Ripley delight at appointment of Sadler and Liddle to Northants coaching staff

Former Derbyshire interim head coach Sadler has been named as Ripley's assistant, replacing the long-serving Phil Rowe, while ex-Gloucestershire pace bowler Liddle has been hired to look after the bowlers.

The pair came through a strong selection and interview process, with more than 70 applicants chasing the jobs, but it is Sadler and Liddle who have landed the posts, which they will start in the new year.

Sadler, who is 38, joins from Leicestershire where he worked as assistant to head coach Paul Nixon, and also working as the Foxes batting coach, and it was his know-how that that caught Ripley's attention.

“He’s got a lot of experience already from his stints at Derby and Leicester and we’ve seen definite growth in the players he’s worked with," said the Northants head coach.

"Having got to know him over the last two or three years I just see a safe pair of hands and a hard-working bloke with a lot to give to the team, he’s just a banker really.”

As far as Liddle is concerned, Ripley was won over by the 38-year-old's sheer enthusiuasm, and admitted he was one who 'came up on the rails'.

Liddle was still playing for Gloucestershire until a couple of months ago, but he will now put away his bowling boots and concentrate on trying to build a career in coaching.

“Chris just bowled us over with his enthusiasm, it was just bursting when he came in," said Ripley.

"He’d just come back with Holland, winning that competition to qualify for the T20 World Cup and he just captured us all.

"He came up a bit on the rails, but we unanimously thought he was the right guy for the job.”