Centuries for Rob Newton and Josh Cobb capped off a productive first day of first class cricket at The County Ground this year.
After winning the toss and electing to bat, skipper Newton and Vasconcelos took to the Durham MCCU attack early, putting on 89 before Vasconcelos fell for 34. There’d be no further joy for the visitors for another 34 overs as Newton and Cobb combined to put on 152 for the second wicket.
A minor niggle stopped Newton joining the team at Trent Bridge last week, but he quickly made up for lost time, reaching his 14th first class century and finishing with 118.
“It was a good hit out, I’ve been wrapped in cotton wool a little bit for the last week so nice to get some runs under the belt today.” he said.
Cobb followed in his captain’s footsteps to post first-class century number 4, his first for the club, before eventually retiring at tea on 139. Looking dominant at times and launching six sixes in his innings, Cobb said a red-ball hundred had been a long time coming.
“It’s always good to score runs, especially in red ball for me to get out there and score a hundred it’s bit of confidence going into the season.
We’ve got a sixes award here and a few lads have been trying to go for it this year so it’s nice to have a 6 point headstart going into the rest of the season.”
Runs flowed all day for the home side with Rob Keogh also passing 50 as Northamptonshire finished the day on 481 for 7.
“It was a great day, really nice pitch, nice weather it’s great for those lads to get stuck in and then kick on and get 3 figures, I’m delighted.” Assistant First Team Coach Phil Rowe said.
“Josh’s been a bit light on red-ball runs over the last couple of seasons, but he’s wintered really well against the red ball in particular. His white-ball cricket has always been right in the top drawer, so he’s really put a focus on his red-ball cricket and I think today is the reward for the work he’s put in.”
Northamptonshire 481 for 7 (Cobb 139, Newton 118, Keogh 67). View the full scorecard.
Play resumes tomorrow at 11am, entry is free or watch online at nccc.co.uk/stream.