Lack of depth could limit opportunities
Nick Hoult provides a preview of Northamptonshire for the 2006 season
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Revolving door
The South African influence at Wantage Road shows no sign of abating. With Johann Louw joining Middlesex, Northants have turned to a familiar recruiting ground for a replacement, with Lance Klusener joining as a Kolpak signing. Louw, one of the first Kolpak players, left Northants allegedly to establish his career in South Africa. So there was much harrumphing when he signed for Middlesex as an overseas player. The ex-Worcestershire opening batsman Stephen Peters will be hoping the director of cricket Kepler Wessels can kick-start his career, as he did with Usman Afzaal and Bilal Shafayat.
Winter wonderland
Shafayat joined Monty Panesar
at Darren Lehmann's academy
in Adelaide while Afzaal played
club cricket in Mumbai and
commentated on Indian television.
Strengths
Monty Panesar's spin-bowling
partnership with Jason Brown
brought five wins in the final nine
Championship games last season
and, even if Panesar makes the
England squad, another left-armer,
Graeme White, is waiting for
promotion from the 2nd XI.
Weaknesses
Strength in depth is again lacking.
A small budget equals a small
squad and, with a couple of broken
fingers here and a muscle strain
there, Northants will be raiding
their academy. Expect a few firstclass
debuts if injuries strike.
Best-case scenario
Another yo-yo back up to Division
One of the Championship and a
one-day pot - their first since 1992
and the days of Allan Lamb, David
Capel and Rob Bailey.
Worst-case scenario
Yet more early-season suffering as
the Wantage Road pitches refuse to
turn before July and Panesar suffers
from second-season syndrome.
Young one to watch
Riki Wessels has spent the winter
in Durban and reported for preseason
training having bulked up.
His batting is attractive but the
club will hope his South African
trip has sharpened his keeping.
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Key man
Jason Brown. Must take wickets if
Panesar is with England.
What they say
"We have got the smallest staff and
the smallest budget on the circuit,"
says Kepler Wessels, "and that we
compete within those constraints
is good for me and satisfying. This
season we have a good side, we've
made some good signings and we
are lucky we have some younger
players coming through."
Mark Wagh
Perhaps not the strongest
squad but can be an
effective unit, especially in oneday
cricket. However, they will
miss Louw and may find Panesar's
appearances limited. Kepler Wessels
has brought together disparate
elements that now need to form
a cohesive team. If that happens,
Northants could be a surprise
package this season.
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