Sales in line for County return

The veteran batsman has missed the first three matches of the season with a calf injury that was picked up during the pre-season preparations but has been named in a 12-man squad that will make the trip up the A1.

He will be joined by fellow first team batsmen Rob Newton, Kyle Coetzer and Ben Duckett with the former pair short of runs and the latter continuing his return after a knee problem.

Of the County’s bowlers, Maurice Chambers and Graeme White will get an outing and the team will be boosted by the inclusion of five non-contracted players in the shape of Gary Knight, Chad Barrett, Matthew Taylor, Saif Zahib and Jack Goode.

Speaking about the game, head coach David Ripley said: “There’s a balance to trying to get some players good time in the middle and giving others the chance for rest and decent practice.

“The likes of (Andrew) Hall and (Stephen) Peters could do with a bit of a breather as we’ve had a demanding start to the season.

“But it’s slightly different for others who need a knock or are coming back from injury.

“With the the injuries we’ve got we haven’t that many options and that is why we’ll take a few young lads for the experience.”

Another who is short of match practice is James Kettleborough.

The batsman broke a finger in the pre-season game against Yorkshire and while Ripley doesn’t see him as a senior player just yet, he wants to see what he is capable of.

He added: “James is perhaps not quite ready to burst into the first team but it would be nice to see him get a few and put his name into the frame.”

Northants from: Sales, Coetzer, Cuckett, Newton, Kettleborough, Chambers, White, Knight, Barrett, Taylor, Zahib, Goode.