Northamptonshire are on the road for the first time this season as they travel to Canterbury to take on Kent in search of their first win.
After a thrilling and unlikely draw against Lancashire last weekend, where George Bartlett batted heroically for four and a half hours in the Easter Monday sun to defy a James Anderson led Red Rose, Darren Lehmann’s side turn their attention to Kent.
Justin Broad remains sidelined with a minor back problem whilst Raphy Weatherall will be in the squad for Gus Miller after missing out on the opening match as he returns from a long-term injury. There are no fresh injury concerns for Darren Lehmann after the Lancashire match.
On a weekend where most counties opened their campaigns with draws across Division 2, Friday’s opponents, Kent, also shared the spoils as they drew with Durham in a heavily weather affected match. Tawanda Muyeye kicked off his season with an impressive 109 on the final day to halt Durham’s late victory charge with the ball.
Northamptonshire sit one point and one place above their opponents in fifth with twelve points. Their impressive third day with the ball last week, bowling Lancashire out for 194 as they hauled themselves back into the contest, ensured they earned enough bowling points to keep them above the Canterbury outfit.
Play will get underway at 11am with lunch at 1pm and tea at 3:40pm. There are 96 overs scheduled for each day. All four days of the fixture will be live streamed on Kent’s YouTube channel.
Northamptonshire squad to face Kent:
Luke Procter (c), George Bartlett, Harry Conway, Liam Guthrie, Calvin Harrison, Louis Kimber, Lewis McManus (wk), Nathan McSweeney, James Sales, Ben Sanderson, Ricardo Vasconcelos, Raphy Weatherall, Saif Zaib
We spoke to Darren Lehmann about his reflections on last week’s season opener, team selection and the challenge of facing Kent.
Opponent preview:
Kent
Previewed by Fred Atkins, ECB Reporters Network, supported by Rothesay
Captain: Daniel Bell-Drummond
Head Coach: Adam Hollioake
2025 finish: 8th
2025 highest run-scorer: Ben Compton (1,386)
2025 highest wicket-taker: Matt Parkinson (35)
Key winter moves: Domestically there are no entirely new faces, but Sam Northeast and Matt Milnes both return. Aside from Nathan Gilchrist, who joined Warwickshire, Kent kept everyone they wanted to after a summer spent worrying that Tawanda Muyeye, Joey Evison and Grant Stewart might leave. The overseas contingent is entirely South African: Keith Dudgeon returns for the season, joined by Glenton Stuurman for the first phase and Senuran Muthusamy from May onwards.