McManus keen for Steelbacks to build momentum as Somerset come to town

England spinner Shoaib Bashir is set to play for Somerset against the Steelbacks on WednesdayEngland spinner Shoaib Bashir is set to play for Somerset against the Steelbacks on Wednesday
England spinner Shoaib Bashir is set to play for Somerset against the Steelbacks on Wednesday
Skipper Lewis McManus is calling on Northants Steelbacks follow up their emphatic win over Worcestershire Rapids with another against Somerset at the County Ground on Wednesday (start 11am).

The County's hopes of qualifying for the knockout stages of the Metro Bank One Day Cup are all but over, despite Sunday's 130-run victory, but McManus insists there is still a lot to play for.

And he believes a good finish to the 50-over competition is crucial in building momentum for the rest of the club's 2024 campaign - including the little matter of a Vitality Blast quarter-final against tomorrow's opponents in the first week of September.

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The Steelbacks lost their opening four Group A games ahead of seeing off Worcestershire, and McManus admitted he and the squad shared some frank words ahead of that encounter when looking back on what was a disastrous start.

"I think we were obviously bitterly disappointed," said the skipper.

"We had a chat before the game, and we said we've got one or two ways we go about these last four games.

"We can either go through the motions and be disappointed we’ve not qualified or actually play with a bit of pride and put things right.

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"And I'm really happy with how the guys went about it on Sunday.

"Ultimately, we’ve just got to win the next game, keep ticking them off and we'll see where we're at.

“Another thing I mentioned in the warm-up was about getting momentum amongst the club.

"Just because it's a different format, it’s still momentum, still winning games of cricket, so it's an important couple of weeks for us.

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"Hopefully we can kick on from Sunday, get a bit of confidence throughout the whole team and then we take that into the rest of the cricket this year.”

The Steelbacks have unsurprisingly named an unchanged squad for the visit of Somerset, who are very much in the hint for a place in the knockout stages.

Prithvi Shaw will open the batting and will be targeting a fourth straight half-century against the team that he scored a record-breaking 244 at the County Ground last season.

Somerset sit third in the table, two points off leaders Derbyshire, and include England left-spinners Jack Leach and Shoaib Bashir in their ranks, along with 16-year-old prospect James Rew and Archie Vaughan, the 18-year-old son of former England captain Michael Vaughan.

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They have lost a clutch of platers to The Hundred, including the likes of Craig Overton, Lewis Gregory, Tom Banton, Tom Kohler-Cadmore, Tom Abell and Jake Ball.

The Cidermen have named a 14-man squad for the match at Northampton.

Northants squad v Somerset: Lewis McManus, George Bartlett, Justin Broad, Mike Finan, Freddie Heldreich, Rob Keogh, Gus Miller, James Sales, Ben Sanderson, Prithvi Shaw, Ricardo Vasconcelos, Raphy Weatherall, Jack White, Saif Zaib

Somerset squad: George Thomas, Andy Umeed, Lewis Goldsworthy, James Rew, Sean Dickson, Josh Thomas, Archie Vaughan, Josh Davey, Jack Leach, Alfie Ogborne, Ned Leonard, Shoaib Bashir, Riley Meredith, Joe Heywood.

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