Cricketing ‘Legends’ all set for County Ground World Championship showdowns
A clutch of international cricket superstars and some very familiar faces to Northants supporters will be strutting their stuff when the World Championship of Legends returns to the County Ground next week.
It is the tournament's second season, and this time three games are being staged at Wantage Road, with a double header on Tuesday (July 22) and a single clash on Wednesday (July 23), with the England, West Indies, India, South Africa and Australia teams all involved.
Tuesday sees a double header, with England taking on the West Indies at 12.30pm and then India doing battle with South Africa at 4.30pm.
Wednesday then sees the West Indies return to action as they face Australia (4.30pm) – and supporters can secure admission to that one free of charge (details below).
The England squad includes 2019 World Cup winning captain Eoin Morgan as well as the likes of Moeen Ali, Alastair Cook Ian Bell, Liam Plunkett and Samit Patel - with a certain Ravi Bopara also pencilled in to play.
The Steelbacks all-rounder isn't the only Northants man involved either, with the England squad also containing for County batter Usman Afzaal.
Other ex-Northants players scheduled to play are Richard Levi, who is in the South Africa squad along with Wayne Parnell, and Chris Lynn who could turn out for Australia.
Other legends of the game due to be involved include the likes of Chris Gayle, Kieron Pollard, Dwayne Bravo Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Shannon Gabriel and Fidel Edwards for the West Indies.
The South Africa squad is led by AB de Villiers and also includes Hashim Amla, Chris Morris, JP Duminy and Dane Vilas, with India due to field the likes of Yuvraj Singh, Shikhar Dhawan, Harbhajan Singh and Suresh Raina.
As for Australia, they are led by Brett Lee, with the squad also including Shaun Marsh, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Peter Siddle and Dan Christian.
The tournament actually starts this Friday, with matches over the weekend at Edgbaston, before the games in Northampton next midweek.
There are then matches at Headingley and Grace Road, before Edgbaston hosts the semi-finals and final on July 31 and August 2.
Tickets for the double header at the County Ground on Tuesday are priced at £20 for adults and £7 for juniors, while tickets for the match the following day are priced the same, although a limited number are available for free, using the promotional code WCLFREE on the nccc website.
Tickets are are available here https://nccc.ticketco.events/uk/en/e/wcl_group_stage_2025
England squad: Eoin Morgan, Moeen Ali, Alastair Cook, Ian Bell, Ravi Bopara, Samit Patel, Liam Plunkett, Chris Tremlett, Ajmal Shahzad, Dimitri Mascarenhas, Phil Mustard, Tim Ambrose, Ryan Sidebottom, Stuart Meaker, Usman Afzaal
West Indies squad: Chris Gayle, Kieron Pollard, Dwayne Bravo, Lendl Simmons, Dwayne Smith, Sheldon Cottrell, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Chadwick Walton, Shannon Gabriel, Ashley Nurse, Fidel Edwards, William Perkins, Sulieman Benn, Dave Mohammed, Nikita Miller
India squad: Yuvraj Singh, Shikhar Dhawan, Harbhajan Singh, Suresh Raina, Irfan Pathan, Yusuf Pathan, Robin Uthappa, Ambati Rayudu, Piyush Chawla, Stuart Binny, Varun Aaron, Vinay Kumar, Abhimanyu Mithun, Siddarth Kaul, Gurkeerat Maan
South Africa squad: AB de Villiers, Hashim Amla, Chris Morris, Albie Morkel, JP Duminy, Imran Tahir, Wayne Parnell, JJ Smuts, Hardus Viljoen, Richard Levi, Dane Vilas, SJ Erwee, Duanne Olivier, Morne van Wyk, Aaron Phangiso
Australia squad: Brett Lee, Shaun Marsh, Chris Lynn, Moises Henriques, Ben Cutting, D'Arcy Short, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Peter Siddle, Callum Ferguson, Dan Christian, Ben Dunk, Steve O'Keefe, Rob Quiney, John Hastings