All-rounder Saif Zaib wants to step into match-winning shoes for Northants

The all-rounder is looking forward to the new cricket season with excitement, with the Rothesay County Championship Division Two opener against Kent at Wantage Road starting on Friday (April 4).

Zaib is set to be one of the key players for Northants over the course of the next six months.

The 26-year-old has emerged as more and more of a key County cog in all formats in recent years, and now he feels he is ready to be a difference maker when it matters on an even more regular basis.

Zaib enjoyed an excellent 2024 campaign, winning the club's batter of the season and One Day Cup player of the season awards, after he scored more than 900 runs in all competitions, as well as claiming 29 wickets.

He has been working hard on his game over the winter months, and he believes he is ready to take his game on to the next level.

"There is always something you are tweaking," said Zaib. "But it is more about understanding my game in how to score runs, and how to be more consistent and how to continuously produce those match winning knocks.

"That is where I want to be, I want to be one of the match winners in the team.

"That may mean I am a little inconsistent at times, which I am fine with.

"It would obviously be nice to average 50 or 60 across the season, but I feel if I have an impact on the team in terms of being a match winner, that is more important for myself, in terms of impacting games.

"I would like to score runs in every game if I can, but I am quite an attacking player and you take the good with the bad I guess.

"As long as I am making those important, big match winning scores, then I am happy because there are still another 10 guys on our team who can win us the game. As long as I can win some games for the County, I will be happy with that."

One frustration for Zaib going into 2025 is that he will miss the Steelbacks' Metro Bank One Day Cup campaign due to his selection for The Hundred, where he will play for Welsh Fire.

But it looks like he will be one of head coach Darren Lehmann's first picks in both the Vitality Blast and the Championship.

The red-ball game dominates the first two months of the season, with Northants playing seven four day games between now and the end of May, and they will be aiming to get off to a good start as they bid to win promotion back to the top flight of English cricket.

But Zaib, who hit an unbeaten century in a friendly against Warwickshire at Edgbaston last week, isn't going to start making any bold promotion or title predictions.

"You have to take it one step at a time and assess where we are at," said the left-arm batter and bowler.

"We have got a good, young squad and there are not as many senior players around any more.

"We have a good, young, hungry squad with a lot of fresh faces and fresh ideas from the coach, and it is looking like being a really exciting season.

"You can always jump to the end of the season and say where we want to be, but I feel taking it one game at a time is the most important thing."

Quotes courtesy of Peter Short