Taylor backing misfiring batters to steer Steelbacks into One Day Cup knockout stages

But it's fair to say the County's batters are going to have to rediscover their magic touch, and quickly - starting in Friday's scheduled Grpup B clash with table-toppers Warwickshire at Edgbaston (start 11am).

Aside from Shaw's remarkable form that saw him hammer 429 runs at an average of 143 in his four innings, including a record 244 against Somerset, Taylor has been the only other shining star, hitting 264 runs at 88, including two centuries.

They are currently placed one and four in the national averages for the competition.

Between them, Shaw and Taylor have clubbed 693 runs in eight innings at 115.5, hitting four centuries - but what about the rest?

Well, it makes for grim reading, with the seven other top order batters used in this season's competition having amassed just 539 runs between them, at an average of 18.6.

The next best after Taylor is Ricardo Vasconcelos's 114 runs at 28.50, with Lewis McManus an Sam Whiteman the only two of those players to pass 50, on one occasion apiece.

Shaw was diagnosed with a tournament-ending knee injury ahead of Wednesday's seven-wicket defeat at the hands of Worcestershire, and Taylor admitted the loss of the 23-year-old is a big disappointment for Northants.

But he insists the talent is in the dressing room to cover his departure.

“Of course that’s a big blow, it would be for any team losing a guy that's just gone and got nearly 500," said Taylor. "But we've got so much batting talent.

"If you look at our top seven, it could go up against any in the country I feel for talent and runs.

"We're just not performing at the minute, but it’s someone's day soon.

"There's a lot of guys up there that are absolutely crazy to get some runs, so hopefully, the next game is the one."

The weather forecast is not great for Birmingham with rain expected, but if the game does go ahead, Taylor is looking forward to taking on a Bears side that has won five out of five so far.

The former Leicestershire man is targeting a place in the knockout stages, and knows a win at Edgbaston would go a long way to securing that with matches against struggling Derbyshire and Glamorgan to come.

“It would be great to go to Edgbaston and beat Warwickshire and that's definitely the aim for the next game and then you never know," said Taylor.

"The target is to go on and try and win the group and try and get a home semi-final.

"We definitely wnat to qualify and try and get into some knockout cricket. That's the aim of the club.”

Northants are fourth in Group B, two points behind second-placed Gloucestershire and third-placed Worcestershire, but with a game in hand on both. They are four points behind Warwickshire.

The Group B winners go straight into the semi-finals and will have home advantage, with those in second and third going into play-offs with the second and third-placed finishers in Group A for the other two last four spots.

The County finish their group campaign with a home date against Derbyshire on Sunday, and then a trip to Cardiff to take on Glamorgan on Tuesday.

Northants Steelbacks squad v Warwickshire: McManus, Broad, Gay, Keogh, Kerrigan, Procter, Russell, Sales, Sanderson, Taylor, Vasconcelos, J White, Whiteman

Warwickshire squad: Barnard, Bethell, Booth, E Brookes, H Brookes, Burgess, Hannon-Dalby, Lintott, Miles, Rhodes, Shaikh, Smith, Yates