Player number 243 (f-c debut for Northamptonshire – 16 June 1951) Birthplace Wellington, New Zealand County Cap 1955; Cricket Chairman 1978-93; President 1996-2000 First-Class 167 matches, 7,420 runs @ 26.40; 3 wickets @26.33; 73 catches When Peter Arnold embarked on the long sea voyage from his native New Zealand to England in 1950, at his own expense, he was backing himself to carve out a career in professional cricket at Wantage Road with no guarantee of success. Half-a

Player number 97 (f-c debut for Northamptonshire – 9 July 1921) Birthplace Edmonton, Middlesex First-Class 2 matches, 11 runs @5.50 Harry Arkell played for the long-established Temperance club in Northampton Town League and was selected for both the league’s representative side (caught behind for a duck by Ben Bellamy, keeping wicket for the County League select) and Northants Club and Ground early in 1921. Called in as a late replacement to make his first-class debut for No

Player number 102 (f-c debut for Northamptonshire – 6 May 1922) Birthplace Sydenham, London First-Class 6 matches, 122 runs @11.09 After Westminster School and war service in France as an officer in the Grenadier Guards, Norman Andrews made an unpromising Northamptonshire debut in a grim defeat against Yorkshire at the start of the 1922 season – selection for which was surely the County’s answer to Lord Derby’s ‘Who? Who? Ministry’ of 1852. But the club persisted with him, r

Player number 247 (f-c debut for Northamptonshire – 3 June 1953) Also List A #1 (debut 22 May 1963) Birthplace Oldham, Lancashire County Cap 1954; Captain 1962-66; Hall of Fame 2018. First-Class 351 matches, 3,830 runs @ 13.78; 2 wickets @ 15.50; 653 catches, 157 stumpings List A 9 matches, 15 runs @3.75; 6 catches Long-serving physiotherapist Jack Jennings reckoned that ‘if Keith fell out with anyone, he must have been driven to it.’ An equable temperament was combined wi

Player number 411 (f-c debut for Northamptonshire – 8 May 2002) Also List A #127 (debut 3 May 2002) and T20 #1 (debut 13 June 2003) Birthplace Hammersmith, London First-Class 8 matches, 212 runs @ 17.66; 13 wickets @ 57.76 List A 10 matches, 63 runs @ 12.60; 16 wickets @ 24.56 Twenty20 1 match, 0 runs; 4 wickets @ 7.25; 1 catch Fast bowler Ricky Anderson, a product of London Cricket College, made a successful start to his first- class career with Essex, claiming 50 wickets in

Player number 360 (f-c debut for Northamptonshire – 20 May 1989) Also List A #81 (debut 21 May 1989) Birthplace Swetes Village, Antigua County Cap 1990 First-Class 78 matches, 1,100 runs @ 15.71; 318 wickets @20.60; 38 catches List A 95 matches, 404 runs @ 14.43; 115 wickets @ 22.17; 30 catches When coach-turned-scout Brian Reynolds and chief executive Stephen Coverdale journeyed north to watch fast bowler Curtly Ambrose play in a Central Lancashire League match in 1987 the

Player number 258 (f-c debut for Northamptonshire – 23 May 1956) Birthplace Bedford County Cap 1957 First-Class 155 matches, 1,418 runs @ 9.91; 424 wickets @ 21.57; 139 catches An injury to Vince Broderick in May 1956 offered young slow left-armer Mick Allen his golden opportunity. A product of Bedford School (he had turned out for his native Bedfordshire as a 17-year-old) who joined Northamptonshire as a professional, he seized the chance with both hands, scoring 51 on de

Player number 2 (fc debut for Northamptonshire – 18 May 1905) Birthplace Croydon First-Class 2 matches, 0 runs @ 0.00; 1 wicket @ 154.00 Jim Allen was taken on Northamptonshire’s professional staff just a few days before the County’s inaugural first-class match, against Hampshire in May 1905. A skilful left-arm seam bowler, he was living in Raunds having played successfully the previous season for Sittingbourne in Kent – capturing 59 wickets at just six runs apiece. Earlier

Player number 163 (f-c debut for Northamptonshire – 29 June 1932) Birthplace Evenley, Northamptonshire First-Class 8 matches, 384 runs @ 25.60; 3 catches When long-serving Northamptonshire scorer Leo Bullimer was asked in 1937 to select his best-ever County team from the players he’d seen since taking up the pen back in 1900, he surprised the majority of supporters by selecting young batsman Tony Allen based on his handful of County appearances – as well as preferring ‘Bumper

Player number 422 (f-c debut for Northamptonshire – 16 April 2004) Also List A #140 (debut 25 April 2004) and T20 #14 (debut 2 July 2004) Birthplace Rawalpindi, Pakistan County Cap 2005 First-Class 59 matches, 4,437 runs @ 49.30; 13 wickets @ 59.30; 27 catches List A 60 matches, 2,032 runs @ 39.07; 6 wickets @ 22.23; 13 catches Twenty20 27 matches, 446 runs @ 23.47; 2 wickets @ 33.00; 5 catches Director of Cricket Kepler Wessels’ need for experienced batsmen to replace Aust

Player number 123 (f-c debut for Northamptonshire – 28 June 1924) Birthplace Finedon, Northamptonshire First-Class 2 matches, 38 runs @38.00; 5 wickets @ 31.00; 1 catch ‘Cherry’ Addis was a towering figure for Finedon Dolben CC over many seasons, and his supporters felt he could have made a mark in county cricket had he chosen to make the game his profession. In 1923 he produced eye-catching figures of 7-19 in a losing cause against Northampton Saints (whose side could boast

Player number 91 (f-c debut for Northamptonshire – 26 June 1920) Birthplace Steeple Claydon, Buckinghamshire First-Class 38 matches, 1,125 runs @ 18.14; 0-67; 5 catches Northamptonshire would have been happy to see more of farmer Bill Adams and his adhesive qualities at the top of the batting order. A genuine ‘sticker’ with outstanding powers of concentration, if not a plethora of attractive strokes, left-hander Adams learned his cricket at Magdalen College School in Brackl

Player number 132 (f-c debut for Northamptonshire – 7 July 1926) Birthplace Northampton First-Class 11 matches, 158 runs @ 10.53; 13 wickets @ 19.23; 5 catches Employed in the County Treasurer’s department at County Hall in Northampton, leg-spinner Sidney Adams made a remarkable entrance into first-class cricket for Northamptonshire in 1926. He travelled to Ireland to play against Dublin University in June, was selected for the return match against the same opponents at Nort

Player number 290 (f-c debut for Northamptonshire – 27 May 1967) Also List A #22 (debut 1 May 1968) Birthplace Springs, South Africa County Cap 1969 First-Class 98 matches, 5,182 runs @ 31.59; 4 wickets @ 25.75; 89 catches List A 50 matches, 1,296 runs @ 30.13; 0 wickets for 9; 19 catches Northamptonshire’s willingness to back the judgement of former County batsman Percy Davis – who spent his winters coaching at Dale College in South Africa – paid dividends when left-hander

Player number 212 (f-c debut for Northamptonshire – 29 June 1946) Birthplace Port-of-Spain, Trinidad First-Class 3 matches, 24 runs @ 12.00; 6 wickets @ 36.66 Trinidadian Ken Ablack achieved greater fame as a cricket commentator than as a player, but after turning out frequently in wartime matches (mainly for the fundraising British Empire XI, but also in fixtures between a West Indies XI and Northamptonshire at Spinney Hill) he appeared three times for the County – twice in