Northants setting sights on survival again as they take on the tennis big guns in county week
Mark Taylor has needed an active imagination over 30 years of captaining Northants men tennis and this week he required another rabbit to be pulled from the hat at Eastbourne.
The County carved out its latest small slice of history last year when they managed to contest Group 1 and avoid relegation for the first time ever.
On their only other trips to face the country’s elite, once in the 1950s and in 2001, they were immediately relegated.
This year, Taylor says his team is (on paper) weaker than 2024 but that may prove an unnecessarily negative stand point without knowing who the other counties will field.
The Northants team was expected to start with Jack Howarth and Joe Tyler playing at first pair, Kyle Rae and Charlie Swallow at number two, while veteran James Smith was expect to team up with Jakob Bonnett at No.3.
Andy Palliser and Ben Foster were also expected to form part of the squad.
Northants began the week against defending champions Surrey on Monday, with South Wales, East Of Scotland, Warwickshire and North Of Scotland following on through to Friday.
“We are without Alex Ward who has been working a little with Jack Draper in the States and also Max Graham who has a coaching job in South Carolina. Harry Collins is coaching in Australia,” said Taylor.
The potential task facing Northants becomes more real when there is mention of Dan Evans turning out for Warwickshire on Thursday.
Taylor’s time with the county has been a remarkable one, both as a player and captain. It is worthy of wider recognition.
He says: “My first county week was in 1989 with Jim Bailey as captain. I partnered his son Ian. I then played under Stuart Wetherell, the first year of which was at Purley.”
During the course of Taylor’s period as men’s captain they have twice ascended the roller coaster from the bottom section, to the top.