In their 102 years in the county championship, Northants have never been top of the pile. Few Northants players over the years have been world-beaters. But I’d take a bet that this team would not only beat Mars, but most county teams of any era. In the 42 years I have loyally supported the team (mostly from afar) only two of the players I saw have made it to the best XI. So the remaining nine win their selection from reputation and my limited reading of history and statistics. It wasn’t easy. I had to leave out Freddie Brown, Curtly Ambrose, Dennis Lillee, Matthew Hayden and Mike Hussey (only played two seasons but averaged 78 and scored 16 hundreds in only 43 matches). But this is a well-balanced XI from any perspective, with four quick bowlers, all different, two bamboozling spinners and strong batting down to No 8.

1. Dennis Brookes: Possibly the best-loved player in the history of the club, Brookes was also the heaviest run-scorer and so could not possibly be left out. Had he not been an opening bat in the era of Hutton and Washbrook, he would have gained more than his one England cap. An unobtrusive but elegant accumulator of more than 30,000 runs in first-class cricket and one of the gentlemen of the game.

2. Fred Bakewell: Not well known today, Bakewell was the Colin Milburn of his era, in style if not appearance, a daringly attacking batsman who must have been frightening to bowl to (he reminded Neville Cardus of Victor Trumper) and played six times for England, averaging 45. Like Milburn he was 27 when involved in a car accident that ruined his career. Even more strangely, like Milburn, he lost an eye in another car crash many years after his retirement.

3. Raman Subba Row: Northamptonshire have not been blessed with many truly great batmen, so it was not easy to pick the right No 3. But Subba Row’s record speaks for itself – he was a fine left-hand batsman who averaged nearly 44 in the years after his move from Surrey and he helped to mould one of the stronger Northants teams of any era in the late 1950s when they were strong challengers to Surrey.

4. Allan Lamb: Arguably the most naturally gifted batsman in the club’s history, Lamb almost led Northants to the championship in the dramatic 1995 season, leading the way with his swashbuckling strokeplay and aggressive captaincy. Had he not played regularly for England he probably would have overtaken Brookes’s record for most club centuries.

5. Mushtaq Mohammad: An immensely talented all-rounder, Mushie gets in the team not only because of his wonderful leg breaks and googlies, and fine close fielding, but because of his more than 15,961 runs and 32 hundreds at a average of 39.12. More than that, he was the man who captained Northants to their first trophy – the Gillette Cup - on that glorious day in September 1976.

6. Vallance Jupp: Another unfamiliar name to many, but Jupp was probably the finest all-rounder in Northants' history. One of the Wisden cricketers of the year for 1928, he captained the side (1928-1931), took more than 1,000 wickets cheaply and piled up more than 13,000 runs, doing the double of 1,000 runs and 100 wickets in a season ten times. He had plenty of run-ins with the club committee (they didn’t take to his insistence on a masseur to travel with the team) but was an inspiring captain.

7. George Tribe: Another of those Australians (like Hussey) who would have played for his country far more in another era. But that was all to the good for Northants. A great left-arm spinner who could turn the ball bewilderingly, and a decent batsman, Tribe manages to push Bishen Bedi out of the team, which says a lot. He struck with his first ball for the county and took 1,0 21 wickets at only 20.25 each. They say his left-hander’s googly was unplayable. How could he be left out?

8. George Thompson: Who? Well, if you were watching Northants’ first match in county cricket, in 1905, the first ball was received by the luxuriantly moustachioed Thompson. He was a very decent bat but gets selected for his terrific bowling, which more than anything got his club voted into the championship. His accurate medium-pacers brought him 1,0 78 wickets at 18.88 apiece.

9. Frank Tyson: The typhoon is probably the most famous English-born player to have played for Northants, remembered for his Ashes-winning tour to Australia in 1954-55 as well as his terrifying speed. His first over to the Indians in 1952 was one of the fastest seen at the County Ground. After the first ball, the slips moved back five yards. The Martians won’t know what’s hit them.

10. Keith Andrew: Undoubtedly the best wicketkeeper ever produced by the county, Andrew was capped only twice by England. Like the immaculate Bob Taylor, he missed out because his batting was not up to scratch. But he was immensely gifted and a popular and sympathetic captain.

11. Nobby Clark: Another choice from the early days, but Clark fits the bill perfectly and his left-arm quicks would vary the opening attack. In fact his high action was considered so perfect that Worthington, the beer people, used him in one of their advertisements and gave him a crate of ale. He was a moody character but took more 1,102 wickets for the club at 21.26 apiece.

My favourite XI

1. Roger Prideaux: My favourite player when I was eight years old and the exotic-sounding opener inspired my allegiance to the county. Not the greatest batsman but formed a formidable opening partnership with Colin Milburn.

2. Colin Milburn: How could I leave him out? A great, tubby entertainer. After the car accident, he made a comeback and I remember seeing him hit a six at Guildford, possibly his last.

3. David Steele: Limpet-like batsman, brilliant close fielder, underrated bowler, surprise England hero, distinctive grey hair. Of course he gets picked. And he was a vital, calming presence on that day we won the Gillette Cup.

4. Allan Lamb: Best regular Northants batsman I saw and captained the almost great team that came third to Warwickshire in 1995. Always entertaining to watch.

5. Mushtaq Mohammad: I loved his wristy batting but most of all the lick of the fingers, the few paces to the wicket and the fizzing leg breaks and googlies. I spent hours in the garden trying to copy him.

6. Wayne Larkins: Probably should be higher up the order but I had to get him in somehow. After a terrible start to his career he blossomed into a devastating but attractive hitter who regularly tore county attacks apart.

7. George Sharp: Tricky to decide which wicketkeeper, but George was there at the wicket at Lord’s when Northants won their first silverware. A decent 'keeper and handy batsman.

8. Anil Kumble: Still going strong for India, he played a devastating part during the 1995 campaign, bowling teams out over and over again. One of the world’s greats.

9. Sarfraz Nawaz: He was the man, in company with Sharp, who hit the winning run at Lord’s that 1976 day, which alone deserves selection. But he was also a fine opening bowler that no batsman felt comfortable facing.

10. Bishen Bedi: Sorry Monty, I had to go for the other great Sikh to play for Northants. I even forgive him for letting David Hughes smash 26 off the final over at Lord’s in 1976. A brilliant exponent of the art of spin.

11. Curtly Ambrose: Admittedly he rarely hit the heights for Northants that he regularly reached for West Indies, but he was the best quick bowler I saw play for the county. Devastatingly fast and accurate.