John Sadler says Northants have had 'a strong list of applicants' for batting coach role

Northants are on the lookout for a new person for the position of batting supremo after Ben Smith was relieved of the role at the end of the 2023 season.

That move came after a disappointing campaign for the County, who were relegated from the LV= Insurance Championship Division One, and also failed to reach the knockout stages of both the Vitality Blast and Metro Cup One Day Cup.

One of the big reasons for the red ball flop was the fact the team managed to earn just 10 batting bonus points out of a possible 70, with the bulk of them coming in the final few matches when the team's relegation fate was virtually sealed.

Ultimately it was Smith who paid the price for the team's failings with the bat, and head coach Sadler is now looking forward to having a new man in the batting coach role ahead of the 2024 campaign.

"We have advertised for it, and we have a strong list of applicants," said Sadler when asked if there had been any progress on the appointment.

"We will now be going through a proper interview and recruitment process, but there is no news on that yet.

"Hopefully we will get somebody in post soon, but it will be dependent on notice periods and everything else.

"We would like to get somebody in position for January 1st I suppose, when the lads will start focusing on cricket a little bit more after Christmas.

"As long as somebody is in place by then, that will be fine."

The players have returned to work at the County Ground this week after taking five weeks off to recharge their batteries, although the focus for the next few weeks will be more on fitness than cricket.

"We report back now for player meetings and stuff, and we will have a good five or six week block before Christmas where we will work hard as a group," said Sadler.

"We will work hard as a unit and also play a little bit of cricket, but the focus will really shift to the cricket after Christmas."