All change for Northants as they bid to end Bob Willis Trophy campaign on a high

After a hectic week of the Vitality Blast T20, the relative calm of the Bob Willis Trophy returns, with Northants heading to Bristol for their last Central Group game which starts on Sunday.

The County have no chance of finishing top of the pile and qualifying for the Lord’s final later this month, but they will still be keen to end their truncated four-day season on a high.

Northants go into the game on the back of claiming their first win of the season, seeing off Glamorgan by six wickets last month.

And the trip to Bristol will see a raft of players who have been sidelined while the Steelbacks have made a roaring start to their T20 campaign return to action.

Ben Curran, Emilio Gay, Charlie Thurston, Rob Keogh, Jack White, Blessing Muzarabani, Luke Procter, Simon Kerrigan and Brett Hutton will all be in line to return to action, with the rest of the team made up with players from the white ball team.

Skipper Adam Rossington will miss the Gloucestershre clash with a finger injury, which means that Ricardo Vasconcelos is likely to skipper the side again, just as he did against Glamorgan.

A win could see the County end the season in third place in their group, and that would be a satisfactory outcome for head coach David Ripley, who has made no secret of the fact he was using the Bob Willis Trophy as a development competition.

There has been some talk in recent weeks of extending the three-group conference system into 2021 and beyond, but as it stands Northants will still be playing in division one of the Specsavers County Championship next summer, and the plan for the Bob Willis Trophy was to blood some players in preparation for that step up in class following the team’s promotion in 2019.

The policy and campaign got off to a sticky start, but there have been breakthrough performances from the likes of Thurston, White and Curran, while Gay scored his debut first-class half-century as he hit 77 not out to steer Northants to that win over Glamorgan.

And the elegant left-hander is one person who is a big fan of the decision of Ripley to give him and other players their big chance.

“The exciting thing is that is was an inexperienced team (that beat Glamorgan),” said Gay.

“Next year we are in division one which will be a tough challenge but, not just next year, the next few years, we have some really good young guys coming through.

“We have Jack White with the ball, Charlie Thurston, Ben Curran, Ricardo Vasconcelos, they are all young guys, and I think getting this first team cricket under our belt and getting that experience is so important.”

Gay has impressed in the County second team and also the local league in recent years, but he was hungry to test himself in the first-class game.

“It is a big jump from second team cricket, obviously, so this has been good for us,” said Gay. “For somebody like me, I have played a lot of second team cricket, so it is good to just get that feel of first-team cricket.

“And even though this season there is only five games, it is good that we have had that because at one stage it was looking like there would be nothing (due to the Covid-19 pandemic).

“So this is like a taster for next year, and we can take a lot of positives from these five games, and a lot of work-ons, so it is looking good.”

Gay was on a real high following his innings against Glamorgan, and he was glad to be able to repay some of the faith Ripley and other members of the County backroom staff have given him.

“Credit to the coaches, because they have not just stuck by me but also done a lot of work behind the scenes, with the likes of John Sadler (batting coach),” said the 20-year-old.

“Rips has given me the opportunity to play first-team cricket this year and I am thankful for that, and glad that I have repaid his faith in me.

“But from now on it is just about hard work and continuing working through the process.”