By Alex Wakeley
Club Captain
AFTER an intense seven-day pre-season tour in La Manga the squad are eager and ready for the 2019 season.
There are a few new faces around the squad this year and some strong international players will bring great class and experience to the group. Blessing Muzarabani joins us for the season, having previously played all forms of international cricket for Zimbabwe. At six foot eight he’s a hard lad to miss and bowls with some serious pace, definitely the kind of bowler you don’t want to see in your net!
Signing Jason Holder for the early part of the summer is really exciting. Not only is he an incredible talent on the field (you don’t become the number one ranked test all-rounder for nothing) but I’m looking forward to talking tactics with him from a captaincy side of things. I’m certain his leadership of the Windies is a key part of their recent resurgence and it’ll be great to bring some of that to Northamptonshire.
We’re also bolstered by South African international Temba Bavuma who joins us for much of the County Championship. With over 7,000 first class runs he should bring some real strength and experience to our middle order. Pakistan all-rounder Faheem Ashraf comes in for the Vitality Blast, fresh off taking a career best 6 for 18 in the Pakistan Super League last month.
An unlucky finger injury in the warm-up took Rob Keogh out of the picture for the entirety of our T20 season in 2018. Now, after a winter out in Australia he’s come back full of energy and more importantly playing the best cricket I’ve seen from him. Keep an eye on him to really make an impact for the Steelbacks this year.
There are also a few highly talented young lads coming through who are starting to find their place in the squad. Charlie Thurston and Tom Sole both came through our senior academy and are starting to pay dividends. Ben Curran spent three years in the MCC Young Cricketers program and started to regularly turn out for our first team at the back end of last season. This mix of young talent alongside the experience of some of the senior members of the squad creates an incredibly exciting prospect for the year ahead.
This summer has all the makings of a really successful year for the club and I can’t wait for it all to start on the 5 April against Middlesex.