Lewis McManus named Steelbacks skipper for One Day Cup campaign

Lewis McManus will captain the Northants Steelbacks in the Metro Bank One Day Cup (Picture: Clive Mason/Getty Images)

The wicket-keeper batsman, who is vice-captain of the club's red-ball team, will now lead the team in the 50-over competition, that starts with a trip to Cheltenham to take on Gloucestershire on Friday.

The County needed a new 50-over skipper with Vitality Blast captain David Willey away playing for Welsh Fire in The Hundred, and former white ball skipper Josh Cobb currently out of favour.

And it is McManus who has been given the nod.

“Lewis is at the heart of all our teams and naturally leads by example,” said head coach John Sadler.

“He performed extremely well in this format last year and he’s ready to take on the added responsibility that captaincy brings.”

McManus topped the Steelbacks 50-over averages in 2022, scoring 330 runs in seven matches at 66.00.

He scored his first hundred for the club and also contributed two other half-centuries.

Northants are in Group B, and face trips to Gloucestershire, Durham, Warwickshire and Glamorgan, with home matches against Sussex, Somerset, Worcestershire and Derbyshire.

The winners of the group qualify for the semi-finals, with the second and third-placed teams going into effectively a quarter-final play off against second and third place teams in Group A for the other two semi-final spots.