Spinner White insists Steelbacks will be 'hard to stop' once everything clicks

Northants will be looking to get their T20 campaign properly up and running when they entertain Durham Jets on Friday night (start 6.30pm), after losing their opening match in disappointing fashion on Wednesday.

White admitted that the whole team were '10 per cent' below par in the 15-run loss to the Rapids.

Worcestershire were allowed to make 196 for nine thanks to some inconsistent bowling, before the Steelbacks batting wilted under leg-spin pressure in the chase, slumping from 90 for one to 116 for six, with Usama Mir and Brett D’Oliveira taking three wickets apiece.

The biggest frustration, and also a positive, for the Steelbacks will be that, despite playing poorly, they were still only one or two good overs from winning the game.

And White believes says Northants will be 'a hard team to stop' once everything clicks into place.

"We are not far away," said the left-arm spinner. "We have a very good, strong squad, and a good side.

"I think all it is going to take is a couple of games to kick-start us and we will be a hard team to stop."

The Steelbacks are convinced they have the batting power to go far in this competition, and it was their attacking intent that saw many batters perish against the Rapids.

Josh Cobb, Saif Zaib, skipper David Willey and Rob Keogh were all caught as they tried to take the aerial route with big shots, with the latter two snaffled on the boundary ropes.

John Sadler stated after the game that his team will continue to attack, and White and also Willey have backed up their head coach.

"We go into every game looking at the opposition and making plans, thinking about how we are going to go and play against them," said White.

"They have a different bowling unit and that might mean we have to change one or two things, but our intent on how we want to go and play and bat doesn't change.

"We want to make sure that we go out and do that on Friday."

And writing on Twitter, Willey said: "It was special to be back out there as a Steelback.

"Not the result we wanted. Room for improvement with bat and ball (and my catching), but I like the way we want to go about our business!"

The Steelbacks have named an unchanged 15-man squad for the clash with Durham, but it remains to be seen whether or not they will go with the same starting 11.

The visitors have named a 14-man squad for the trip to Northampton, and it doesn't include new signing and former Steelbacks all-rounder Wayne Parnell.

The South African hasn't arrived in time from his stint playing for Royal Challengers Bangalore in the Indian Premier League.

Australian Ashton Turner, a Perth Scorchers team-mate of AJ Tye, is included though, along with a familiar face in fast bowler Brandon Glover, who was released by Northants at the end of last season. Glover is set to make his Durham debut.

He has signed a two-year deal in the north east and, if selected, the South African-born Netherlands international will be keen to prove a point to his former employers.

Durham, who will be playing their first match in the competition, have a new captain in former England opening batter Alex Lees.

They are without England trio Ben Stokes, Mark Wood and Matthew Potts, while Brydon Carse, Paul Coughlin and Mitchell Killeen are all injured.

Steelbacks squad: Willey, Cobb, Gay, Heldreich, Keogh, Lynn, McManus, Russell, Sanderson, Sales, Tye, Taylor, Vasconcelos, G White, Zai

Durham squad: Bedingham, Clark, Doneathy, de Leede, Glover, Jones, Lees, McAlindon, Raine, O Robinson, L Robinson, Sowter, Turner, Trevaskis.