Batting duo to miss County’s final pre-season outing

The former is yet to appear due to a calf injury and the latter cracked his right thumb while fielding at Trent Bridge in the initial pre-season outing.

Both will undergo fitness tests ahead of the County’s competitive opener against Durham which begins on Sunday.

The result of this is that the pairing of Matthew Spriegel and James Kettleborough will get a chance to stake a claim for inclusion in the middle order.

James Middlebrook is expected to open the batting alongside captain Stephen Peters in the encounter which will see both sides use 12 players.

Peters said: “This will give a strong indication as to who is likely to be involved against Durham.

“There are a couple who we would like to be fit for the weekend but there is no sense playing them now and running the risk.”

Northants from: Peters, Middlebrook, Coetzer, Keogh, Spriegel, Kettleborough, Hall, Murphy, Crook, Chambers, Azharullah, Stone.