New signing will happen for Northamptonshire - but there is no rush

With only six seam bowlers to bear the burden of a full summer of cricket, the County look a bit light on that front going into the season.

That becomes more of an issue when the previous injury problems of David Willey, Rory Kleinveldt, Steven Crook and youngster Olly Stone are taken into consideration.

Ripley and his staff have been casting their eyes over several candidates to join the squad in recent weeks.

Trialists Ben Sanderson and George Bacon played in the friendly match against Nottinghamshire this week while Chad Barrett - who appeared for the County against the Sri Lankan tourists in 2014 - went on the pre-season tour of Barbados.

But Ripley insists there is no need for a panic signing.

“Ben Sanderson bowled well - especially on the first day - in Nottingham and he was really the person we were looking at in that fixture.

“Chad Barrett didn’t play but he is the one who came on tour with us.

“There are options there, but we are in no rush to make a decision.

“We made the conscious choice that we would take our time on bringing in another bowler.

“There are six seam bowlers here at the moment and they should be able to serve us in the first few Championship games.

“But they are all all-round bowlers - they will play one-day and four-day cricket - so we will need to add another body in the busy period later in the summer.

“It is tough for them when you travel for a Twenty20 game and then have to get up the next day and go straight into a four-day match - and then do it all again.

“That is when we might need to manage things and get some help in.

“We’re aware of needing to be cautious with some of our bowlers.

“But we’re confident we will be able to bring someone in on some kind of deal during that busy period to give us the extra support.”