Walker praises attitude of his players in victory over Northants

Head coach Matt Walker admitted the 102-run triumph against Northants was not as easy as the margin would suggest.

He said: “It was not a straightforward task today. It took quite a bit of hard work because the pitch flattened out very quickly and in the end it took a lot of skill and patience to break the wall down, if you like.

“Before lunch we drifted a little bit in the field and took our foot off the gas. Perhaps we started to expect things to happen. But after lunch we showed a bit more attitude, energy and desire and we stuck at it out there until the wickets came.

“Matt Henry has been in unbelievable form this season and the number of wickets he’s got is extraordinary. But all our other bowlers have also stood up, all season, in support of Matt and they’ve all had their moments too.

“I thought, for instance, that Harry Podmore bowled brilliantly today – as he did up at Derby in our last match on a flat pitch. He kept on running in, didn’t let Northants get away from us and he performed a holding role superbly.

“He certainly deserved to get the couple of wickets he got.

“As for the last three games, we have just got to worry about ourselves. We have a tough match next week at Lord’s, against a very good Middlesex team, and with Sussex playing good cricket at the moment and Warwickshire still out in front it will be an exciting finish to the Division Two season.

“Indeed, I reckon there is some Division One standard cricket going on at the top of this division with everyone fighting hard to win games of cricket.”