Northamptonshire County Cricket Club is one of eighteen first-class county clubs within the domestic cricket structure of England and Wales. It represents the historic county of Northamptonshire and fields both men's and women's teams. The men's limited-overs team is known as the Northants Steelbacks, while the women's side competes as Northamptonshire Steelbacks Women. The Steelbacks name is a reference to the Northamptonshire Regiment, which was formed in 1881. The name was supposedly a tribute to the soldiers' apparent indifference to the harsh discipline imposed by their officers.Club History: Why the Steelbacks? northantscricket.co.uk Retrieved 30 June 2010. The club's modern Steelbacks branding is used across its white-ball, women's, pathway and disability teams.
Founded in 1878, Northamptonshire (Northants) held minor status at first but was a prominent member of the early Minor Counties Championship during the 1890s. In 1905, the club joined the County Championship and was elevated to first-class status, since when the men's team has played in every top-level domestic cricket competition in England.
The Northamptonshire women's team first entered the national women's county structure in 2001. Following the restructuring of women's domestic cricket, the side became part of the new ECB county structure as Northamptonshire Steelbacks Women for the 2025 season, competing in League 2 of the Women's T20 Blast and Women's One-Day Cup, as well as the knockout Women's T20 County Cup. The women's side is coached by former Northamptonshire men's head coach David Ripley, with Gemma Marriott captaining the Twenty20 team and Anisha Patel the 50-over side.
The club plays the majority of its matches at the cinch County Ground, Northampton. The men's side has also used outgrounds at Kettering, Wellingborough, Rushden and Peterborough (historically part of Northamptonshire, but currently governed with Cambridgeshire), as well as grounds outside the county for one-day matches, including Luton, Tring and Milton Keynes. The women's team also plays home fixtures at the cinch County Ground and at outgrounds around Northamptonshire.
In 2026, a company led by Brixworth Cricket Club and supported by the Steelbacks Foundation acquired Brixworth's Northampton Road ground as part of a wider facilities strategy for cricket in the county. The partnership is intended to expand facilities and playing opportunities, particularly for women's and girls' cricket, disability cricket and Northamptonshire's player pathway.
History
Earliest cricket Cricket had probably reached Northamptonshire by the end of the 17th century and the first two references to cricket in the county are within a few days of each other in 1741. On Monday 10 August, there was a match at Woburn Park between a Bedfordshire XI and a combined Northants and Huntingdonshire XI.Waghorn (1899), p27. Woburn Cricket Club under the leadership of the Duke of Bedford was on the point of becoming a well known club. On Tuesday 18 August, a match played on the Cow Meadow near Northampton between two teams of amateurs from Northamptonshire and Buckinghamshire is the earliest known instance of cricket being played in Northamptonshire county.
Origin of club On 31 July 1878, the official formation of Northants CCC took place at a meeting in the George Hotel, Kettering based on an existing organisation that dated back to 1820. The 1820 date, if it could be verified, would make Northants the oldest club in the present-day County Championship. The club came to prominence in the Minor Counties Championship during the 1890s as, between 1900 and 1904, the bowling of George Thompson and William East was much too good for almost all batsmen at that level. The county applied for first-class status in 1904 and was promoted the following year when it joined the County Championship. They played its inaugural first-class match versus Hampshire CCC at Southampton on 18, 19 & 20 May 1905 when making its County Championship debut.
Stepping up to first-class Although Thompson and East proved themselves to be bowlers of high class, a weak batting line-up meant that the team remained close to the bottom of the championship table until Sydney Smith arrived in 1909. After three years in the middle of the table, Northants surprisingly improved to finish second in 1912 and fourth in 1913. Thompson, Smith and William "Bumper" Wells formed one of the strongest attacks in county cricket at the time, whilst Smith and Haywood were the county's best batsmen.
Thompson and Smith finished playing after World War I and, during the inter-war period, Northamptonshire were regularly one of the weaker championship sides. This was exacerbated when Vallance Jupp declined due to age and, despite the arrival of Nobby Clark, a young left arm fast bowler from Huntingdonshire who burst onto the scene at the age of 20 in 1922 with 20 wickets at an average of 17.10 and Fred Bakewell, an exciting batsman who regularly exceeded 1000 runs a season, Northamptonshire could only finish above second from last four times between 1923 and 1948, finishing last every year from 1934 to 1938 and enduring a run of 99 matches from 14 May 1935 to 29 May 1939 without a single championship victory, a record that has never been beaten. Things got worse for Northamptonshire during this time when Bakewell's career ended due to a broken arm in a car crash that also resulted in the fatality of teammate, Reginald Northway.
The post-war recovery After the Second World War, things could only get better for Northamptonshire and they started by recruiting widely from other counties and countries, bringing in Freddie Brown from Surrey; the Australians Jock Livingston, George Tribe, and Jack Manning; the New Zealander Peter Arnold; and the Cambridge University opening bat and leg-spinner Raman Subba Row. Brown joined as captain in 1949, and led the team to sixth place in his first season after previous years of disappointment.1949 County Championship table CricketArchive. Retrieved 30 October 2009 Under the new leadership of Dennis Brookes (a stalwart batsman for over 20 years), finished second in 1957, their best finish for 45 years. The club's outstanding players at that time were wicket-keeper Keith Andrew and fast bowler Frank Tyson.
Subsequently, the club has seen mixed fortunes. The club has had intermittent success in one-day competitions, but it has still not won the County Championship, although second place was achieved in each of 1957, 1965 and 1976. Nonetheless, it has included several famous players qualified for England, including the South African-born batsman Allan Lamb; fast bowler David Larter; the hard hitting opener Colin Milburn, whose career was cut tragically short by an eye injury sustained in a car crash; the reliable batsmen David Steele and Rob Bailey; opening batsman Wayne Larkins; and all-rounders Peter Willey and David Capel.
Several notable overseas players such as Matthew Hayden, Curtly Ambrose, André Nel, Kapil Dev, Mike Hussey, Sarfraz Nawaz, Mushtaq Mohammad, Anil Kumble, Dennis Lillee and Bishen Bedi have starred for the club, which was particularly formidable as a one-day batting outfit in the late 1970s and early 1980s. More recently, Lance Klusener and Monty Panesar have been notable players.
Northants have recently been criticised for the number of Kolpak players in the team, but for the 2009 season there were only three in Andrew Hall, Johan van der Wath and Nicky Boje, and only one in 2013 in Hall.
White ball success
Northamptonshire have played in the domestic T20 Blast competition since its inaugural season in 2003. They play as the Northants Steeelbacks, taking their nickname from the Northamptonshire Regiment.
Under the captaincy of Alex Wakely they first won the competition in 2013, defeating Surrey by 102 runs (D/L). This was the first white ball trophy won by the county since 1992. After finishing runners up to Lancashire in the 2015 edition, the Steelbacks once again won the competition in 2016, defeating Durham by 4 wickets. Following a semi-final defeat in 2025, Northamptonshire won their third Blast title in 2026, defeating Hampshire by 14 runs in the final.
Honours and achievements
First XI: Honours/Achievements County Championship (1905–1999) Runners-up (4): 1912, 1957, 1965, 1976
CC Division One (From 2000) Best placing - 6th: 2022
CC Division Two (From 2000) Winners (1) - 2000 Runners-up (3): 2003, 2013, 2019 T20 Blast Winners (3) – 2013, 2016, 2026 Runners-up (1): 2015 National League/Pro40 Division One Runners-up (1): 2006 Division Two Runners-up (1): 1999 3rd place/promoted (1): 2003 Midlands Counties Knockout Cup Winners (1): 1962 NatWest Trophy Winners (2) – 1976, 1992 Runners-up (5): 1979, 1981, 1987, 1990, 1995 Benson and Hedges Cup Winners (1) – 1980 Runners-up (2): 1987, 1996 Minor Counties Championship Winners (2) – 1903, 1904 Shared (2): 1899, 1900
Second XI: Honours Second XI Championship Winners (2) – 1960, 1998
Second XI Trophy Winners (2) – 1986, 1998
Records
Most first-class runs for Northamptonshire Qualification – 20,000 runs Player RunsDennis Brookes 28,980Geoff Cook 20,976John Timms 20,433Wayne Larkins 20,317Rob Bailey 20,181Allan Lamb 20,128
Most first-class wickets for Northamptonshire Qualification – 800 wickets Player WicketsNobby Clark 1,102Vallance Jupp 1,078George Thompson 1,078George Tribe 1,021Albert Thomas 817Brian Crump 807
Team totals Record Score Opposition Venue Year LinkHighest total for781–7 declaredNottinghamshireNorthampton1995Highest total against673–8 declaredYorkshireHeadingley2003Lowest total for12GloucestershireBristol1907Lowest total against33LancashireNorthampton1977
Batting PlayerInformationHighest scoresHighest score for Northamptonshire CricketArchive. Retrieved 18 September 20091. Mike Hussey2. Mike Hussey3. Mal Loye331* v .Somerset, County Ground, Taunton, 2003329* v. Essex, County Ground, Northampton, 2001322* v. Glamorgan, County Ground, Northampton, 1998Most runs in seasonMost Runs in a Season for Northamptonshire CricketArchive. Retrieved 18 September 20091. Dennis Brookes2. Norman Oldfield3. Mike Hussey2,198, 19522,192, 19492,055, 2001
Record partnership for each wicket Wicket Score Batting partners Opposition Venue Year Link1st375R A White & M J PowellGloucestershireNorthampton20022nd344G Cook & R J Boyd-MossLancashireNorthampton19863rd393A Fordham & A J LambYorkshireLeeds19904th370R T Virgin & P WilleySomersetNorthampton19765th401M B Loye & D RipleyGlamorganNorthampton19986th376R Subba Row & A LightfootSurreyThe Oval19587th298*S A Zaib & J BroadKentCanterbury20258th179A J Hall & J D MiddlebrookSurreyThe Oval20119th156R Subba Row & S StarkieLancashireNorthampton195510th148B W Bellamy & J V MurdinGlamorganNorthampton1925
Bowling PlayerInformationBest bowling (innings)Most Wickets in an Innings for Northamptonshire CricketArchive. Retrieved 19 September 20091. Vallance Jupp2. Albert Thomas3. Vincent Broderick10–127 v. Kent, Nevill Ground, Tunbridge Wells, 19329–30 v. Yorkshire, Park Avenue, Bradford, 19209–35 v. Sussex, Cricketfield Road, Horsham, 1948Best bowling (match)Most Wickets in a Match for Northamptonshire CricketArchive. Retrieved 19 September 20091. George Tribe2. Vallance Jupp3. George Tribe15–31 v. Yorkshire, County Ground, Northampton, 195815–52 v. Glamorgan, St Helen's, Swansea, 192515–75 v. Yorkshire, Park Avenue, Bradford, 1955Most wickets in seasonMost Wickets in a Season for Northamptonshire CricketArchive. Retrieved 19 September 20091. George Tribe2. George Thompson3. Nobby Clark175, 1955148, 1913141, 1929
Wicket-keeping