Lord's' 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:

Current officials

• President: Gavin Warren
• Chair: Gary Hoffman
• Chief Executive: Ray Payne
• Scorer: Terry Owen
• Head Groundsman: Craig Harvey

Coaching staff

• Head coach: Darren Lehmann
• Assistant coach: Vacant
• Academy director: Kevin Innes
• Batting Coach: Greg Smith
• Bowling Coach: Vacant
• Pathway Performance coach: Adil Arif
• 2nd XI & Fielding Coach: Graeme White
• Performance Cricket Coach: James Maby
• Head physiotherapist/Science & Medicine Lead Coach: Nick Allen
• Head Strength & Conditioning Coach: Chris Lorkin

Players

Current squad

The Northamptonshire squad for the 2025 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.

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.*{{cite book

England

• England Usman Afzaal
• England Michael Allen
• England Keith Andrew
• England Rob Bailey
• England Fred Bakewell
• England Desmond Barrick
• England Bill Barron
• England Benjamin Bellamy
• England Ravi Bopara
• England Robin Boyd-Moss
• England Vincent Broderick
• England Dennis Brookes
• England Freddie Brown
• England David Capel
• England Bob Carter
• England Nobby Clark
• England Geoff Cook
• England Nick Cook
• England Bob Cottam
• England Brian Crump
• England Ben Duckett
• England John Dye
• England John Emburey
• England Alan Fordham
• England Frederick Jakeman
• England Vallance Jupp
• England Allan Lamb
• England Wayne Larkins
• England David Larter
• England Albert Lightfoot
• England Mal Loye
• England Devon Malcolm
• England Neil Mallender
• England Austin Matthews
• England Colin Milburn
• England John Murdin
• England Buddy Oldfield
• England Monty Panesar
• England Tony Penberthy
• England Roger Prideaux
• England David Ripley
• England David Sales
• England George Sharp
• England Sydney Smith
• England David Steele
• England Raman Subba Row
• England Haydn Sully
• England Graeme Swann
• England Paul Taylor
• England Albert Thomas
• England George Thompson
• England John Timms
• England Frank Tyson
• England Roy Virgin
• England Fanny Walden
• England David Willey
• England Peter Willey
• England Claud Woolley

Australia

• AUS Trent Copeland
• AUS Ian Harvey
• AUS Matthew Hayden
• AUS Mike Hussey
• AUS Phil Jaques
• AUS Dennis Lillee
• AUS Jock Livingston
• AUS Martin Love
• AUS Chris Lynn
• AUS Matthew Nicholson
• AUS Chris Rogers
• AUS George Tribe
• AUS Cameron White

South Africa

• South Africa Hylton Ackerman
• South Africa Nicky Boje
• South Africa Johan Botha
• South Africa Andrew Hall
• South Africa Richard Levi
• South Africa Johann Louw
• South Africa Rory Kleinveldt
• South Africa Lance Klusener
• South Africa André Nel
• South Africa Johan van der Wath
• South Africa Martin van Jaarsveld

India

• India Bishan Bedi
• India Kapil Dev
• India Sourav Ganguly
• India Prithvi Shaw
• India Anil Kumble

Pakistan

• Pakistan Shahid Afridi
• Pakistan Mohammad Akram
• Pakistan Mushtaq Mohammad
• Pakistan Sarfraz Nawaz

West Indies

• West Indies Curtly Ambrose
• West Indies Winston Davis
• West Indies Roger Harper

New Zealand

• NZL Peter Arnold
• NZL Ken James
• NZL James Neesham
• NZL Lou Vincent
• NZL Will Young

Zimbabwe

• Zimbabwe Elton Chigumbura
• Zimbabwe Ben Curran
• Zimbabwe Kevin Curran
• Zimbabwe Blessing Muzarabani
• Zimbabwe Sikandar Raza

Ireland

• Ireland Niall O'Brien

Sri Lanka

• Sri Lanka Seekkuge Prasanna
• Sri Lanka Chaminda Vaas

Scotland

• Scotland David Murphy
• Scotland Tom Sole

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)
• Will Young (2022)

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
• 2012: J. A. Brooks, A. G. Wakely
• 2013: K. J. Coetzer, S. P. Crook, D. J. Willey
• 2015: M. Azharullah
• 2016: R. K. Kleinveldt, B. M. Duckett
• 2017: R. I. Newton, R. E. Levi, D. Murphy
• 2018: J. J. Cobb, B. W. Sanderson
• 2019: R. I. Keogh, A. M. Rossington
• 2020: L. A. Procter
• 2021: R. S. Vasconcelos

Notes

References

Bibliography

• {{cite book

References

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