Northants new boy Bartlett insists the best is yet to come from him

New signing George Bartlett is excited by his new start at Northants, and is promising he is aiming to fulfil his undoubted potential at the County Ground.

The 26-year-old made the move from Somerset over the winter, having put pen to paper on a three-year contract at Wantage Road.

He has made the move from the club he had called home since signing on at Taunton as a young teenager, emerging from the south west county’s academy system.

The Surrey-born player hit the headlines as a 17-year-old when he scored 179 for England Under-19s against India in Nagpur.

That mammoth innings beat the previous record for an overseas innings for an England U19 batter, the 170 made by future England captain Nasser Hussain in Sri Lanka in 1987.

Bartlett was then handed his Somerset first-team debut in 2017, and went on to make close to 100 appearances for the club across all formats.

He was mainly utilised in first-class cricket, and has scored eight centuries and eight half-centuries in his red ball career to date, averaging just shy of 30.

The player himself readily admits they are numbers that can be improved on, and he is backing himself to do just that at Northants.

"There is definitely more to come from me,” said Bartlett, who has been training with the County squad since last November, and has uprooted to live on the outskirts of Northampton.

"At Somerset there were glimpses of what I can do, with the 100s and some of the performances.

"But I think as people can probably see, the consistency was up and down, which it is in every cricketer but is something I want to level out.

"I want to do that and perform on a more consistent basis."

So what was the motivation for the move from the south west to the east midlands?

"It was a really great offer from Northamptonshire,” revealed Bartlett, who made eight Championship appearances for Somerset last summer. scoring two centuries and one half-century in his tally of 395 runs at 30.38.

"At Somerset, I was in a very similar position every year, and I wanted to try and progress that, and progress my white ball cricket, and have more of an impact in all three formats.

"I hope to do that here."

White ball cricket is on the backburner for now though, with the LV= Insurance County Championship Division Two campaign set to start this Friday and dominating the first two months of the season.

Bartlett is in line to make his first-team debut for Northants in the team’s opener against Sussex at Hove.

But he is well aware he is going to have to perform from the word go to ensure he keeps his place in the team, as he feels there is plenty of competition for places.

"There are plenty of good batsmen here at Northants, so it's not a case of once you are in you are guaranteed all the games,” said Bartlett.

"You have to perform well consistently, and there is pressure there certainly from other people, which is a good thing."

One slight setback for Bartlett is the fact that he has joined a Northants side competing in the second tier of English cricket following their relegation from division one in 2023.

When Bartlett agreed to join the County midway through last summer, Northants were a top-flight team, but he is hopeful the club’s stay in division two will be a short-lived one.

Asked about his ambitions for the season, he said: “From a team point of view this year it is obviously the ambition to go up, that is the main one.

"Everybody says this at the start of the year, but I do genuinely think we have got a good squad, mixed with some good overseas players which is crucial in county cricket.

"Everybody has good overseas players and you need to keep up with that.

"Then it is about the squad depth and how long we can keep trying to deliver our best performances

"It is a long season and I do think the squad is strong, but only time will tell."

And on a personal level, does Bartlett set himself any targets?

"I don't like putting numbers on it, and it is an old cliche, but I just want to score as many runs as I can.

"It does get tough at times, but hopefully when it is going well I will cash in and that is a big thing that I have learned.

"Once you do have a good run of scores and get in, it is about cashing in and making the most of it."

Bartlett is excited at the prospect of getting his Wantage Road career underway, and is confident the team can make a good start to the 2024 campaign.

And he is hopeful the arrival of overseas pair Chris Tremain and Karun Nair will help the team get off to a flyer.

The Australian fast bowler and Indian batter are with Northants for four and seven matches respectively, and Bartlett is looking forward to working with them.

"I have not played with them at all, so it will be interesting to see how they are around the changing room,” said Bartlett, who says he has found the Northants family to be a very welcoming one.

"The lads say they are really good, and that is obviously a big part of it as well.

"What impact can they have outside of the cricket pitch, it is a big thing for everyone as everyone knows they are world-classplayers.

"Chris Tremain has had a great winter and hopefully they both come in and hit the ground running and help us win some matches."​