Dissecting ‘Dazball’: A Closer Look At Northamptonshire’s Batting Approach
TCCP Co-Founder Joe Nuttall takes a closer look at Northamptonshire's improved batting displays since the Opening Round of the 2025 County Championship
Northamptonshire’s batting struggles in the first week of the County Championship were well documented.
Darren Lehmann’s side struggled immensely to find any sort of momentum with the bat in hand at home to Kent, eventually getting bowled out for scores of 143 and 114.
Their new head coach was unsurprisingly critical of his side’s approach in this department, explaining that he “would expect us to get a lot closer [to their target] than 114 all out”.
One of Northants’ issues in that opening round was their modes of dismissal, with three players getting out bowled by leaving the ball straight onto the stumps.
This was something that seemed to frustrate Lehmann quite significantly, with the former Australian international expressing that “bats nowadays cost about 500 quid, you've got to start using them”.
Whilst this proved to be a harsh wake up call for Lehmann in his new role, the foundation of Northants’ batting line-up has shown just how strong it can be in the weeks that have followed.
The experienced Luke Proctor, who racked up a fantastic 150 in Round Three against Derbyshire, is the figurehead at the top of the order, whilst the dynamic Ricardo Vasconcelos, who himself caught the eye with a quickfire 82 in that same game in Derby, partners him in a formidable opening pairing.
Further down the order meanwhile, the spine of the batting core includes a number of exciting names such as young talent James Sales, seasoned campaigner Rob Keogh, and the in-form Saif Zaib, who has showcased his ability to rack up huge totals in fine fashion in recent weeks, scoring back-to-back centuries against Lancashire and Derbyshire respectively.
Whilst the unit looks promising on paper, cricket is a sport that needs a sense of adaptation, and after Northants’ dismal display in the first round of matches, it’s fair to say they did just that in their next fixture against Lancashire.
Admittedly, the pitch and conditions at Old Trafford favoured the batting side, with the sun out and the pitch flat and hard, but the key thing that stood out to me was the positivity with which Northants approached their innings right from the get-go.
At the start of the innings, there was clear intent from Procter and Vasconcelos to rotate the strike right away and look to be more aggressive, picking up quick singles in the ring as and whenever they could.
I also thought that they left the ball a lot better following their shaky showing against Kent at Wantage Road, displaying far more discipline when leaving the ball alone and being wary not to do so when the line strayed too close to the off-stump.
Instead, the batters seemed happy to smother the good deliveries, perhaps with the words of Lehmann’s post-match comments from the previous encounter still weighing on their mind.
Of course, you always risk bringing the outside edge into play should the ball move laterally with this approach, but it was a risk-reward scenario that was well worth taking for Northants, who ultimately ended up amassing 496 runs in 143 overs against a tired and often times frustrated Lancashire bowling attack.
In many ways, it was an admirably disciplined display of batting and one that helped them set a brilliant platform, something which they failed to do in any way, shape or form in Round One.
The other aspect that’s been so impressive in recent performances has been the contribution of regular runs from multiple sources right the way through their innings.
Against Kent in the home opener, Rob Keogh and George Bartlett were the only players with half-centuries across both innings, with the pair scoring 64 and 60 not out, respectively.
That was certainly not the issue against Lancashire or Derbyshire though.
At Old Trafford for example, Zaib scored a magnificent 116, whilst Sales and wicketkeeper-bat Lewis McManus both got scores in the 90s, and captain Procter and Notts loanee Calvin Harrison reached half-centuries.
It was a similar story in the East Midlands Derby at The County Ground too, with Procter and Vasconcelos putting on a show with a sizeable 143 run opening stand which was supported superbly by significant batting efforts from the entertaining middle order trio of Zaib, Keogh and Justin Broad.
This consistency of runs throughout the order in both Manchester and Derby was absolutely vital; it put them in a strong position at the end of their first, and only, innings in both encounters, and had poor weather not played a part, the county could have been in a great position to go and win both games given their huge tally of 996 runs across the two batting performances.
Not bad for a side who had a combined total of 257 runs in two disappointing innings across the first three days of the 2025 season.
In conclusion, the past two weeks have shown a much-improved side to Northamptonshire’s batting unit, who took the attack to the Derbyshire and Lancashire bowlers excellently.
Their ability to lay a solid platform and play positive cricket in the opening overs really stood out, as did the efficient way in which their middle-order batters capitalised on the strong start that they made.
After the well-documented batting woes in Round One, Northants have really turned things around in their last two fixtures, something which will give great confidence to Head Coach Lehmann as he looks to implement his own individual style with the group over the course of the season.
Both his and the wider club’s focus will be to build on that strong foundation and put themselves in the best possible position to notch up their first win of the campaign heading into their difficult trip up the M1 to Grace Road in the Fifth Round.
Article written by Joe Nuttall