New red-ball captain Adam Rossington says his side still has belief they can be promoted to Division 1 of the Specsavers County Championship this season following their record-breaking win against Sussex on Tuesday.
Taking over leadership duties after the mid-season resignation of Alex Wakely, Rossington has already made his mark with a few attacking and eye-catching fields in his two matches at the wheel.
“It’s been good so far, nice to get that first win of the season and hopefully we can kick on from there.” Rossington said.
“We haven’t taken 20 wickets up until this week, so it was about trying to find a way to take those wickets and force a result.”
Ben Sanderson stole the headlines with a career best match figures of 10 for 55, a performance Head Coach David Ripley felt had been coming for some time.
“That’s been coming, he’s beat the bat so many times in our other games. He’s not had the reward he deserves and he finally got that. He’s a fine bowler and been in good form all year, it was great to see him have his day.”
Northamptonshire came into the fixture at the bottom of Division 2 despite having only lost two games this season. Rain washed away positive positions against Durham and Leicestershire, but Rossington says spirits in the camp are high.
“The vibe’s good at the moment, it’s always nice to get a win and hopefully we can kick on from there with another good performance against Lancashire this week.
We’ve started to seize the key moments in games, we’ve held onto our catches and that helps. We fielded really well in that first innings and didn’t give anyone any chances.” he said.
Having bowled out Sussex for just 106 in the first innings and 105 in the second, Ripley was quick to heap praise on his bowling attack.
“Sando led the way but he had a lot of good support at the other end and that’s something we did better than Sussex I think. The support that Brett (Hutton) gave, Nathan (Buck) bowled really well, Procky (Luke Procter) chipped in with a wicket. I think that was the real difference in the game.” Ripley said.
The win jumps Northamptonshire to fifth in the table, just five points behind fourth and seventeen off the third promotion place, a spot Rossington says his squad still believe they can take.
“There’s still that belief that we can be promoted for sure, we know the position we’re in now we just need to keep winning. Hopefully we can take at least one of the next two games before the Blast, that keeps us in the hunt in the back end of the season.”
Northamptonshire’s next fixture sees them welcome Lancashire to The County Ground starting on Sunday the 7th of July. Save by buying tickets online in advance.