Dream Team

1. Matthew Hayden –

retired He was a very aggressive player who could play against all types of bowlers. He was particularly aggressive against the quicker bowlers, putting them under pressure – and that got a lot of runs for us at Northamptonshire.

2. Mike Hussey –

retired It was just the volume of runs that he scored which was so impressive and the way he went about his cricket. He was so professional all the way through. I remember him scoring 300 here at Northamptonshire and then going into the nets the next day and training as hard as anybody. From a professional point of view he would be right up there.

3. Murray Goodwin –

retired He was very good on the pull and cut and also the sweeps against spinners. The type of No.3 you want, he went on to be a very prolific run-scorer at Sussex.

4. Allan Lamb –

retired His selection speaks for itself. At his height he was taking on the West Indies when no-one else could. He could pull the ball, cut the ball and was a very good man to have in tough situations at Northamptonshire – a match winner.

5. David Sales –

retired When the spinners came on he took them on more or less straight away with a big slog sweep, and the volume of runs that he scored for Northamptonshire in county cricket was phenomenal. Maybe he was a little bit unlucky not to play for England for different reasons, but with his talent he really should have made it at that level.

6. David Capel –

retired He was very, very quick and could be trusted to get most people out when you needed a wicket at Northamptonshire. David was a wholehearted cricketer who just wanted to be the best he could.

7. Kevin Curran –

deceased I practised a lot with Kevin when I was a youngster at Northants and he was one of the fittest guys I knew on the county circuit.Whenever there was a fight to be had, and you had to knuckle down to win the game, he was there and he was a real team player. I think at No.7 he holds the bat nicely. When he was younger he could really get the ball down there at good pace.

8. Matt Prior –

retired A very talented batsman but I think his glovework improved over time and he became a very good wicketkeeper/ batsman. He was also really good around the team. He really motivated people at Sussex and got them on the right track to win games.

9. Paul Taylor –

retired He played right up to Test and ODI level and the best thing about Paul was he swung the ball and put it in the right areas.With that left arm he could bring the ball back and get LBWs and moved it across right-handers to bring the slips into play. He got well over 500 wickets for Northants. He didn’t just play well occasionally, he was good day-in day-out. Mr Reliable.

10. Curtly Ambrose –

retired When I first came into the side at Northants he was in the side. The way he could turn games at will was incredible. If you wanted to bowl at team out he could do it, he just had that skill and talent and pace. He could scare any team and it was a pleasure to play with him.

11. Mushtaq Ahmed –

retired For someone to get 100 wickets twice at Sussex and help us win the Championship when I was there in 2003 was brilliant. He didn’t bowl many bad balls at all and was one of the nicest guys to play cricket with. He was just there or thereabouts all the time, putting so much pressure on every batsman. He had a fantastic career and the stats he got for Somerset and Sussex were fantastic.