Ripley knows that County need to enjoy the challenge

Northamptonshire head coach David Ripley was in downbeat mood following his side’s thumping at Headlingley.
Rob Newton was dismissed early on day four at HeadingleyRob Newton was dismissed early on day four at Headingley
Rob Newton was dismissed early on day four at Headingley

On the final morning of the LV= County Championship encounter with Yorkshire, the County progressed from their overnight 149-4 to 245 all out to lose by a comprehensive innings and 120 runs.

Only David Murphy and Muhammad Azharullah provided any resistance as they combined in a 10th wicket stand of 50 but that only delayed the inevitable and Ripley was at a loss as to why the performance had been so poor across the four days.

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He said: “Losing early wickets today when we needed a good first session to get some belief didn’t help.

“But the damage was done on the first day when they got an over par score.

“We haven’t batted, bowled or caught well and I can’t really put a finger on why that’s happened.

“But we had a good discussion afterwards and it’s up to us to step it up a bit for Lancashire.”

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And if they are to start making an impression on the top flight, Ripley thinks that rising to the challenge will be key.

He added: “Division One cricket is a big challenge for us and we need to enjoy it.

“I don’t think that we’ve got a mental barrier towards it but we need to get on the front foot.

“Against Durham we sluggled it out with them session by session and we need to get back to doing that.”