Ones to Watch: Conner Haddow

Buckinghamshire’s success over the past two seasons has been very much a collaborative team effort but slow left-armer Conner Haddow has emerged as one of their stand-out individual performers. 

Having taken 22 wickets to help Buckinghamshire clinch the Eastern Division Two title and promotion in 2022 he has taken 25 more wickets this season to take them to the top of Eastern Division One and a final showdown with Devon. 

Only Hertfordshire’s Ben Waring and Staffordshire’s Tom Brett, two more slow left-armers – have taken more wickets but neither as cheaply as Haddow’s average of 14.92 per wicket. 

The 23-year-old began the Durant Cricket National Counties Championship season with a ten wicket match haul to set up victory over Norfolk at Tring and followed up with a career-best six for 97 in the second innings of the victory over Staffordshire at West Bromwich Dartmouth having taken three without conceding a run at the end of the first innings. 

Haddow will return to West Bromwich Dartmouth for the final hoping to help Buckinghamshire avenge a defeat at Exmouth in the 2006 final, which the last time they faced Devon in the competition. 

He will also be hoping that his efforts this season have been noted by scouts from the first-class counties having trialled extensively with Northamptonshire between 2017 and 2019 while he was on the Academy at Wantage Road. 

Haddow, who plays his club cricket for High Wycombe, also played against Worcestershire and Derbyshire last season for Oxford UCCE and for the National Counties representative side in their annual match against MCC at Banbury.