Richard Gleeson proved himself an integral part of Northamptonshire's NatWest T20 Blast side in 2016. He missed Finals Day - their third in four years and one in which they emerged victorious - but he had done much to get them there, showing splendid economy levels, under six an over, with aggressive, full-length bowling and mastery of the yorker under pressure. It was all enough to win him a berth with Rangpur Riders in the 2016 Bangladesh Premier League.

Northants' straitened financial circumstances meant that Gleeson, a former Minor Counties stalwart with Cumberland, played for them across all formats on a match-by-match basis in 2016, but he impressed enough to win a three-year contract at the end of the season. The following season, his coach David Ripley even called for England to give him a Twenty20 debut. The recommendation that went unheeded but in only a year he had made quite an impact.

With that three-year contract complete, Northants' good work had invited interest from several higher-spending counties. Gleeson returned to Lancashire before the end of the 2018 season but the thought that he might help save them from relegation proved to be far-fetched. His parting gift to Northants was his best innings and match figures in first-class cricket - 6 for 79 and 9 for 95 respectively - against Kent at Canterbury. He then returned north to Old Trafford where he had once worked as a community coach and wondered if he would ever make the grade. ESPNcricinfo staff