Sadler says Rickelton is ‘a perfect fit’ for Northamptonshire

The 25-year-old South African has been signed on a short-term contract to play in the home match against Warwickshire that starts this Sunday, and also the trip to Canterbury to play Kent on July 11.

Young was always going to miss the Warwickshire clash as he is on Test duty with the Kiwis at Headingley this week, and now his selection for the ODI series against Ireland in early July means he is ruled out of the Kent encounter as well.

He is scheduled to be back in Northants colours for the clash with Lancashire that starts at Wantage Road on July 19.

The New Zealander's absence opens up a place in the batting order for an overseas player, and Rickelton, who is a childhood friend of Northants skipper Ricardo Vasconcelos, has been handed the opportunity.

"We got that over the line a couple of weeks ago, with Will Young missing the two games," said Sadler.

"We just felt that with Youngy missing, and that experience that he brings, that Ryan is a perfect fit for us to come in for a couple of games before his South African commitments start. It is a nice little swap for us."

Left-hander Rickelton made his Test debut for South Africa at the end of March, and is expected to be in the Proteas squad for their Test series against England which starts in August.

Also a wicket-keeper, Rickelton currently plays as a batter only for South Africa, where he has been selected in the middle order, but he does bat in the top order for his SA province, the Imperial Lions.

"We are flexible on where he can bat, and there has been no decision made on that," said Sadler.

"We want to get the best out of him, but he is happy to kind of fit in where we need him.

"Lewis (McManus) will continue to keep wicket, with Ryan playing just as a batter, and he is a good signing for us. Even though he is not here for a long time, I am sure he can still have a good impact."

When Northants resume their Championship campaign they will do so as the third bottom team in the table.

In their six matches to date, the County have drawn five and lost once, but Kent's win over rock-bottom Gloucestershire last week saw them leapfrog Northants.

And Sadler now the Vitality Blast block of games is out of the way, all attention switches back to the red ball.

"Obviously the focus has been on the T20, but we are not forgetting the Championship," said the head coach.

"We had a very good first six weeks where we became hard to beat and we played some brilliant cricket, and on another day we might have got two wins in that block of matches.

"So we aren't forgetting the Championship, it is still a very important for us.

"We are in the first division and we want to do everything we can to win games and challenge in that, and certainly stay up."

Play starts at 11am at the County Ground on Sunday.