Opener Vasconcelos puts pen to paper on new deal to extend his stay at Northants

The 27-year-old has put pen to paper on a contract that will see him stay at Wantage Road until at least the end of the 2027 season, by which time he will have spent nine years at the County Ground.

The South African-born left-hander, who burst on to the County scene in the summer of 2018 after being signed for Northants by David Ripley, is delighted to have extended his stay at the club, especially with how things are moving forwards under head coach Darren Lehmann.

"I'm really excited to commit to Northamptonshire for the next two years," said Vasconcelos.

"It's a really exciting time for the club as a whole.

"Darren coming in has given everyone new energy to keep striving for improvement, and he’s really brought back the enjoyment factor to my cricket."

Since joining Northants, Vasconcelos has made 183 appearances across all formats, scoring 7,251 runs in the process, including 13 centuries.

This season, Vasconcelos, who was appointed the club's red ball skipper by John Sadler in 2022 before giving up the role after a few months, has shown glimpses of his best form.

He scored a welcome and overdue century against Kent at Canterbury, and has also added another first-class 50 this summer, and he hit most fours for the Steelbacks in the T20 Vitality Blast group stages.

Vasconcelos returned to form in 2024 after a couple of poor seasons by his standards, scoring two centuries as he made 708 runs at an average of 54.46, but he is currently averaging just 23.22 in first-class cricket for 2025.

He knows he has work to do to get back to his free-flowing best, but believes that working under Lehmann can help him achieve that.

"I know my personal performances haven't been at the level that's expected," said Vasconcelos.

"I'm looking forward to working with Darren and the rest of the staff and players to get back to my best and performing for Northamptonshire."

Lehmann is pleased Vasconcelos has committed his future to the club, and he vowed that he and the coaching team at the County Ground will do all they can to raise the player's performance levels.

"I'm really happy for Vasco and the club as he's been here for a long time," said the Australian.

"We're very happy that he wants to stay here and he wants to keep getting better.

"We know that he would like more runs but we're going to keep working hard together so that he can achieve that."