Batting coach Smith set to leave Northants

Ben Smith is leaving Northants (picture: Northamptonshire CCC)

Northamptonshire have confirmed that batting coach Ben Smith will leave the club at the end of October.

Smith has been part of the coaching staff at Wantage Road since the end of 2021 and departs via mutual agreement to explore other opportunities.

Northants endured a difficult 2023 campaign, which saw them relegated from LV= County Championship Division One while missing out on the knockout stages of both the Vitality Blast and Metro Bank One Day Cup.

The bowlers were able to take some credit for doing their job for most of the summer in the four-day game, but it has been with the bat where the County's major problems have been.

In the Championship, Northants won just two of their 14 games - beating Middlesex in mid-April and then Essex in the final match of the campaign - and they had collected a paltry seven batting bonus points all season prior to the impressive win against Essex.

Northants, who lost eight of the 14 encounters, only passed 350 twice in the first innings of a match and on three occasions in April and May they were dismissed for double figure scores (56, 63 and 72).

And now the County will look for fresh guidance in the batting department following the departure of Smith.

“I’d like to thank Ben for his contributions across the last couple of years.” chief executive Ray Payne said.

“Everyone at the club wishes him well in his future endeavours.”