Northeast: Chance for Hampshire’s next generation to shine in Bob Willis Trophy

The county will have to do without their biggest names for at least part of the five-game first-class tournament, which starts this weekend.

James Vince and Liam Dawson are in England's white-ball squad for the three-match series against Ireland, Kyle Abbott is still in South Africa, Aneurin Donald is recovering from a major operation and Fidel Edwards will be playing in the Caribbean Premier League.

Two other bowlers with first team experience - Ryan Stevenson and Brad Taylor - are also recovering from injuries.

Therefore fans, via live streams, will have to get used to new faces like fast bowling duo Scott Currie, 19, and Ajeet Dale, 20, in the coming weeks. Both of those youngsters are still waiting for their competitive Hampshire debuts.

‘There's going to be a bit of a time of not knowing exactly who you’ve got and haven’t got,” stand-in captain Northeast said.

‘Aj and Scott are hugely exciting and there is no doubt they will play a part in the coming weeks.

‘They’ll get a nice taste of first-class cricket and what it’s like. It is good for their development and it's nice to see young players coming through the system and getting opportunities.

‘Aj seems like he has come on a lot. He hits the pitch really hard and is a bit stump-to-stump, while Scott swings it away and can also hit back of a length quite hard.

‘We think pretty highly of them going forward that they will be part of a bowling attack.

‘The next couple of weeks, though, is about learning about bowling at this level and at some good players.

‘They’ve both got the raw ability at the moment and they could play for a long time for Hampshire over the coming years.’

Both Dale and Currie were included in a 12-man team that played a two-day friendly against Sussex at Hove earlier this week - the same opponents and the same venue for this weekend’s Willis Trophy opener.

Keith Barker and James Fuller opened the bowling in Sussex’s first innings, with Dale opening with Fuller in the second.

Ian Holland was the fifth seamer used at Hove, while Mason Crane and Felix Organ provided spin options in Dawson’s absence.

Northeast is also looking at more well-known Academy graduates, such as Joe Weatherley, Tom Alsop, Lewis McManus and Crane, to turn their early-career promise into consistent performances and become leadership candidates with a dearth of available senior players this summer.

‘They are all still learning their games and really trying to establish themselves and have a breakthrough year,” the 30-year-old batsman said.

‘They’ve all had a taste of it and shown what they are about at times, but it’d be nice for them to build on it again.

‘They will be aiming for 1,000 runs or 50 wickets in a normal season – and they are all capable of that going forward.

‘They can be the rock of Hampshire going forward and I’m sure there are a few leaders in that group – I know Giles White has his eyes on a few leaders coming through.’

Northeast was left disappointed by yet another snub from Ed Smith and the England set-up when he was left out of the 55-man return to training squad earlier this summer.

That was after finishing as the third highest runscorer in the top flight of the Championship in 2019 - only Warwickshire’s Dominic Sibley and Gary Ballance of Yorkshire scored more than Northeast’s 969 at 51.00.

But he is using his former Kent teammate Joe Denly’s late international blooming - he was 32 when he made his Test debut in early 2019 in the West Indies - as a reason not to give up hope of representing his country at senior level.

‘I imagine if I spoke to Joe a year before his debut he probably would have said his time was done, so you never know,’ Northeast said.

‘There are some really good players around the England set-up at the moment, but I was disappointed not to be involved in the 55-man squad.

‘These games are another opportunity to showcase what I can do.

‘But I’ve got to concentrate on Hampshire and getting runs and wins for Hampshire and then maybe something will come in the future.

‘If it does come then brilliant. Playing international cricket is still a goal of mine but if it doesn’t come then I am still enjoying my cricket here.’

Hampshire’s Bob Willis Trophy opener comes almost three and a half months after their competitive season was due to start on April 19.

Northeast said: “We've been waiting while everything has been getting back to normal in terms of our sports and even watching tests and recreational cricket. We've had a bit of time to wait.

‘I think everyone's raring to go and to get any form of cricket in, in these times, is great.

‘You go into every competition wanting to win it, so we'll definitely be doing that although we'll be taking it game by game.’

After clashing with Sussex, Hampshire visit Middlesex in Radlett (Aug 8-11), before playing back-to-back ‘home’ fixtures 40 miles down the coast at Arundel, due to England hosting the second and third Tests against Pakistan at the Ageas Bowl.

They face Surrey (Aug 15-18) and Essex (Aug 22-25) before travelling to Canterbury for their last four-dayer (September 6-9).

Having trained at the picturesque Arundel ground since the beginning of July, Northeast has hinted that tactics have been formed to give them a semblance of home advantage.

‘We have been training there so we have been trying to understand our game plans there,’ he confessed.

‘It's going to be different. It's not going to feel like a home game.

‘We’re going to be staying in a hotel when we are playing at ‘home’, but these are the times we are in.

‘We don’t have home advantage but I still feel we will put on some great performances.’

Northeast has only played one competitive game at Arundel, but has a century to his name - 109 while captaining Kent 2nds against Sussex 2nds in 2012.

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The 18 counties have been split into three geographical groups for the Willis Trophy. The two teams with the most points after the five games will progress to a five-day final at a venue to be decided.

Hampshire are not the only county unable to use their home ground - Derbyshire are playing all five of their games away as Derby is being used for women’s international cricket fixtures.