Ripley won't be pressing the panic button after Steelbacks defeat

After the first set of five matches had gone so well for Northants, winning four on the spin to go top of the table at the halfway stage, it was a sobering afternoon at the County Ground as Gloucestershire cruised to a deserved 35-run win.

It was a very flat performance from the County who had been so impressive in their previous matches, and saw Gloucester leapfrog them to go top of the pile.

Head coach David Ripley was disappointed with his team's showing, but felt there were mitigating circumstances following a challenging week due to the well-publicised Covid-19 drama that engulfed the club.

It meant none of the players could return to the ground for training until Thursday, and although not using that as an excuse, Ripley felt it did have an affect on some of his squad and that he isn't going to over-analyse what went wrong.

"We are not panicking, but we would have just liked to have played better on Friday against what I think is a really good side," said the head coach.

"It wouldn't surprise me at all if Gloucestershire are in the quarter-finals, so the match was a good benchmark for us but we just fell a little short.

"Somerset are another good side with a very good record yet we saw them off here, so we have played some good cricket and I don't think we should over-analyse things as long as there is some good honesty among the lads.

"We don't want to be making excuses, but I think we will have a little bit of sympathy for the week we have had, because it did disrupt our practice quite a lot.

"But we have to move on from that."

Northants fell short in all departments against Gloucestershire, aside from a couple of standout performances.

Luke Procter, playing his first T20 match of the season, impressed with bat and ball, while Graeme White was his usual consistent self, snaring three for 28 from his four overs of left arm spin.

Josh Cobb was also impressive with his off-spin, but it is with the bat where the skipper is having a bit of a sticky time.

Normally such a key cog in the Steelbacks' T20 batting machine, Cobb has managed just 67 runs - with 42 of those coming in the win against Somerset - at an average of 16.75.

He was bowled for a second ball duck as the Steelbacks lost to Gloucestershire, but Ripley has no doubt that the former Leicestershire man, twice a man-of-the-match winner in T20 Finals, will soon hit his batting straps.

Asked if he was concerned by Cobb's lack of runs, the head coach said: "I am not concerned because Josh smashed it in the inter-squad game we had, he smashed it in both innings in the friendly games against Leicestershire, so he has been hitting the ball well.

"But that is T20 cricket, and batting number three is a really tough place to bat.

"We changed it to accommodate Ricardo (Vasconcelos, who batted at three against Birmingham and Glamorgan), and he had to move down, so it has not been his normal season.

"But I think he has captained the side brilliantly, he has bowled brilliantly, and I am sure he will make a contribution somewhere with the bat."

The Steelbacks are quickly back into action as they take on Glamorgan at Cardiff on Sunday afternoon (2pm start) before playing their final home game of the group stages against Worecestershire Rapids on Tuesday (6.30pm).

They then travel to Taunton to face Somerset on Friday evening (5pm) before wrapping up the campaign with a trip to Edgbaston to play Birmingham Bears on Sunday, September 20 (1pm).