Northamptonshire County Cricket Club in 2005 are playing their cricket in Division Two of the County Championship and Division One of the totesport League. They started the season at 12–1 to win the Division Two title. During the off season 9 players left.
The season started with a thrashing dispensed to the students of Bradford/Leeds UCCE. Then they lost their first Sunday League match, a rain-affected affair against the Worcestershire Royals. The first Championship game was drawn against Leicestershire after Northants captain David Sales left the declaration too late. The second Sunday League match was won at Bristol, narrowly by 9 runs. Then they drew with Derbyshire in the Championship, before thrashing Hampshire on the Sunday.
On 3 May the Steelbacks booked their place in the second round of the C&G Trophy, thrashing Denmark in Brøndby. They then lost by 10 wickets in the Championship to Yorkshire before drawing with Essex. In the fourth round of the Sunday League, they were thoroughly outplayed by Lancashire.
On 17 May they beat Middlesex in the second round of the C&G Trophy, before looking on top but only getting a draw in a tour match against the Bangladeshis and losing to Somerset in the Championship despite scoring 408 in the first innings.
They drew their first match in June against Lancashire, before enduring a tough last-ball loss to Middlesex in the National League, and then drawing with league leaders Durham. Their first win in June came at home, beating Gloucestershire by five wickets in the National League, and they stretched that win streak to four, beating Gloucestershire and Warwickshire, both at home, before travelling to Worcestershire and winning that game too. With three initial victories, things looked promising for Northamptonshire in the Twenty20 Cup, and despite winning only one of their last five games – against Somerset at Taunton – they still finished top of the Midlands/Wales/West Division.
However, that poor patch of form continued into the other competitions. Essex beat them twice, first in the National League and then in the County Championship, and then Northamptonshire had to bow out of both knock-out competitions – losing to Yorkshire in the C&G Trophy before being defeated with two balls to spare by Somerset in the Twenty20 Cup. In the County Championship, Monty Panesar spun them to victory against Worcestershire, taking nine wickets. A no-result with Nottinghamshire sent them further adrift of Essex and Middlesex in the fight for the National League title.
August started with two wins over Worcestershire – in the National League and the Championship – before going down by 64 runs to Lancashire in the National League. In the Championship, they beat Derbyshire by 182 runs, despite only having made 140 in the first innings of the match. They recovered from the National League loss against Lancashire, too, beating Middlesex by 14 runs on 15 August, but lost to Glamorgan in the same competition two days later. A two-day match with the touring Australians followed, Australia opting for batting practice instead of pushing home the victory. In the Championship, a bottom-of-the-table clash with Leicestershire ended in a draw, before they recorded a four-wicket win over Nottinghamshire in the National League and a 285-run Championship win over Lancashire.
They moved up to second place in the already decided National League with a no-result at Glamorgan, before drawing two successive Championship matches, with Somerset and Durham. Monty Panesar and Jason Brown then took ten wickets each in the final Championship game, which Northamptonshire won by an innings and 21 runs, before they rounded off their National League season with a loss to Essex.
Players Martin Love Damien Wright Usman Afzaal Gerard Brophy Jason Brown Paul Coverdale Chris Goode Thomas Huggins Kevin Innes Steffan Jones Richard King Johann Louw Monty Panesar Ben Phillips Charl Pietersen Tim Roberts Bilal Shafayat Riki Wessels Andrew White Rob White
Tables
Championship
+ 2005 County Championship – Division Two Pos Team Pld W D L Pen Bat Bowl Pts 1 Lancashire 16 7 6 3 0 43 47 212 2 Durham 16 6 8 2 0 45 44 205 3 Yorkshire 16 5 10 1 0.5 49 42 200.5 4 Northamptonshire 16 5 8 3 0 45 46 193 5 Essex 16 5 7 4 0 51 36 185 6 Worcestershire 16 5 4 7 5.5 53 46 179.5 7 Leicestershire 16 3 7 6 0.5 45 45 159.5 8 Somerset 16 4 5 7 0 42 37 155 9 Derbyshire 16 1 7 8 0 31 43 116
totesport League
+ 2005 totesport League – Division One Pos Team Pld W L NR Pts 1 Essex Eagles 16 13 1 2 56 2 Middlesex Crusaders 16 10 5 1 42 3 Northamptonshire Steelbacks 16 7 7 2 32 4 Glamorgan Dragons 16 6 6 4 32 5 Nottinghamshire Outlaws 16 6 7 3 30 6 Lancashire Lightning 16 6 9 1 26 7 Gloucestershire Gladiators 16 6 9 1 26 8 Worcestershire Royals 16 5 10 1 22 9 Hampshire Hawks 16 5 10 1 22
Match details
Northamptonshire v Bradford/Leeds UCCE (9–10 April)
Northamptonshire beat Bradford/Leeds UCCE by an innings and 62 runs
The first day of this game at Northampton saw Northamptonshire progress to 373 for 7 declared off only 69 overs. Kevin Innes top-scored with 80 off only 59 balls. The declaration left time for 23 more overs on the first day, in which Bradford/Leeds UCCE slumped to 60 for 5. The second day, Bradford/Leeds UCCE fared equally badly, being dismissed for 137. Northamptonshire chose to enforce the follow-on rather than opt for batting practice, and saw off Bradford/Leeds UCCE for 174 to win by an innings and 62 runs in two days. Spinners Monty Panesar and Jason Brown both got five wickets each in the match. (Cricinfo scorecard)
Northamptonshire v Worcestershire (17 April)
Worcestershire (4pts) beat Northamptonshire (0pts) by 31 runs (D/L method)
At Northampton, Worcestershire Royals captain Vikram Solanki led from the front, scoring 119 off 137 balls, including 13 fours and 1 six. Support from his colleagues took the visitors up to 211 for 4 off their 45 overs. Worcestershire director of cricket Tom Moody said of Solanki: "I can't see why he won't be in the mix for England section this summer. It depends how the selectors shuffle the deck, but I would imagine he will be in their minds for consideration at the very least. We were very confident he was ready for the challenge of captaincy and he has had a great start."
When Northampstonshire Steelbacks batted, Australian Matt Mason took 3 for 20, to leave Northamptonshire on 137 for 7 off 32.5 overs when rain prevented further play. Worcestershire won easily on the Duckworth-Lewis method. /BBC scorecard)
Northamptonshire v Leicestershire (20–23 April)
Northamptonshire (12pts) drew with Leicestershire (9pts)
The first day at Northampton saw only 26.2 overs, during which Northamptonshire progressed to 90 for no loss. On the second day Bilal Shafayat (59), Martin Love (50), David Sales (113), Damien Wright (95) and Gerard Brophy (52) all contributed with the bat, as the hosts moved to 433 for 6 declared. However, Northamptonshire bowled without luck, allowing Leicestershire to score 69 for 0 at close.
On the third day, Leicestershire progressed to 339 all out, with Darren Robinson scoring 100. However, the innings was controversial, with three debatable decisions going against the visitors. First Robinson was given out caught, when the ball probably hit his forearm. Then HD Ackerman was out leg before to a delivery that looked high. Then, at 220 for 5 Aftab Habib edged Jason Brown low to Martin Love at first slip. Habib thought it had not carried, and Love and one umpire were not sure. The other umpire said he was out, so off Habib went. But he returned to confront Shafayat who taunted Habib on the dismissal. Northamptonshire progressed to 45 for 0 at close.
The fourth day saw the game peter out to a draw, as a late declaration, with the score on 238 for 3, left Northamptonshire just less than two session to dismiss Leicestershire, who were set an unrealistic target of 333 to win in 58 overs. Leicestershire were 115 for 4 when the draw was agreed with 11 overs still available. (BBC scorecard)
Gloucestershire v Northamptonshire (24 April)
Northamptonshire (4pts) beat Gloucestershire (0pts) by 9 runs
Northamptonshire Steelbacks batted first at Bristol. Two quick wickets reduced them to 14 for 2. It was a slow pitch that was not conducive to a high score, but they made their way to 202 for 7 off their 45 overs, thanks in part to Damien Wright smashing three sixes in four balls in the penultimate over, and thanks to Gloucestershire Gladiators dropping three catches.
In reply Northamptonshire took wickets regularly leaving the hosts on 111 for 5. There was a recovery of sorts after that, led by Alex Gidman's 71, but the hosts were always on the back foot from there. Eventually they finished on 193 for 8, a deficit of 9 runs. Four Northamptonshire bowlers got two wickets each, Welshman Steffan Jones getting them for the fewest runs, as he conceded only 29. (Cricinfo scorecard)
Derbyshire v Northamptonshire (27–30 April)
Northamptonshire (12pts) drew with Derbyshire (6pts)
Northamptonshire batted first at Derby, and openers Bilal Shafayat and Martin Love took them to the sword, though Derbyshire dropped them both. Shafayat finished the first day unbeaten on a career-best 156 from 267 balls; Love was on 129 off 233 balls; Northants were on 292.
Shafayat added only 5 to his overnight score before being lbw, but Love went on to 168. Northamptonshire finally declared on 451 for 7. In reply, Derbyshire regularly lost wickets, finishing the second day on 135 for 4. On the third day, Johann Louw took 6 for 71 to force Derbyshire to follow on 210 in arrears. However, Derbyshire fared much better in their second innings – with both openers undefeated and their score on 119, 91 behind with one day to play. Rain then wiped out the final day's play. (BBC scorecard)
Northamptonshire v Hampshire (1 May)
Northamptonshire (4pts) beat Hampshire (0pts) by 98 runs
At Northampton, Northamptonshire Steelbacks' Bilal Shafayat struck a career-best 74 from 82 balls as Northants stormed to 266 for 9. Shafayat was dropped on 11 and 56, but congratulated by Hampshire captain, Shane Warne, who was taken for 53 in nine overs. Hampshire fell to 44 for 4 in reply and, despite 42 from Shaun Udal batting number eight, were never in the game as the Hawks were all out for 168. Northamptonshire seamer Ben Phillips took his second List A four-wicket-haul, removing Kevin Pietersen, John Crawley, Warne and Chris Tremlett on his way to four for 48. (BBC scorecard)
Denmark v Northamptonshire (3 May)
Northamptonshire beat Denmark by 8 wickets to progress to Round Two of the C&G Trophy
Northamptonshire's Charl Pietersen took 7 for 10 at Brøndby as Denmark fell to the competition's second lowest score in its history, for 56 all out. 24 of those runs were extras, with no Dane scoring more than 8 with the bat. Pietersen, who was playing in his debut match for the Northants first team said, "The ball was swinging about and they were perfect conditions for bowling. I just concentrated on getting the ball in the right areas and the conditions did the rest. I'm grateful for the opportunity I've been given by Northants. I'm here to learn and try to get myself in the first team on a regular basis. No cricketer wants to play second-team cricket and I'm no different. But one performance won't get me in, I've got to be consistent with my wicket-taking and my economy."
It took Northamptonshire one ball less than 17 overs to make 59 for 2 to win the match just before lunch as the Danes were humbled. Afterwards the Danish coach said, "We knew it was going to be difficult. We are short of money but we are trying to develop every time we play against different opposition. We have a lot of young players and it was good for them to test themselves against the professionals." (BBC scorecard)
Yorkshire v Northamptonshire (6–9 May)