Contracted players give National Counties boost says Kettleborough

Staffordshire’s new captain James Kettleborough believes that the presence of contracted county players in the opening rounds of the National Counties T20 competition reflects the strength and professionalism of National Counties cricket. 

Although only two double-headers in last Sunday’s opening round of matches survived the weather they saw Nottinghamshire and England all-rounder Samit Patel make his debut for defending champions Oxfordshire in a side that also included Sussex batter Harrison Ward against  Buckinghamshire with Northamptonshire batter Saif Zaib at the top of the order. 

Ross Whiteley also made his first appearance for Dorset alongside his Hampshire team-mate Joe Eckland against a Herefordshire attack containing Northamptonshire leg-spinner Alex Russell. 

Rain prevented Nottinghamshire off-spinner Matt Carter making his debut for Cheshire and Durham all-rounder Luke Doneathy being blooded by Northumberland but Carter is again in Cheshire’s squad for this Sunday’s trip to Shifnal to face Shropshire while Worcestershire batter Kashif Ali will play for Bedfordshire against Oxfordshire at Dunstable. 

Meanwhile the experienced Kettleborough and Staffordshire will face Doneathy and his Durham team-mate George Drissell – another National Counties debutant - in their Group One double at the South Northumberland club in Gosforth. 

“The obvious shift since National Counties cricket restarted after Covid is that there has been a really big shift towards professionalism, which is great,” Kettleborough said. 

“It replicates the first-class game as best we can and there is an emphasis on the development of young players. 

“There are more current county players playing National Counties cricket - certainly the white ball competitions -  than I have noticed before with contracted players keen to get some cricket under their belts. 

“That’s exciting, it raises the standard and it gives the opportunity for young players to learn from them. 

“So, you have a good blend of getting the young players in and making the most of the experienced players that you have in your ranks. 

“The set-up is brilliant. It’s another platform for players to put themselves out there, to impress coaches and other people. 

“At one point last year at Bedfordshire we had Kashif Ali playing for us, along with Gus Miller who is contracted to Northants, Alex Wakely who had a long county career and Charlie Thurston who was also with Northamptonshire, so we had a really strong batting group.” 

Having scored heavily for Bedfordshire either side of spells in the first-class game with Northamptonshire and Glamorgan, Kettleborough is now looking forward to leading Staffordshire having taken the difficult decision to switch counties during the winter, 

“I’ve lived in the area for a couple of years and I’ve been playing for Checkley in the North Staffordshire & South Cheshire League. As soon as I moved, playing for Staffordshire was naturally one of the things that people asked me about,” Kettleborough said. 

“I always brushed it off as I was loyal to still playing for Bedfordshire. I had a couple of seasons where I was travelling back to play for Bedfordshire and I was still really enjoying my cricket but eventually all the travel started to wear me down. 

“I had a few conversations with Staffordshire and the opportunity to captain the county as well really got me thinking and I was very excited by that. 

“I grew up in Bedfordshire, I went to school at Bedford, I played age group cricket all the way through to senior first team and I got to play with some of my best mates in the first team over the years.  

“My dad used to play for Bedfordshire which was something that I was incredibly proud of so making the decision to leave was really difficult.  

“There were times when I was getting so frustrated with myself because I couldn’t make the decision. But after I had conversations with some close mates of mine it actually made the decision quite a bit clearer and easier for me.” 

Having made the decision to join Staffordshire one of Kettleborough’s first task was to persuade Tom Brett, another former Northamptonshire player and Bedfordshire stalwart, to follow him to fill the gap left by the retirement of slow left-armer Paul Byrne at the end of last season. 

“Tom still lives in Northamptonshire and it was tricky to convince him because one of the reasons I left Bedfordshire was the travel. So, to ask him to come to Staffs and make that journey was difficult,” Kettleborough said. 

“But the environment we are trying to create and the squad that we are putting together is exciting for everybody to see and it was something that he wanted to be part of. 

“Hopefully we can compete for some silverware. Both Tom and me are at that stage of our careers where we want to be part of a winning side. Hopefully we are able to do that with Staffordshire. 

“He’s fully on board, he’s been made really welcome by the lads.” 

Staffordshire have also recruited seamer Liam Hurt, who was released by Lancashire at the end of last season, to add depth to a squad that Kettleborough believes has the potential to challenge for honours despite under- achieving last season. 

“Berkshire have been pretty formidable for the last five or six years and they are the model for the other National Counties to follow,” Kettleborough said. 

“We have a talented group of players and it’s the job of myself and Andy Carr, our new coach, to get the best out of those players. 

“There has not been a huge change in personnel. We have been clear with them and asked them: What do they want and what do we need to do to get the best out of them. 

“We’ve worked closely with all the lads to create the right environment - which we think we have done -  it’s just a case of now going out on the field and hopefully translating that into success. 

“I’m sure if you talk to Berkshire about the foundations for their success they will say that it’s not something that happened overnight. We certainly we feel that we are heading in the right direction and we have every chance of competing this season.”