A jewel in the crown

Northampton. A maligned cricket venue but, in truth, one of the treasures of English cricket.

No pretensions to grandeur at Wantage Road. No aspirations to host international matches. No thousands and thousands of empty bucket seats glaring down at play. Just a simple, pleasant, interesting ground (the old scorebox where they now sell second-hand books is surely the cutest edifice in world cricket) full of history and where people are friendly and spectators have the luxury of being able to walk all round the ground and watch play from all aspects.

And that history is rich. It was at Northampton that on a sunny September morning after a worryingly rainy night in 1911 Frank Foster's remarkable collection of ageing mavericks clinched Warwickshire's first county championship triumph. It was there too that one of the most exciting championship matches ever unfolded in 1988 when Northamptonshire beat the Bears after following on.

Who could forget Freddie Santall's unbeaten double-ton for the Bears there in 1933? Or Dermot Reeve's in 1990? Or Tom Pritchard's 8 for 43 in 1948? Or Ashley's Giles 8 for 90 in 2000 when only the intervention of Neil Smith prevented Giles becoming only the fourth Warwickshire bowler ever to take an all-ten?

Legendary cricketers have called Northampton home.
Bishen Bedi, Frank Tyson, David Steele, Mushtaq Mohammed, Vallance Jupp, George Tribe, Kapil Dev, Allan Lamb, Dennis Lillee, Colin Milburn, Richard Williams, Ken Fiddling, Curtly Ambrose, Lee Daggett, to name just a few.

A few visiting gentlemen have also left their imprint on the old place over the years. Not least George Best on a certain February day in 1970.

God bless Northampton and all who watch cricket there. A jewel in the crown of English cricket.

Size isn't everything.