We look at Northamptonshire’s prospects for the coming season and see how a couple of high profile overseas signings will impact their squad.
This county cricket 2019 preview was first published in issue 18 of Wisden Cricket Monthly. Subscribe here.
Northamptonshire County Cricket Club
Captain: Alex Wakely
Last season: CC2: 9/10; RL50: 7/9 South Group; T20: 9/9 South Group
Transfers in: Ben Cotton (unattached), Blessing Muzarabani (Zim, Kolpak), Temba Bavuma (SA), Jason Holder (WI), Faheem Ashraf (Pak, T20)
Transfers out: Ben Duckett (Notts), Richard Gleeson (Lancs), Rory Kleinveldt (released), Steven Crook (retired)
VIEW NORTHAMPTONSHIRE TEAM PAGE
Stick on: Jason Holder
[caption id=”attachment_101912″ align=”alignnone” width=”800″]
The West Indies captain is the No.1-ranked all-rounder in Test cricket[/caption]
Jason Holder – the world’s No.1 all-rounder is only due to be available for two Championship and six One-Day Cup matches but he should kick-start Northants’ season after a dismal 2018 across the board.
Wildcard: Blessing Muzarabani
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Muzarabani joins Northants on a Kolpak deal[/caption]
Highlighted in Wisden Cricket Monthtly’s rundown of the best young players in the world last year, the 22-year-old Zimbabwean quick has quit international cricket and signed on a three-year Kolpak deal and will form a potent new-ball pairing with the prolific Ben Sanderson.
Prediction
CC2: 6/10; RL50: 6/9 North Group; T20: 7/9 North Group
After the loss of key personnel, the Wantage Road faithful will have been cheered by some enterprising overseas signings, including, for a good chunk of the Championship season, Temba Bavuma. With the departures of Duckett and Gleeson, the two-time T20 Blast winners appear to be a fading force in white-ball cricket.
