My golfer dad helps when it’s not going right

Batsmen are said to see it like a beach ball when at the peak of their powers – for most of us mere mortals, a golf ball is a more suitable simile.

It’s just as well then that Northants’ academy player of the year, Ben Claydon, 16, has his ex-European Tour golfer of a father to turn to if he finds himself in the rough.

Russell Claydon enjoyed a fine amateur and pro golf career – including a victory in the European Tour’s BMW International in 1998 and a share of 11th at The Open four years previously.

And while not quite a case of like father, like son, Ben has taken full advantage of having a former professional sportsman in the family.

“I had a spell where I played a lot of golf with him, but I gave up after a couple of weeks as I was rubbish!” he said.“His success as a golfer was something I became aware of recently, I didn’t realise what he’d achieved as much when I was younger.

“There are a lot of similarities between the games – while golf is individual and cricket is a team sport, when things are not going quite right with your batting it can be a lonely place and that’s the same with golf.

“He knows how it feels, so he has that calming influence over me. If I had time I would still play but if I’m not playing at college I’m at Northants practising and you don’t get much time to do anything else.”

Originally a product of Unicorn Counties side Cambridgeshire’s youth ranks, Claydon was spotted by elite performance coach Kevin Innes and eventually invited on to the Northants academy. He has twice starred at Bunbury, the U15 youth festival that helped produce nine of the 11 England Test players who beat Pakistan at Old Trafford in July.

And Northants are in no immediate danger of losing Claydon to the clout of the bigger counties.

“The atmosphere and environment is a huge strength at Northants, we might be a quite small academy but the relationship between the players is really positive,” said Claydon. “Another strong point is how often we see David Ripley because a lot of other academies hardly see the first-team coaches.

“Rips doesn’t have to see as much as he does but he makes the effort. It’s fantastic to have so much contact.”

ODI stars David Willey and Ben Duckett are outstanding examples of just how well the Northants academy system works. And Claydon is another to keep tabs on, having featured several times for the 2nd XI this past summer.

He said:“I don’t want to look into the future too much because I’m still trying to make sure I enjoy my cricket.

“But I’d like to establish myself in the 2nd XI more next year, especially at the top of the order, as I see my batting as a strong point. But I still want to keep my bowling going as it should give me more chances in the future.”