Staffordshire captain James Kettleborough insists his Trophy optimism hasn’t been dampened by an opening-day defeat.
Staffs kicked off their NCCA NV Play One-Day Trophy campaign last weekend with a 105-run defeat by Norfolk in their Group Two encounter.
The defeat was a disappointing way for Staffs to open up the 2026 season – especially after a winter of training which had placed emphasis on reviving the county’s 50-over fortunes.
For the past three years, Staffordshire have failed to progress from the group stages of the competition.
But as he departed West Bromwich Dartmouth’s Sandwell Park venue, Kettleborough saw enough from his players to suggest that an upturn might just be around the corner.
Kettleborough takes Staffordshire to Ampthill to play Bedfordshire on Bank Holiday Monday for their next assignment – and he’s confident about the county’s prospects.
‘Upbeat’
“Everyone is disappointed when you lose a game of cricket,” said Kettleborough.
“But there were lots of positives to take from the day and I left the ground with lots of optimism.
“Yes, it’s disappointing and frustrating, but I’m more optimistic about our prospects than I have been in the past.
Staffordshire falter on the Trophy start line
“Since I’ve been involved we have won the first one-day game and everyone is buzzing, but then we’ve lost the next three.
“However, we know how quickly things can change.
“Our target now is to win the remaining three matches and I believe we have the quality to bounce back.”
‘Fresh faces’
Staffordshire fielded something of a new-look side for the match against Norfolk.
All-rounder Ollie Walker, seamer Sam Keeling-Wright and batsman Dan Lincoln all made their debuts for Staffs.
And Sam Kelsall also returned to the fold after a spell with Bedfordshire.
Staffordshire started well with the ball after Kettleborough won the toss and elected to field.
New-ball pair Jake Garlick and Keeling-Wright reduced Norfolk to 52-3 before half-centuries from Alfie Cooper, Charlie Hood and Hami Qadri masterminded a recovery to 312-8 from their allocation.
Kettleborough then top-scored with 55 in Staffordshire’s reply of 207, while Lincoln made 30 and Callum Hawkins contributed 24.
“The positives I take are that we had a clear goal to take wickets in the powerplay, which we haven’t done in the past,” explained the county skipper.
“We had Norfolk 50-3 and Jake and Sam caused them problems. I wasn’t concerned that they were going at five an over because they did their jobs by taking out the top three.
One change to Staffordshire squad for Trophy clash at Bedfordshire
“Norfolk recovered, but we actually did well to restrict them to what they got because at one stage it looked like being a lot more.
“The positives with the bat were that we had a couple of partnerships of 40-plus and if we had kicked on to make those 80-plus, it could have been different.
“Three of their batters got more than 60 and none of ours managed to do that.”
‘Options’
Staffordshire had a wealth of batting options at their disposal – and also could have lined up in a number of ways.
They opted to open with Matt Morris and Kelsall, with Reeve Evitts slotting in at three.
Kettleborough, Walker and Lincoln then made up the top six.
“We decided on that order after looking at how successful sides have played their cricket,” added Kettleborough. “We can’t copy that approach exactly, but we can try to emulate what they do.
“There’s a nice mix of young and experienced players and we can be flexible with how we go about things.”
Staffordshire have made one change to their squad for the trip to Bedfordshire on Monday.
Stone SP spinner Jack Batchelor replaces Moddershall all-rounder Joe Hawkins in the 12 for the match.
Main image: Staffordshire captain James Kettleborough focused on the positives despite losing to Norfolk. Picture: David Peters