Newton and Keogh stay at Northants

Northants batsmen Rob Keogh and Rob Newton have signed new contracts with the promoted county.

Keogh, 21, has signed a two-year contract, with the 23-year-old Newton agreeing a three-year deal.

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“Rob Keogh marks himself hard, but towards the end of last season he's shown what a good player he is”

Northants head coach David Ripley Keogh made 458 Championship runs in eight games last season, including a vital double-century against Hampshire.

Newton started the campaign strongly, scoring 251 runs in six matches before injuring his ankle in a one-day match against Kent in June.

Head coach David Ripley told BBC Sport: "Rob Keogh took some big strides forward at the end of last season.

"The double-hundred against Hampshire after we were 32-4 on a green wicket speaks for itself, but he backed that up against Worcestershire in the Championship, and also in the YB40.

"He marks himself hard, but I think he's shown himself what a good player he is. He's a local lad who has been coming to the club since he was 14, and it's good to see him taking his game to a higher level.

"Rob Newton is a destructive player in all formats of the game. He was in the last year of his contract last season and understandably wanted to see where we were as a club, but he saw enough before he was injured to know he wanted to be part of what we were doing.

"He's one of a group of young players who've come through the academy and want to be competitive."

Twenty-year-old batsman James Kettleborough, who did not play for the first team last season, has also signed a new one-year deal.

Earlier this week the club confirmed that experienced top-order batsman David Sales had also agreed a new one-year contract.

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Sales agrees new Northants contract

Batsman David Sales has signed a new one-year deal with Northamptonshire.

The 35-year-old, who averaged 45.95 and scored three centuries as Northants won promotion to Division One this summer, will enter his 20th year at Wantage Road with the contract.

Sales told BBC Radio Northampton: "It's been quite a while since we were last in that league and the opportunity to test myself is very exciting.

"We're not going to make the numbers up - we'll be trying to win it."

First class: 14,037 runs at an average of 39.65 List A: 7,406 runs at an average of 33.81 Twenty20: 1,209 runs at an average of 29.48 Sales has spent his entire career with Northants, having joined the county in 1994.

And he insists this year's FLt20 trophy winners must have the right attitude in next term's County Championship, adding: "If we go up there looking to survive, we'll come straight back down again."

This year is the third time Sales has been involved in a promotion-winning side with Northants, achieving the feat in 2000 and 2003, and he says he is proud of his achievements with the county.

"You don't get employed if you're not consistent enough," he said.

"It's been a great journey, I've a lot of fond memories and it's been fantastic to play for this long. It doesn't happen that often in the County Championship.

"I'm very proud of what I've achieved and I'm still enjoying the battle."

Northants head coach David Ripley says Sales' experience will be valuable in Division One next season.

"He's racked up a lot of first-class runs," he said.

"He's also been able to contribute in the one-day formats and he'll be in consideration for that. But there's no doubt, in Division One, needing that little bit more experience and quality, it'll be up to other lads to try to shove him out of the way to get the spot."

Ripley also confirmed that Northants are still hopeful of recruiting two more players for next season, having already secured Maurice Chambers from Essex.

"We're making some progress on a left-arm spinner," said Ripley. "We expect something on that hopefully by the end of this week.

"With the overseas player, it's not a straight-forward process but we're already quite a way down the line with a seam bowler for the first three months of the season."

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