Three changes as Northants head to champions Warwickshire

Northamptonshire head coach John SadlerNorthamptonshire head coach John Sadler
Northamptonshire head coach John Sadler
Northamptonshire have made three changes to their squad for Thursday's LV= Insurance County Championship Division One trip to reigning champions Warwickshire.

Head coach John Sadler has a fully fit squad to select from, but is wary of the busy workload the team has faced in recent weeks..

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That being the case, seam bowlers Ben Sanderson and Tom Taylor are rested, while Saif Zaib is left out.

Gareth Berg returns to the 13-man squad after being rested for the defeat at Surrey last weekend, and he is joined by Nathan Buck, who has impressed in the seconds in recent weeks.Another player who has made his mark in the IIs is batsman Ben Curran, and he replaces Zaib who has struggled for runs so far this season.

Curran was in great form in the seconds' dramatic one-wicket win over Worcestershire last week, scoring 109 in the first innings and 85 in the second.

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"Everybody is fit, but we are monitoring workloads and potentially might have to just kind of assess where a couple of bodies are,” said Sadler.

"We have a squad for a reason and we want to use it. At the moment, it all comes thick and fast, and it is the relentlessness of it, game after game.

"We have gone Essex, Surrey and now Warwickshire, all three away, all three back-to-back, and any one of those three could be deemed the best team in the league.

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"It is hard work, but it is what we train for, what we play for, so we are looking forward to it.

"We know we can beat anybody on our day, and we look forward to the next challenge and the next contest."

The addition of Curran and Buck means Sadler still has a decision to make over the final 11, and he hinted that two players already in the squad could be due their chance, namely Josh Cobb and Jack White.

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"Josh has been the next man in, and through no fault of his own he has been 12th man for a couple of games on the trot," said Sadler

"He is technically still next man in from a batting perspective."Jack White has been bowling really, Nathan Buck has also put in a couple of good performances, so there is pressure from the second team, which is what we want.

"That is a really healthy place to be, so we will have a bit of a think and be ready for Thursday."

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Northants squad v Warwickshire: Ricardo Vasconcelos (c); Gareth Berg; Nathan Buck; Josh Cobb; Ben Curran; Emilio Gay; Matt Kelly; Rob Keogh; Simon Kerrigan; Lewis McManus (wk); Luke Procter; Jack White; Will Young