County Cricket: Northants Blast Off!

 The Vitality Blast was launched last week with seemingly muted fanfare. 2025 sees relatively few overseas superstars joining the counties for an occasional batting cameo or a couple of wickets. The New Zealand trio of Williamson, Neesham and Santner didn’t exactly set the game alight this week, and the one outstanding performance came from an English regular of the county circuit. 

Twenty20 in this county tends to be a completely unpredictable affair, with unlikely stars and even more unlikely winners. In the North division, it is Northamptonshire enjoying the success of a 4-game 100|% record and a red-ball specialist, Keaton Jennings, the highest scorer to date. His 95 for Lancashire against Nottinghamshire is the highest individual mark so far, coming from only 49 balls. In that match, he shared an opening stand of 177 with Luke Wells, for whom the Blast was surely made.

 Other all-rounders fared quite well. Dvid Willey has returned to Northamptonshire, contributing eight wickets and 133 runs. Sam Curran had his moments for Surrey, young James Coles (Sussex) biffed some useful boundaries while Hampshire’s Liam Dawson may well have added to his four wickets had he not been swiped by England. Veterans Samit Patel and Ravi Bopara each crunched an unbeaten eighty-something and Jimmy Anderson proved that a class bowler can succeed in any format, even in his forties. 

The Bears’ Sam Hain maintained his Championship batting form at a super rate of knots, and his fellow Bear – neither Warwickshire nor Birmingham – Alex Davies was the ‘keeper-batsman of the week. Jason Roy seemed happier in his T20 domain. Having bagged a pair for Surrey last week, he opened his 2025 Vitality account with a 92. 

However, the ace performer must be 36-year-old seamer Ben Sanderson. Before Friday, he already had a 4-15 to his name, against Leicestershire, but he managed to snatch four wickets in ONE OVER! Worcestershire were by this stage already beaten but he polished things off with a hat-trick from the very last ball of the innings.

Behind them, Lancashire and Leicestershire each have three victories, but the latter defeated the former by five wickets when they met at Old Trafford. At the other end of the table, Derbyshire and Yorkshire have yet to get off the mark. The most prolific runfest was witnessed at Trent Bridge where Jack Haynes’ magnificent 89 not out helped chase down the Bears’ target of 227 with five balls to spare. 

In the South, Somerset and Hampshire have the only 100% records to date. Matt Henry and Riley Meredith have been the pick of a useful attack, and the top order, even without Banton, has done enough to win all three games batting second. Hampshire’s most decisive performance was their 106-run battering of Essex, featuring excellent bowling by Scott Currie and Dawson. 

Next week, Northants face Lancashire, Durham and the Bears, and one of the highlights must be Somerset’s trip up the A38 to Bristol for the West Country derby.

Team of the Week:- Jennings (Lan), Roy (Sur), Davies (War +), Hain (War), Haynes (Not), S Curran (Sur), Coles (Sus), Willey (Nor), Bess (Yor), Currie (Ham), Sanderson (Nor)