Mr

[MrNorthantsCC]

Hi guys

So I thought id show my support of Northampton Cricket Club!

I started with a budget of 87000 and 2 T20 overseas players (Prasanna + Shamsi) also I had 1 Overseas (Kleinveldt).

First thing I did was try and sign a reserve players.

I entered for 3 players in the first round of bidding and secured 2 players. Brought Dre Russ (reserve) and Wes Durston to the club! Failed to sign Andy Carter. So I thought id turn to the youth section (usually find some real bargains!) successfully signed 2 youth players. One of which averaged 62 in 2nd XI for the last season the other had 79 wickets @ 29 a piece. That was all my money gone (with a 20k upgrade for youth team)

First T20 of the season was here!
Home Vs Derby (IRL we lost badly!)
I thought i'd give Durston his debut!


We lost the toss and put into bat!

Durston's debut lasted a whole 3 balls. Great start 1-1 from 0.5overs
2 overs later Wakers ran himself out, 12-2 from 2.2overs
That brought Levi to the crease alongside the almight Ben Duckett! Id looked forward to seeing this happen! Levi wasted no time planting his 2nd ball for 6.
10 overs gone we had gone to 72-2. Duckett and Levi combining relatively well
13 overs passed and Duckett reached his 50 from just 39 balls. Score now 101-2
Sadly 1 over later Duckett was caught behind of Thakor for 59 from 43 balls - fairly good start to the campaign for him.
I thought id then do what I think Northampton dont do enough in real life, give Kleinveldt a boost up the order. If anyone has seen him batting he can be absolutely devastating for bowlers or he will get out cheaply
First ball of the 14th over Levi was also caught behind this time of Matt Henry's bowling.
In the 15th over Kleinveldt went for 1 from 4 balls LBW to Thakor.
Viljoen bowled Cobb next over score now 122-6 from 16.1overs
19th over White took Viljoen to the cleaners scoring a decent 13 from it leaving us 152-6 with 6 balls left.
Only managed to score 4 from the last over leaving us 156-6





Sanderson claimed the wicket of Wilson for a goldie with just 5 balls gone. 5-1 from 0.5 overs
Beginning of the 3rd over Reece ran himself out leaving the visitors 17-2 fom 2.1 overs
Later that over Sanderson also bowled Madsen for 4 from 8 balls. 18-3 from 2.5 overs
3rd ball of the 3rd over and Kleinveldt re-arranged Smit's stumps sending him back to the hutch cheaply. 24-4 from 3.3 overs!
Next ball Kleinveldt bowls MacDonell for a goldie. 24-5 from 3.4 overs!!! Wowzers
Kleinveldt's hatrick ball was a swing and miss from Critchley! so close!
5th ball of the 4th over and Sanderson traps Critchley LBW for 5, score now 31-6 from 4.5 overs
I decided to bowl both Kleinveldt and Sanderson out, both finishing with respectable figures!
3rd ball of Gleeson's first over he bowls Henry for 17 from 14, 63-7 from 8.3 overs!!! Could we bowl them out for less that 100?!
Thakor was still in, 18 from 12 balls.
12.3 overs and Gleeson managed to get Viljoon caught behind for 6 from a staggering 16 balls!!!
But Thakor was still in, and I thought whilst he was in they still stood a chance, all be it a very slim chance.
White's 2nd ball sent Palladino back trapped LBW for 8 from 7, Thakor just 1 away from his 50 from just 31 balls! score now 112-9 from 15.2 overs
Next ball Imran Tahir is sent back bowled by White!




Northants win by 44 runs. MOTM Ben Duckett with a fantastic 59 from 43 balls.
CMOTM Greame White!
(CMOTM = Captain's man of the match- cant be the same person)

So we won our 1st game of the campaign!! Feel slightly sorry for Thakor stranded on 49 but then I realise that he shouldnt be playing anyway!!

Please leave any feedback/ways of improvement!

Happy ICC'ing!

[MrNorthantsCC]

Anyone know how I can change the thread name?
Meant to be 'My Northants story - T20 Only'

[MrNorthantsCC]

Northants vs Durham

I decided to swap Keogh for my youth signing Marwood but other than that I was unchanged.
We won the toss and I decided to bowl first

We had to wait for a few over for our first wicket, Cook caught in the deep for 10, the score 30-1 from 3.4 overs
End of the powerplay and Durham were 63-1, Sarkar smashing us to all areas on 43
5 balls later he fell LBW to Sanderson for a well player 53, the score now 72-2 from 6.5 overs
First ball of White's spell he picks up Clark caught for 14. 79-3 from 8.1 overs
Last ball of the 9th over and Gleeson traps Collingwood LBW for 14. 10 overs gone and Durham 96-4.
I was a little annoyed they were going at almost 10 an over but the conditions were great for batting.
Harte finally fell in the 16th over caught for a fantastic 63 from 34 balls. Durham now 173-5 from 16.5 overs
3rd ball of the 17th over Kleinveldt claims the wicket of Richardson for 17, 175-6 from 17.3 overs
18.2 overs gone and Azharullah gets the wicket of McCarthy for 1. Score at 176-7
No more wickets from there, Durham finished on 190-7.





I knew it was game on, so I opened with Duckett and Levi, and set them both to ultra aggressive!!
Duckett failed and was caught behind from the 4th ball of our innings. 4-1 from 0.4 overs
Powerplay had finished and Durston + Levi were combining very well. 58-1 from 6 overs.
Almost 2 overs later Levi was gone LBW for a well played 38 from 26 balls. Durston doing well on 31 from just 18 balls! Score now 75-2 from 7.4 overs
I decided to give Kleinveldt another bash higher up the order as some quick runs from him now could take the game away from Durham!
He lasted 3 balls but did score 5, 80-3 from 8.2 overs
Cobb then runs Durston out in the finall ball of the 9th over! Fuming!!! 93-4 from 10 overs. Only 3 runs difference from both teams at the same stage
Young Marwood was then sent into bat on his debut.
He managed to score 13 from 13 on debut which isnt too bad for a young lad.
But we had a serious mountain to climb from here, we were 119-5 from 14 overs. Wakely and Cobb at the crease, could they produce the win we wanted?
Cobb the departs for 34 from 25 balls, caught and bowle by Taylor. 136-6 from 16 overs
4 balls later White is also sent back, Lbw for 1. 139-7 from 16.4 overs
Gleeson lasted 2 balls before going for a duck.
Sanderson also lasted just 2 balls before being caught on 4. Score now 144-9 from 17.3 overs
Wakely was then bowled first ball of the 18th over. 148 all out.





All in all a disappointing result for us after last games heroics!
Id thought of a masterplan for next game. Use Shamsi, White, Cobb and Keogh and set the groundsman to Spinners Pitch!

We were currently sat 4th in the table!




MOTM:G. Hatre
CMOTM:R.Levi

[MrNorthantsCC]

Northants vs Yorkshire

This should be an interesting game, was rained off in real life!
2 players have been promoted from the youth team that were both in 5 star form.

I swapped Marwood for Rossington and changed the order around a bit just to see how it went.
We won the toss and again I decided to bowl first.

2.4 overs had passed before we picked up our first wicket. Id opened with seamers but as soon as we picked up a wicket I wanted to swap to spin.
Lappin was caught at slip, Yorkshire 21-1 from 2.4 overs.
I ended up keeping my seamers on for another over each, then brought on Shamsi and Keogh.
Not a good idea! Marsh dispatched them to all areas of the ground.
71-1 from 7 overs!
Next over from Shamsi was a complete shambles ending in Marsh's 50 from 25 balls.
Score after 8 overs was 87-1.
Another expensive over
107-1 from 9
Finally we bowled Marsh for a well played 65, 107-2 from 9.1 overs
3 balls later Shamsi sent Handscomb back too. 110-3 from 9.4 overs
A few overs later Gleeson sent Tattersall back for 19, score now a staggering 142-4 from just 12.2 overs!
Just 3 balls later Kohler-Cadmore ran himself out for 17 leaving the score 144-5 from 12.5 overs.
Bringing David Willey to the crease, ex-Northants player.
Next over rashid is gone LBW to Sanderson for just 5, score 148-6 from 13.2
Willey departed in the 17th over, for 18 from 15 balls. Kleinveldt claiming his wicket LBW. score 175-7
Plunkett didnt last long next over he was out for 1, 184-8 with just 8 balls left.
Next ball Gleeson sends Coad back.
Gleeson on his hatrick ball!!!
Rank long hop that Patterson spoons up in the air, spectacular catch from Sanderson in the deep!
Gleeson has his hatrick!
Yorkshire ended up 184 all out.




Levi lasted just 6 balls but he did manage to grab 11 runs in that time. Score 14-1 from 1.3 overs
Durston fell 3 overs later for 11 from 11. Score 42-2 from 4.4 overs
Duckett fell caught and bowled for 24 from 14. 48-3 from 5.2 overs now.
I didnt know who to send in. I was tempted to give Kleinveldt another go and decided to do that.
He added 6 to the scoreboard then departed.
Cobb was then bowled by Rashid for 2 from 8 balls. 63-5 from 8.5 overs now.
Rashid claimed his 3rd wicket. Wakely gone for 11 from 8. 92-6 from 11.3 overs.
Willey then bowled Keogh for 6 from 10. We were really struggling at this point.
105-7 from 15 overs.
Gleeson then departed. 114-8 from 17 overs
20 overs passed and we fell 53 runs short.





I think ive learnt from this that we really cant bat second!
Cobb and Keogh are in danger of losing there place.

MOTM: S Marsh
CMOTM: A Rossington

[MrNorthantsCC]

Northants vs Warwickshire

Id made 1 change to the team. Wakely out and youth player Law came in
Wakely had really low fitness and form

Levi fell LBW for just 12, score is 18-1 from 2.3 overs.
Powerplay had finished and we were 63-1
Halfway stage we are 101-1. Rossington bringing up his 50 off 28 balls
He unfortunately fell in the next over caught behind off Stone (another ex Northants player)
Rossington made 57 from 32 balls. score at 104-2 from 10.4 overs.
Ducketts 50 came from just 30 balls, at the end of the 14th over we were 136-2.
I was happy with our situation and kept all batsmen at full aggressive level
Durston departed in Patel's 3rd over for 13 from 14. Score 141-3 from 15.1 overs.
1 over and 2 balls later Cobb departs for 3 from 4 balls. Thats him out for the next game
152-4 from 16.4 overs.
Law then departed next over. 157-5 from 17.1 overs
We then finished on 189-5 from our 20 overs.
Duckett finishing on 93* what an innings!





First ball of the innings Trott is gone, caught behind! What a great start
de Grandhomme came in and smashed 24 from 11 balls before falling LBW to Sanderson. Score 34-2 from 3 overs.
Porterfield was soon gone. But Bell had caused carnage at the other end, Score is 73-3 from 5.5 overs!
Next over and Moore was gone too, Sanderson claiming his 3rd wicket. 82-4 from 6.4 overs.
Sandersons next over and Ambrose was caught in the deep. 101-5 from 8.2 overs.
Keogh then claimed Redmonds wicket for a quick 22. Score is now 139-6 from 12.2 overs.
Keogh's next over and he bowls Bell for 85. The breakthrough we really needed. Score is now 152-7 from 13 overs.
Warwickshire still needing 38 runs to win.
3 balls later and Barker returns to the hutch! 154-8 from 13.3 overs!
Keogh then bowled Stone for 3 from 5 balls. 166-9 with 24 runs to win.
Next ball and Keogh bowls Hannon-Dolby!





So we had a good win today.
MOTM:B Duckett
CMOTM: R Keogh/B Sanderson- couldnt pick!

[MrNorthantsCC]

Northants vs Leicestershire (A)

Wakers was fit again, so I swapped him out for Law.
We lost the toss and they put us into bat. I was happy with that!


After 22 balls we lost our first wicket. But we had managed to score quite a few runs, Rossington out for 21 from 10 balls. 43-1 from 3.4 overs.
3 balls later and Duckett was also sent back, 45-2 now from 4.1 overs
Durston then came in and lasted 4 balls 48-3 now
Just over and over had passed and then Cobb was sent back for 10 from 5. 64-4 from 6.1 overs
Levi didnt last much longer, 76-5 from 8.3 overs
I had to relax the batting aggression.
Wakers and Crook put on 71 before Wakely departed for 35 from 39. Score now 147-6 from 18.4 overs
Kleinveldt now in, on ultra aggressive!
Our 20 overs were up and we ended on 160-6
Nice little performance from Crook on his 1st game of the season




First ball again and Sanderson had removed Cosgrove caught in the deep.
Just 2 balls later and Ronchi was out too. 2-2 from 0.4 overs
Next over Delport was out c+b Kleinveldt. Score currently 5-3 from 1.3 overs!!
Kleinveldts next over and Pettini was out 13 from 8. Score 23-4 from 3.4
Sanderson removed Ackermann the next over for 11 from 11. Score now 35-5 from 5 overs
Shamsi removed Castle in his first over, 81-6 from 9.3 overs
Next ball and McKay was out, Shamsi now on a hatrick!!
Klein was ran out in Shamsi next over. Score now 104-8
Crook then removed Gordon, Leics now struggling 107-9
Next ball Raine ran Shreck out. Leics all out for 108



Another good win for us today, Good performance from Crook today.
MOTM:B Sanderson
CMOTM:S Crook

[MrNorthantsCC]

Northants vs Notts!

This game is CRUCIAL, they are top, we are second.
Unchanged XI from last game.
We won the toss and again decided to bat first.

Rossington fell quite early on for 22 from 9. Score 32-1 from 2.4 overs
2 balls after the powerplay and Levi fell LBW to Pattinson however we were 72-2 from 6.2 overs.
Sent Kleinveldt in early again, he made 5 from 3 before departing. 78-3 from 7 overs now
Duckett then departed for a fantastic 68 from 36. Score now 126-4 from 11.4 overs.
Exactly an over later and Durston was out 21 from 14. 136-5 from 12.4 overs
Wakers then fell for 1. 147-6 from 13.4 overs
2 overs later and Cobb was dismissed. 163-7 from 16.4 overs.
Patel then bowled Gleeson 168-8 now with 2 overs left.
Mullaney then sent Sanderson back. 179-9 with 6 balls left
We scored a staggering 21 from the last over to end up 200-9.



It took 4 overs to get the breakthrough, Hales out run out. 41-1 from 4 overs.
Another 5 over passed before we got another wicket. Patel and Mullaney putting on 68!! Patel then out 42 from just 16 balls. 109-2 from 8.5 overs
Shamsi removed Mullaney for 51 from 32. 114-3 from 10.2 overs.
Next ball Read is gone caught behind next ball.
Kleinveldt then removed Taylor. Score now 126-5 from 11.4 overs
Lumb was also out to by Kleinveldt, and Root next ball.
Notts now 167-7 with 4 overs left
Unfortunately Swanton then completed the run chase for Notts, with 1 over and 3 wickets left.




I feel we were a little unlucky today really, If Patel + Mullaney wouldnt have scored so quick so early then we might have won.
MOTM: S Mullaney
CMOTM: B Duckett

[MrNorthantsCC]

Northants vs Worcestershire

Wakely hasnt had a good run so ive swapped him out for Keogh
We won the toss and I fancied a bowl first today. Keogh was our extra spinner.

2nd over and D'Oliveira fell to Kleinveldt. 5-1 from 1.2overs
Then Sanderson trapped Mitchell LBW 15-2 from 3 overs
Shamsi's 3rd ball sent Fell back to the pavillion! 55-3 from 7.3 overs.
16th over and Crook bowls Santner 125-4 from 15.1 overs
2 balls later Wallace is out for a well played 73 from 37 balls. 126-5 from 15.3 overs
Kleinveldt then bowled Leach for 9 from 10, score 149-6 with 7 balls left.
Shamsi got 2 wickets in the final over. With 1 ball apart, Worcs ended 151-8 from 20 overs.




3.3 overs passed before our first wicket, Duckett the victim for 13 from 10. 36-1 from 3.3 overs
8 balls later Rossington was out, score is 44-2 from 4.5 overs.
I sent Crook in early and he lasted 9 balls but did score 14. Score now 69-3 from 7.4 overs.
I sent Kleinveldt in early again,
Levi soon departed 23 from 18. 82-4 from 9.3 overs.
Durston fell 13 from 13, the big fella still in the other end on 24 from 14. score 112-5 from 13.1 overs
Kleinveldt then went for a well played 28 from 19 balls. Score 124-6 from 14.5 overs.
We needed 28 runs to win.
Within 3 overs Keogh and Cobb finished it off for us.






Overall quite happy with that, It was a good win for us.
The thing I liked the most about it the scorecard today was that everybody contributed.

MOTM:R Kleinveldt
CMOTM:J Cobb for a good performance

[MrNorthantsCC]

Northants vs Derbyshire (A)

Unchanged XI from last game I just changed the batting order a bit.

Viljoen picked up Rossington with his first ball of the match, Steelbacks 13-1 from 1.1
Just 4 balls later and Levi was also out to Viljoen. 19-2 from 1.5
Kleinveldt departed without troubling the scorers. 20-3 from 2.3 overs now
Tahir then sent Durston back. 36-4 from 4.4
Cobb then went cheap 13 for 12. 66-5 from 8.2 overs
Crook then fell next ball.
Keogh departed for 18 from 10. Duckett still in and on 69 from 39. Score 116-7 from 12.5 overs
Duckett fell an over later. 118-8 from 13.5 overs
Sanderson and Shamsi fell in consecutive balls from Palladino.
Steelbacks ending up on 126 all out.
We needed to bowl really well.






Wilson was first out, Ran out after 5.5 overs. Score 27-1
Crooks 5th ball then sent Madsen back. 62-2 from 8.5 overs.
Shamsi sent Godleman back LBW for 49. Score 105-3 from 14.4 overs.
Next ball Thakor was out, Shamsi on a hatrick
Unfortunately Derby soon chased down the total.
132-4 with 2.3 overs spare




.

MOTM: T Palladino
CMOTM: B Duckett

[MrNorthantsCC]

Northants vs Warwickshire

Changed Sanderson for White who was in 5 star form.
Won toss and batted first.

2.3 overs passed before we lost our first wicket. Rossington the man to go for 15 from 8. Score 28 from 2.3 overs.
Levi fell 4 balls later for 1. He really is struggling at the moment
Just 1 over later and Duckett fell for 23. Score 45-3 from 4.3 overs
Crook and Durston fell in the same over. 66-5 now from 7 overs
Keogh soon fell, 88-6 from 10.5 overs.
Just 25 balls later our innings was over.
117 all out.
Not even remotely close to enough




Gleeson sent Bell back after 4.5 overs. Score 29-1 from 4.5 overs.
Trott went 3 overs later. 45-2 from 7.5 overs.
Moore fell in the 13th over. 78-3 from 12.4 overs.
Just under 4 overs later Warwickshire reached the target with ease.

Bad result for us today, going to have to make some tough decision next game regarding selection.

MOTM: C De Grandhomme
CMOTM: J Cobb

[MrNorthantsCC]

Northants vs Lancs

I swapped Sanderson back in for White, Dropped Levi and gave him some batting practise and swapped him for Withe one of the youngsters making his debut. Finally I swapped Rossington for Newton, Rosso's fitness was low and he hadnt been playing terribly well. 3 changes in total, I just hope it works!
We won the toss and batted first.

Withe fell after 5 balls but he did smash 14 from it!
Newton made 2 from 5. 20-2 from 2.2 overs
Durston made 13 from just 6 balls. Steelbacks now 51-3 from just 4.2 overs.
Cobb went for a 2 ball duck.
We lost out final 6 wickets for just 43 runs.
51-2 then 94 all out is outrageous.
Starting to get annoyed with our lack of perfomance at the moment!!




Davies fell quite early on, 21-1 from 3 overs
Lancs didnt lost any more wickets chasing down our low total.





Another bad loss for us today, We cant seem to get any runs
MOTM: K Jarvis
CMOTM: R Kleinveldt

[muzzy]

I find Josh Cobb is more affective if you open with him,
Try this as your top 4..
1. Levi
2. Cobb
3. Duckett
4. Rossington

[MrNorthantsCC]

Nice one muzzy, ill give it a go our last game!

[MrNorthantsCC]

Next match was against Worcestershire

Shamsi had been called up by SA, so swapped him for Prasanna. Also swapped Newton for Levi.

Lost the toss and was put in to bat first.

Levi was ran out for 8 from 10, score 19-1 from 3 overs
Withe and Duckett combined well and stayed together for the next 6.3 overs. Withe was the out for 27 from 17, Duckett 53 from 30. 88-2 from 9.3 overs
Durston then fell for 20, 115-3 from 12.2 overs
Kleinveldt didnt last long, going for 9 from 5. 124-4 from 13.1
Crook lasted 2 balls, Cobb came in and hit 25 from 12. 161-5 from 16.5 overs
Duckett still going on 71 from 44.
Next over Duckett fell for 72. score 165-6 from 17.4 overs
Prasanna then smashed 32 from 10 balls to take our score to 202 from 20 overs.


Almost 10 overs before our first wicket!! Mitchell went for 63 from 33 balls, D'Oliveira still in on 48 from 26. 111-1 from 9.5 overs.
D'Oliveira was that ran out for 89. Score at 172-2 from 17.2 overs.
Worcs needing 21 from 16 balls.
They chased it down with an over to go.





That was it, our qualification chances had gone completely. I thought with 202 on the board we stood a good chance.
Looking forward to some new signings and getting rid of the dead wood.
MOTM: B D'Oliveira
CMOTM:B Duckett

[MrNorthantsCC]

Northants vs Leicester

Swapped Rossington for Durston
We lost the toss and were asked to bowl first.

Sanderson's 2nd ball sent Cosgrove back for 10 from 7. Score 11-1 from 1.2 overs
4 balls later Sanderson sent Ronchi back. 17-2 at the end of the 2nd over
1 over later Sanderson also had Dexter caught at slip. 47-3 from 3.5 overs.
Sandersons next over and he bowled Horton 57-4 from 5.2 overs
Gleeson sent Castle back for 3. Cosgrove still in on 30 from 16 but losing partners quickly. 64-5 from 6.4 overs
Prasanna then bowled Cosgrove from his first ball, 73-6 from 8.1 overs
Kleinveldt then bowled McKay next over 80-7 from 9.5 overs
Prasanna picked up another wicket trapping Klein infront for 4 from 14 balls! score now 87-8 from 12.5 overs.
Kleinveldt picked up the wicket of Sykes for 5 from 3, Leics now 92-9 from 13.2 overs
Next ball Gordon was out next ball caught and bowled.
Some impressive bowling in that innings, why couldnt we have done it before?!



McKay got Levi out in his 2nd over, score 16-1 from 3.2 overs.
Raine then bowled Cobb for 9 from 16. 38-2 from 6 overs.
Duckett was still in on 35 runs, I had an alert saying he broke an all time record for runs in a season. 504, great effort!
Score 71-2 from 8 overs
Duckett and Rossington saw it home for us from there.
We had 10 overs to spare this game!



MOTM: B Sanderson
CMOTM: B Duckett