Northants make two 'strong bids' as they look to strengthen squad

Head coach David Ripley has revealed that Northants have two 'strong bids' on the table as they look to bolster their squad for next season.
David Ripley is trying to strengthen his Northants squad (picture: Kirsty Edmonds)David Ripley is trying to strengthen his Northants squad (picture: Kirsty Edmonds)
David Ripley is trying to strengthen his Northants squad (picture: Kirsty Edmonds)

The County have recently been hit by key departures, with batsman Ben Duckett moving to Nottinghamshire and bowler Richard Gleeson heading to Lancashire.

Rory Kleinveldt's time at Northants has also come to an end, with the South African not returning to the County Ground next season.

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That means Ripley's squad is currently very thin, but moves are being made to bring in players who can help Northants improve after a difficult campaign in all formats.

"We've got a strong bid out for a T20 player and we've got a strong bid out for a domestic player who has become available of late, who would be a good coup for us," Ripley said.

"We won't be the only ones speaking to him (the domestic player) so I'm not going get too carried away or say too much about it because there will be a bit of a queue.

"But we are in that queue so that's all we can say at the moment."

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One signing that Northants have already made is Blessing Muzarabani, with the lofty Zimbabwe pace bowler joining on a three-year deal from 2019.

And Ripley said: "Blessing is someone with a bit of X factor.

"He's not got the pace of Richard (Gleeson) but he's 6ft 9in, he's got long levers and he's a handful.

"We hope he will go some way to helping us replace Richard in white-ball cricket."