Northamptonshire county cricket preview: Signings, released players, fixtures, predictions
EXPRESS SPORT is previewing the county cricket season and now the spotlight is on Northamptonshire.
Ben Duckett will look to impress England selectors again whilst playing for Northamptonshire
Northamptonshire
Last season
CC D2- 5th
RLODC- quarter-final, lost to Surrey.
T20- winners, beat Durham in final.
New signings
Nathan Buck (Lancashire)- three-year deal
Max Holden (Middlesex)- loan until end of June
Rory Kleinveldt helped Northamptonshire win the T20 Blast last summer
I'm excited at the prospect of being able to play for a club like Northamptonshire
Players out
Olly Stone (Warwickshire)
Monty Panesar (released)
Overseas stars
Rory Kleinveldt (SA)- new one-year deal
Seekuge Prasanna (SL)- T20 blast, spinner
Club captain
Alex Wakely
Key man
Rory Kleinveldt – don’t be tricked by the big South African’s physique, Kleinveldt is a vital part of Northants’ cog with the ball, and bat, in all formats.
England radar
Ben Duckett – failed to nail down a Test or ODI place in India and Bangladesh at the end of last year but a repeat of the 2016 season and Duckett will be banging the selectors’ door down again.
Young gun
Saif Zaib – the 18-year-old left-arm spinner already has a first-class five-wicket haul and an unbeaten half century in a highly impressive start to his career.
This season's predictions
CCD2- 3rd
RLODC- knockout stages
T20 Blast- knockout stages
Nathan Buck has joined Northamptonshire from Lancashire
Northants don’t have the big budgets of some of the counties but always seem to find a recipe for success in limited overs cricket.
They won the T20 Blast and reached the Royal London One Day Cup quarter-finals last season and with a very similar squad this time around, expect them to prove people wrong again.
The Steelbacks will be challenging for promotion to Division One so it could be a very exciting campaign at Wantage Road.
First fixture
CCD2- Glamorgan home, Friday 7th April
RLODC- Warwickshire home, Thursday 27th April
T20 Blast- Derbyshire home, Friday 7th July