Hampshire batsman Northeast: I can’t go out there and prove people wrong

The Hampshire batsman was left out of the bumper 55-man training squad announced by the ECB last week ahead of England’s return to international cricket next month.

The squad contained all the regular names, including Hampshire’s current three England internationals in James Vince, Liam Dawson and Mason Crane.

There were also 14 uncapped players, but Northeast wasn’t one of them.

He admits he found that tough to accept, after finishing the 2019 campaign as the third highest runscorer in the Championship’s top flight and going on an England Lions tour of Australia earlier this year.

With the prospect of little - if any - first class cricket this summer in which to impress, and the fact he celebrates his 31st birthday later this year, Northeast is facing the fact he could end up as one of the best uncapped batsmen of his generation.

Talking about his ECB training squad omission, Northeast told the ‘Two Hacks One Pro’ podcast on which he regularly appears: ‘It was an interesting week, I guess, because I started it by watching highlights of Hampshire vs Somerset in the (2019 Royal London Cup) final – I have no idea why I put myself through it, it was torture! – and then not being involved in the squad is pretty disappointing.

‘It is probably more disappointing because of the situation we are in at the moment and the wanting to get back to training and then on top of that knowing that county cricket won’t be back until August as well, with no plans for us to get back to training any time soon.

‘It is tough as you always want to be in any England squad but, in this scenario, it probably meant more than others.

‘There are loads of county cricketers out there who are in the same boat, who are itching to get back to cricket, so hopefully we get some good news on the county front.’

‘Coming off the Lions it was great to play but I probably didn’t score as many runs as I would have liked.

‘The big problem at the moment is that you can’t answer any England calls by making runs, you can’t go out there and prove people wrong or get into an England squad by doing something.

‘All they can do is go back to your winter and what you did then.

‘Always in sport if you get left out of a squad you can come back and say ‘right, these are my numbers, I’m going to prove everyone wrong’ but you can’t do that at the moment and we might not get any four-day cricket for the whole of the summer.

‘You are then waiting a long time to get yourself into a squad and that is a difficult thing as a sportsman – you always want to get out there and prove yourself.

‘That will be the toughest thing for me mentally, not being able to go out there and score some runs and prove people wrong.’

Northeast started last summer - his second in Hampshire colours - with an eye-catching run of scores.

After hitting 118 against Oxford MCCU, he struck 169 in Hampshire’s opening Championship game against Essex.

He compiled an unbeaten 105 against former county Kent, also in April, and the following month hit 133 against Notts at Newclose on the Isle of Wight.

He ended the season with 969 Championship runs from 22 innings.

Only two batsmen scored more in the top flight - his former Harrow School colleague Gary Ballance (975, but from one more innings) and Dominic Sibley (1,324).

Selected for the Lions tour of Australia, Northeast began the red-ball tour with an unbeaten 46 against a Cricket Australia XI in Hobart.

In the next game, a first class Test against Australia A at the MCG, he managed only a single and had to watch Sibley and Dan Lawrence add 219 for the fourth wicket.

Northeast bounced back to amass 77 not out in the final tour match against a NSW XI. Of the England XI in that game, Northeast is one of only three not to be named in the 55-man squad.

That’s despite scoring 3,774 Championship runs in the last four seasons - more than any other batsman in the training squad apart from Surrey’s Rory Burns.

In all, Northeast has compiled 10,184 first class runs since making his debut for Kent as a 17-year-old in 2007.

He still has some way to go to emulate James Hildreth, though. The Somerset batsman has scored 17,164 first class runs without ever winning an England cap in any format.

His age, 30, almost certainly wouldn’t have counted against him when England’s selectors named their 55-strong training group.

That’s because they picked 32-year-old Lancashire seamer Richard Gleeson as one of the 14 uncapped players, marking the latest milestone in a career that has flourished beyond his own wildest dreams.

Gleeson took the long way round to international consideration, via a university degree, some less than glamorous employment opportunities and finally a stint with Cumberland in minor counties cricket.

He was eventually picked up by Northamptonshire while working for Lancashire as a cricket development officer and now plies his trade as a leading member of the Red Rose attack.

Gleeson needs no reminding how unusual his route to the top has been and happily wears the title of poster boy for those plugging away outside the elite game.

‘To go from being a club cricketer at 26 to an England international at 32? That would be amazing,’ he said.

‘It's a great story, to never give up and keep following your dream, to keep pursuing things because you never know what can happen or when.

‘It's a great advert for the minor counties (now the National Counties Cricket Association) as well, I think they'll enjoy my story. If it does happen for me with England, and hopefully it does, I think it will make a nice read.’

Picking up the story before at an earlier chapter, Gleeson explained: ‘I've done all sorts of jobs - in a fishing tackle shop cleaning maggots, landscape gardening, all kinds.

‘I spent two winters in Australia and was meant to go back for a third but it was my sister's wedding so I stayed home and worked in a boiler factory. I was a bit of dogsbody, lifting and carrying, getting things off the shelves to send to the production line.’

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At present, the ECB have suspended all county cricket until August 1 at the earliest. Under the original fixture list, that only leaves Hampshire with five Championship games - home to Gloucestershire, Northants and Somerset and away to Kent and Yorkshire.

That will almost certainly be changed, though, as the Professional Game Group are currently examining a range of new scenarios which include both first class and one-day game.

The Royal London Cup is due to be scrapped, with priority given to ensuring as many T20 Blast ties as possible.

Regarding the county game, the ECB last week said: ‘The specifics of the season remain subject to ongoing advice from UK Government and health experts, but the ambition remains to host domestic men's and women's cricket across England and Wales later this summer.

‘The Professional Game Group (PGG) will look to outline a number of opportunities for domestic play, which will be presented to the ECB Board in June.

‘These plans include a number of options for both red-ball and white-ball cricket including matches played at all first class grounds, the use of a regional group model as well as consideration for matches played behind closed doors or with a limited number of supporters while strictly adhering to Government guidance on social distancing.

‘The working group is also exploring options where non-televised games can be live streamed for members and supporters.

‘As the ongoing Covid-19 situation continues to evolve, these scenarios will be worked on and assessed.

‘Learnings from the return-to-training programmes for England men’s players will be incorporated, in addition to those sourced from any international matches played behind closed doors.’

Subject to government approval, international cricket is due to resume in this country on July 8 with England hosting the West Indies at Hampshire’s Ageas Bowl.

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Only one other batsman selected for England Lions’ first class tour of Australia earlier this year has a better first class average than Sam Northeast.

Warwickshire’s Dom Sibley, who made his Test debut last November, averages 41.52 compared to Northeast’s 39.16.

These are the stats belonging to the eight batsmen selected for the winter Lions tour.

Dom Sibley (Warwickshire)

41.52 (74 matches, 125 innings)

Sam Northeast (Hampshire)

39.16 (165, 281)

Dan Lawrence (Essex)

38.42 (71,111)

Sam Hain (Warwickshire)

37.11 (75, 117)

Tom Kohler-Cadmore (Yorkshire)

35.82 (61, 100)

Keaton Jennings (Lancashire)

33.57 (133, 233)

Tom Abell (Somerset)

31.59 (75, 135)

Zac Crawley (Kent)

30.88 (41 games, 69 innings)

Northeast and Abell were the only two of those eight players not selected for the ECB’s 55-man training squad.

Full list: Moeen Ali (Worcestershire), James Anderson (Lancashire), Jofra Archer (Sussex), Jonny Bairstow(Yorkshire), Tom Banton (Somerset), Dom Bess (Somerset), Sam Billings (Kent), James Bracey (Gloucestershire), Stuart Broad (Nottinghamshire), Henry Brookes (Warwickshire), Pat Brown(Worcestershire), Rory Burns (Surrey), Jos Buttler (Lancashire), Brydon Carse (Durham), Mason Crane(Hampshire), Zak Crawley (Kent), Sam Curran (Surrey), Tom Curran (Surrey), Liam Dawson (Hampshire), Joe Denly (Kent), Ben Duckett (Nottinghamshire), Laurie Evans (Sussex), Ben Foakes (Surrey), Richard Gleeson (Lancashire), Lewis Gregory (Somerset), Sam Hain (Warwickshire), Tom Helm (Middlesex), Will Jacks (Surrey), Keaton Jennings (Lancashire), Chris Jordan (Sussex), Tom Kohler-Cadmore (Yorkshire), Dan Lawrence (Essex), Jack Leach (Somerset), Liam Livingstone (Lancashire), Saqib Mahmood (Lancashire), Dawid Malan (Yorkshire), Eoin Morgan (Middlesex), Craig Overton (Somerset), Jamie Overton (Somerset), Matt Parkinson (Lancashire), Ollie Pope (Surrey), Adil Rashid (Yorkshire), Ollie Robinson (Sussex), Joe Root (Yorkshire), Jason Roy (Surrey), Phil Salt (Sussex), Dom Sibley (Warwickshire), Ben Stokes (Durham), Olly Stone (Warwickshire), Reece Topley (Surrey), James Vince (Hampshire), Amar Virdi (Surrey), David Willey (Yorkshire), Chris Woakes (Warwickshire), Mark Wood (Durham).