Ripley delighted to see trio sign new contracts at Northants

And he admitted the fact the trio stepped up and took their chance to prove themselves was the highlight of the 2020 season.

All three went into the Bob Willis Trophy knowing their contracts would be up at the end of the summer.

They all knew they had five - or as it turned out, four - matches to prove their worth and win new deals.

And they did just that, much to the delight of Ripley.

“It was one of the highlights for me that lads who were in their last year of their contracts, and who maybe hadn’t had a lot of opportunity and hadn’t perhaps had the chance to show what they can do, took their chance” said the head coach.

“I guess there were question marks about that when you are putting together your squad, and it has been great.

"We hoped what has happened would be the ending, and were confident that would be the ending because they are good players.

“With the batters, we had released Rob Newton right at the start of the summer because of the financial pressure the club was facing, so having taken that decision we were really hopeful these two lads would grab their opportunity

“I thought Charlie was outstanding, and I thought Ben was good in terms of how he scored his runs, he was a lot more calm, and his technique looked solid against the new ball.

“As for Jack White, he was great as a late developer and bowled really well.

“As a trio they were the highlights from the campaign, and they are three lads who can hopefully go on and have long careers at Northants.”