White Contemplates Spin Options for Northants Clash

All-rounder Dawson bowls during Hampshire's draw with Leicestershire at The Ageas Bowl

Full squad and match preview for Hampshire's LV= County Championship match against Northamptonshire at Wantage Road starting on Wednesday

Northamptonshire v Hampshire
LV= County Championship
Wed 2 – Sat 5 May (11am start)
Wantage Road, Northampton

Hampshire travel to Wantage Road to take on Northamptonshire in the next round of their LV= County Championship campaign, starting on Wednesday.

They arrive on the back of two good performances – a victory over Glamorgan and a rain-affected draw with Leicestershire having manoeuvred themselves into a strong position. Meanwhile, the hosts have struggled, suffering defeats by an innings and 120 runs against Kent and by 202 runs to Derbyshire.

Nevertheless, it won’t be an easy fixture for Giles White’s side, who haven’t played a First Class match against this opposition since 2003 and will have to face them this time without captain Jimmy Adams who continues to miss out for personal reasons.

Apart from that, the squad remains the same as that which faced Leicestershire, with England International Danny Briggs available to come back into the side if they see an a specialist spinner being able to continue the success of Liam Dawson (who took a career-best 5-29 in the last match with his slow left arm deliveries), and James Tomlinson providing an additional seam option.

For Northants, captain Andrew Hall is expected to return having missed the start of the season with a calf injury.

He comes back to boost an already strong squad that includes the likes of former Hampshire player Chaminda Vaas and England Lions player Jack Brooks.

Hampshire manager, White said; “They’re a good side. They’ve challenged the last few seasons. They’ve been at the top and they missed out [on promotion] by a point last year. They’ve got a number of danger players and they’ll be looking to put in a good performance and get a result so we’ve got to play well up there.

“I think [Danny Briggs’ and Liam Dawson’s spin bowling] gives us options as much as anything else. We can look at conditions and pick a side accordingly. It was encouraging the way Liam bowled. It was something we highlighted at the end of the year that, if he was to become an all-rounder, it adds an awful lot to this squad and, credit to him, he’s put in the hard work.”

To hear more of this interview click on the audio below:

Full Squad:

(3) Simon Katich*	(18) David Griffiths
(7) Sean Ervine	(19) Danny Briggs
(8) Liam Dawson	(21) James Tomlinson
(10) Sean Terry	(25) Chris Wood
(14) James Vince	(38) Hamza Riazuddin
(15) Michael Carberry	(84) David Balcombe
(16) Michael Bates⁺

Keep Up:

Live text commentary will be available for this match. Visit Hampshire Cricket’s Facebook and Twitter pages for all the major incidents as they happen. Out and about? Fancy keeping up to date on your mobile phone? You can get live updates sent direct to you by texting "FOLLOW @hantscricket" to 86444 (charges may apply).

Live audio commentary for the match will be broadcast on the Internet by the volunteer team of commentators attached to the Northampton Association for the Blind. To listen in, please click www.northantscricket.com/commentary.

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Words: Simon Vincent
Images: LMI Photography

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