New Northants deal for batsman Rob

Newton is the third of the club's established players to have put pen to paper on a new contract this winter, following in the footsteps of Alex Wakely and Nathan Buck.

The 29-year-old batsman has played his entire professional career at the County Ground and is closing in on a century of First Class appearances.

Newton has scored 5,161 First Class runs at an average of 36.60, including 13 centuries, 23 fifties and a high score of 202 not out.

He has also contributed in the other formats, scoring more than 1,000 runs in One-Day cricket with an average nudging 30 and having a strike rate in excess of 100 in T20.

And head coach David Ripley is delighted that Newton is staying at Northants for the foreseeable future.

"Rob is a talented player who has shown his quality repeatedly with important runs at crucial times," Ripley said.

"He's been at the County Ground for a long time, so it is easy to forget that he is still under 30 and has a lot of cricket still ahead of him in his career.

"He's both settled and ambitious, which is a good combination to have, and we're really happy that he has signed a new contract with us."

Newton is now looking forward to helping Northants to enjoy a successful 2019 season.

"Signing a new contract was an easy decision to make and I'm thankful to Rips for giving me the opportunity to stay at the County Ground," Newton said.

"We've had a lot of good times here and I'm confident that we've got an exciting season ahead of us.

"The squad is working hard in training, we've made some good signings, and the mood is really positive.

"I had a frustrating 2018 and want to prove myself again in 2019, and I'm determined to help us have a good year."