James Kettleborough says he saw signs of Staffordshire’s Twenty20 vision in their double header at Northumberland.
Staffs endured a difficult first match up at the picturesque Allendale venue as they lost a rain-affected match by 10 wickets.
But Kettleborough was left in high spirits by their performance in the second contest as Staffordshire banked a six-wicket win to get their Group One campaign up and running.
After an NCCA Knockout Trophy programme which disappointed once again as Staffs failed to qualify from their group, Kettleborough took plenty of positives from their second game showing in the north east.
The T20 Cup has been a source of success for the county in recent seasons, with Staffs winning the competition in 2023 and then reaching finals day again last year.
However, expectations were slightly tempered on the long trip north last weekend with Staffordshire selecting a youthful line-up.
Kettleborough, though, believes that brought out the best in his players as they earned some reward from the afternoon contest.
‘Good ending’
“You always feel a bit conflicted when you win one and lose one, but overall the vibe was really positive,” he said.
“It was nice to take something out of the day in the second game.
“The way we played, the performance we put in, was what Staffordshire cricket is about. It was a good showing and that’s something we want to emulate moving forward.
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“We’ve got a young side, but maybe what we lack in experience at NCCA level is countered by the fact that the young lads bring energy in to the field. They were brilliant and that’s what we want a Staffordshire team to be.
“We’ve tried to look at the energy and mindset, but you can only talk about it so much, it’s about demonstrating it on the field.
“The fielding was as good as I’ve seen from a Staffordshire team.”
‘Tough start’
Staffordshire were bowled out for 133 in the day’s opening contest before the weather intervened.
Northumberland were then set a revised target of 42 from five overs – and they needed just 3.2 of those to knock off the runs.
“The first game it maybe took the lads a bit of time to click into T20 mode, but I probably got my decision to bat first wrong after winning the toss,” conceded Kettleborough.
“I thought bowling and fielding with the weather about would be difficult. But if we had batted the way we wanted to they would have had a bigger chase. We had to work hard for our 133 and we spoke about wanting a score that was higher than that. When they needed 42 in five overs with 10 wickets in hand, it’s always in the batting side’s favour. And then they managed to get off to a flier.”
Kettleborough opted to field first in the second clash – and Northumberland made a rapid start as they reached 65-1 off 5.1 overs before another rain delay.
That allowed Staffordshire to reset and after the game was reduced to 16 overs per side, Kettleborough’s men took charge.
Seamer Rory Haydon and spinner Matthew Morris both took three wickets, with Liam Hurt picking up two, as the hosts were limited to 115-9.
Callum Hawkins (38) and Morris (24) then impressed with the bat before Kettleborough (33no) saw Staffordshire over line with seven balls to spare.
‘Showing off our skills’
“The second game we knew the make up of their side and that they like to go hard up top,” said the Staffs captain.
“And with our history against them we knew that coming out of the powerplay, if we could get one or two wickets we could put the brakes on. We knew what to expect.
“But it’s all well and good talking about plans, it’s about executing them and everyone did that with their skills.
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“That was the sort of level we are capable of. In the middle overs we were brilliant and took control of the game.
“Then Liam (Hurt) and Rory (Haydon) closed things out with some high level skill.
“In the run chase, Callum Hawkins was back to somewhere near his best and Matt batted really well. It was then nice for me to do my job as captain and help us home.”
Staffordshire are next in action in the T20 format on Sunday when they entertain Shropshire in a double header at Burslem.
Main image: Staffordshire captain James Kettleborough saw positive signs from his side in the NCCa Twenty20 Cup. Picture: David Peters
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