Northants name unchanged squad for Chelmsford trip

Skipper Ricardo Vasconcelos and head coach John Sadler are sticking by the players that have played out draws in the team’s opening two matches of the season.

The County followed up their opening stalemate against Gloucestershire with a battling rearguard action to share the spoils with Yorkshire last weekend.

Vasconcelos has been delighted with how his team has shaped up so far, saying: “We’ve played some really good cricket over the eight days so far.

“The fight that we showed in the last game on that last day, it would have been easy for us to just crumble under pressure and to be honest I think that’s probably what a lot of people away from the club would have expected.

“So for us to go out there and show we’ve got a bit about us this year and prove we’re here to fight with every team gives us a lot of confidence moving forward in terms of getting the results we’re after.

“We’re in a good space after two games but it’s always about the next game and we’re all focused in that.”

Tom Taylor and Josh Cobb are added to the 11 that drew the match with Yorkshire.

Essex for their part will be without injured England batsman Dan Lawrence after he suffered a hamstring strain in their 10-wicket defeat to Warwickshire last time out.

Former Northants skipper Adam Rossington, who is on loan at Essex after leaving Northants on the eve of the season, is not allowed to play as part of that loan arrangement.

Northamptonshire squad v Essex: Ricardo Vasconcelos (c); Josh Cobb; Emilio Gay; Matt Kelly; Rob Keogh; Simon Kerrigan; Lewis McManus (wk); Luke Procter; Ben Sanderson; Tom Taylor; Will Young; Saif Zaib

Essex squad: Tom Westley (c); Nick Browne; Alastair Cook; Sam Cook: Matt Critchley; Simon Harmer; Feroze Khushi; Jamie Porter; Shane Snater; Mark Steketee; Paul Walter; Adam Wheater