All-rounder Justin Broad aiming to kick on this summer after shining bright in 2025

Although having been a regular player at the club since midway through the 2023 season, the 25-year-old enjoyed something of a breakout campaign in 2025.

He produced a string of eye-catching and match-winning performances with bat and ball, in both red and white ball cricket.

Broad notched his maiden first-class century in July, adding a second one a few weeks later as he averaged more than 43, and he also hit three half-centuries as the Steelbacks reached Vitality Blast Finals Day - including an excellent one under pressure in the semi-final loss to Hampshire Hawks.

With the ball, Broad took 27 first-class wickets with his seam bowling, and it is in that department that the South African-born youngster is looking to make his biggest strides in the coming weeks and months.

“I think bowling is going to be big for me, and I have worked hard on it over the winter,” said Broad.

“If I can keep improving on that, then I think in all three formats, and especially the T20 stuff when I could be an option for Dave (Willey).

“I have really enjoyed working on my bowling and it feels like it’s continuing to improve which is exciting.”

So does he think he can increase his pace with the ball in hand?

“Chatting to the strength and conditioning coach, he still feels I can improve a lot in that aspect,” revealed Broad.

“So I will work on that, and then there are a few technical changes as well that will hopefully bring me a bit more pace, which would be really exciting.”

Looking back on last season, Broad was pleased with how it went, but admitted he felt he didn’t really hit his stride until the Blast got underway in May.

“The T20 stuff freed me up, as I thought I had struggled a bit before that,” said Broad.

“We then got into the Blast, I got my confidence up and that freed me up and I took that into the rest of the season.

“But it was nice to contribute in all three formats, especially with the bat as I see myself as a batter that bowls, and it was nice to prove that a little bit.”

Broad admits he is not one for setting personal targets, but he is aiming for a successful campaign, both personally and for Northants as a team.

“I don’t like setting up statistical targets, but obviously as a team we are looking at winning things,” he said.

“We want to win everything and get promoted, so they are the goals, but I don’t really set up targets for myself.

“I find if I do that and I am not hitting them then I end up focusing on that too much, so I just take things game by game.”

Head coach Darren Lehmann is a big admirer of Broad, believing the player is a future leader at Northants, and he is sure to begin the season as a key man in the first team line-up.

The Championship season starts with a home date with Lancashire on Friday, and the County will be targeting a big improvement on last season that saw them finish second bottom in division two.

The summer starts with a block of six four-day games, and Broad knows it is important for him and his team-mates to get off to a flying start if they are to realise their ambition of promotion come September.

“It is important to get a good start,” said Broad.

“Last year it was very disappointing to see where we ended, but you look at three or four games where we were on top, and potentially rain got in the way.

“Hindsight is a wonderful thing, but I think we played better than the table suggested, but we also had a few terrible games, so hopefully we can get some consistency.

“A quick start will be huge, the games come thick and fast, but all the boys are ready and hopefully the boys can start well.”

So how does the team manage to achieve more consistently better performances and results in first-class cricket?

“That is all about helping each other out really, and it is working as a team,” said Broad.

“I think one thing we didn’t do as well last year was the economy rate of our bowling unit.

“When you look at the teams that got promoted, they went for twos and threes per over, so that is something we have looked at.

“We need to reset for each game, prepare well, tick those boxes, and then hopefully we can gain consistency through that.”