In 1976 my family was living in a small village on the borders of Northants, Oxfordshire and Warwickshire called Byfield. Buy a mile one way and a mile and a half the other way we were just inside Northants. And one day I was told by my Uncle Chris (who was staying) and my father that we must all listen to the radio as something historic was happening.
It was the Gillette Cup Final. Northants defeated Lancashire by 76 runs to secure the first trophy in the history of our County. And so I became a supporter of Northamptonshire. As a teenager I watched them in Folkestone (with my father’s father), Weston Super Mare (with Uncle Chris) and with friends or alone at Headingly, Derby, the Oval, Lords, Luton (with my father) and of course at the County Ground Northampton. Those were the days of Larkins, Cook, Allan Lamb, Tom Lamb, Peter Willey, David Steele, Safraz Nawaz ( my “favourite player if only for that one glorious six to win at Luton against Kent which sailed over my Kent Supporting father’s head), etc. For a time we were quite good.
I have not seen a Northants cricket game for years and as a poor and unfashionable club Northants has not really prospered. But I wake up today to see that for the first time since 1992 and for only the fourth time ever, Northants has won a trophy (the T20 pyjama cricket knockabout). And apparently we are going great guns in all competitions.
There is so much cricket all year round that I am not sure I can keep track of it all or really care that much but it gives me some pleasure to see Northants win something at last. Happy days.