On the field of play, Staffordshire captain James Kettleborough cuts a relaxed figure. In fact, he gives little away.
Spectators would be hard pushed to know the state of the game, without glancing at the scoreboard, such is Kettleborough’s calm demeanour.
He’d make a pretty good poker player.
Of course, he shows delight at the fall of each wicket from his usual position perched at first slip – and celebrates run landmarks in his own style.
But he’s always been at pains to keep his emotions in check when it comes to matters on the NCCA battlefield.
After Oliver Tucker took the wicket which defeated Buckinghamshire last week to win the Division One East title, Kettleborough embraced each and every one of his team-mates.
In sport, those are the moments you live for. It would have been strange if Kettleborough hadn’t celebrated.
However, the county skipper is a pretty private person and an outpouring of his true emotions wouldn’t have come easily in the public domain.
‘Wise words’
Behind closed doors, it’s a different story.
So it was in the sanctuary of the High Wycombe dressing room where Kettleborough could truly – and comfortably – address his players about the magnitude of their achievement.
The contents of the conversation he had with his players will, of course, stay between those involved, but topping the table provided that extra ounce of satisfaction to the captain.
It’s not been a straightforward summer for the players, most notably dealing with the news that head coach Andy Carr is undergoing treatment for bowel cancer.
Day Three report: Staffordshire are crowned NCCA Division One East champions
That may have rocked some groups, but such is the tight-knit nature of the Staffs camp that it did the complete opposite.
It galvanised them – if they needed to be any more – and made them even more determined to bring success not only to the county, but also reward their coach who has worked tirelessly to bring the best out of Staffordshire cricket.
‘Time to go again’
However, Kettleborough accepts that the job is only half done and Berkshire lie in wait at West Bromwich Dartmouth in the four-day final, starting on Sunday, with the overall NCCA Championship title up for grabs.
“There was a lot of pride and satisfaction at winning the division,” said Kettleborough.
“We have spoken about what it means to us as a group. I talked to the players after the game and there were plenty of emotions.
“There’s everything going on off the field with Carri (Andy Carr) and it meant more to me personally to win the division for him. It’s something I’ve always wanted to win and there was a huge sense of pride. I’m really pleased for everyone.
“When I spoke to the lads after Bucks it was a strange feeling because we’ve won the division and that’s a massive achievement.
“We enjoyed the time after the game, and rightly celebrated it, but then we parked it and moved on because there’s one more challenge to go.
“I wanted to speak to the players after we won the T20 Cup at Tring Park last year, but I couldn’t express my emotions.
“Hopefully the chat I had with them after Bucks shows how strong the feelings are and we can take those into the final.”
‘Turning point’
As Staffordshire put the finishing touches to their preparations for this weekend’s final, it seems remarkable now how their red-ball season transformed in a matter of days.
When they started their chase of 307 to beat Suffolk at Stafford earlier in the month in their penultimate game, there was still the very real prospect of Staffs being relegated from the division.
But in a few hours, they had recorded their second-highest successful run chase to move from bottom of the standings to the top.
Day Three report: Staffordshire move to top of the table after epic run chase
They had a four-point lead going to Bucks, just five days’ later, but managed to secure a 67-run victory to win the division for the first time since 2019.
“Three-day cricket is really difficult. When you first start on a Sunday morning you don’t know where you’re going to be on a Tuesday evening,” explained Kettleborough.
“That’s the beauty of the game. Over the three days there’s passages of play which can influence games and we’ve been on the right side of those.
“The run chase against Suffolk was massive. It put us in the driving seat heading into the game at Bucks and gave us a huge amount of confidence.
“That was a really impressive run chase and it was just us playing our style of cricket.”
‘Finishing touches’
Left-arm spinner Tom Brett then picked up 12 wickets in the match at High Wycombe to earn Staffordshire victory that left them as divisional champions.
Bucks had needed to win the match to pip their rivals, so a result was always going to be on the cards.
Staffordshire set Bucks 246 to win, but the hosts were bowled out for 178.
“It was a good wicket, but with the weather we’ve had it was very dry and was always going to be dictated by spin,” added Kettleborough.
“They have a frontline spinner in Connor Haddow, but, I know I’m biased, I believe we have the best spinner in the competition in Bretty (Tom Brett).
“It played in our favour. By the end of day one we knew it was going to be a result game, plus the fact we had to bowl last on it.
“I don’t like relying on the toss because there’s so much luck involved. But batting first enabled us to take control of the game and we knew it was going to spin more as we went on.
“It was one of those scores – 246 – where we felt that it was a lot of runs to get on that wicket in the final innings.
“But it was not an impossible chase and it only needed two of their lads to get in and build a partnership. So it was a target where both teams fancied it.
‘Early success’
“When we got them 6-3 we knew they were going to be reliant on Ross Richardson and Alex Kervezee. So to get them both in the couple of overs before lunch gave us huge momentum.
“It was probably the most hard-fought three-day game I’ve played in. Day one was in the balance and they would have been happy to have limited us to less than 300.
“They came hard at us on day two and that revved us up for the final day’s play.”
‘Justified move’
Kettleborough had 13 years with Bedfordshire before making the switch to Staffordshire ahead of the 2023 campaign.
He was joined by close friend Brett – and the pair were quickly into their trophy-winning stride.
In the first couple of months after debuting for Staffs, they had their hands on the Twenty20 Cup for the first time in the county’s history.
Kettleborough, though, has always had his eye on the big prize since he signed.
“Me and Bretty joined in the same winter and were both in agreement that although there were lots of reasons why we moved to Staffs, one of them was because we wanted to be part of a winning team,” he said.
“We enjoyed ourselves with Bedfordshire and look back with pride at what we did there. But we wanted to end our careers having won stuff and Staffs gave us the opportunity to do that.
“The T20 stuff was great, but I wanted more and the Championship format is the pinnacle of the season, in my view. These are the type of games you want to be a part of.”
‘Familiar foes’
Staffordshire’s first appearance in the final for five years sees them lock horns with Berkshire once more.
Their last meeting at Banbury, back in 2019, turned into a low-scoring classic. Berkshire eventually won by one wicket as they chased just 97 to win.
Dan Lincoln’s side have been hugely consistent in all formats of the game in recent years.
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Staffs managed to beat them in the T20 semi-finals last year, but Kettleborough is well aware of the task facing his players.
“I think it’s fair to say that we are underdogs and I don’t say that lightly,” added the Staffs leader.
“Berkshire have dominated their division by winning the first three matches and everyone knows about their track record and reputation.
“But I don’t think it’s a reflection on who is better than who,
“It’s a similar process to any other game, although there is more on it because it’s a final.
“We will play our cricket and back ourselves. At T20 finals day last year some of our players didn’t know anything about Berkshire and we beat them. We will deliver the same message we always do.
“It’s a different format and T20 finals day feels a long time ago now. I’m not sure how much relevance there will be, probably more so for them because they will want to put that result right.
“But this is a four-day final and we want to show them that we mean business.”
‘Long-term vision’
Kettleborough, despite the aforementioned cool persona, has a steely determination to ensure the overall crown is in Staffordshire’s possession at the end of the final.
However, he accepts that there is also a nod to the long term when Staffordshire walk out on Sunday.
At times this season, Staffs have fielded teams featuring six players aged 21 or under.
And regardless of the result against Berkshire, Kettleborough insists that the future is looking extremely bright.
“Any time you win a game of cricket for Staffordshire it means a great deal. It would mean everything if we could do it,” he explained.
“But it’s not about me and what it means. It’s about knowing how good we can be and helping the players to fulfil their potential.
“It’s really exciting because whatever happens against Berkshire we will go into the winter with a really young group.
“These lads have stepped up and performed for Staffs and hopefully there’s a lot more cricket to be played by them for the county.”
Main image: James Kettleborough leads out Staffordshire in the NCCA Championship final against Berkshire this weekend. Picture: Alfie Shenton
