Northants batsman Richard Levi signs contract extension ahead of Division One return

Levi, one of just four South Africans to make a century in IT20 cricket, has made his name predominantly in white-ball cricket but played an important part in securing his county's promotion

Northants batsman Richard Levi has signed a one-year extension to his contract with the club, keeping him at the county until the end of the 2020 season.

Levi, one of just four South Africans to make a century in IT20 cricket, has made his name predominantly in white-ball cricket; he enjoyed a stint with Mumbai Indians in the Indian Premier League in 2012.

However, he played a key role in the latter stages of Northamptonshire’s drive towards promotion to Division One of the County Championship.

In the penultimate game of the season, he led a second innings counterattack from 65 for four, making 60 at almost a run a ball to help David Ripley’s side set a formidable target for Durham to chase.

“It’s a really exciting time for everyone at the club and I’m looking forward to what’s next for us in Division One next season,” Levi said.

“We’ve got a great group of lads and there’s a lot of belief in the group, hopefully I can contribute to the side in all formats.”

Ripley added: “He probably didn’t have the summer he envisaged; I think when we saw him in the white ball side we saw glimpses of what he’s very much about. He’s a match winning cricketer and we are convinced we’re going to see more of that with Rich next season.

“Rich just scores at a naturally quick rate, I think about the game against Durham and he got 60 in not too many balls and he just played proper cricket shots

“That’s a difference he has, that ability to get big hundreds where he just gets into a tempo of not just hitting boundaries but building a proper match-winning innings.

“As a group it’s something we have to improve for next year, where are our 160s and 180s coming from that are really going to influence a Division One four-day match and I’ll be challenging the lads to do that for us.”