Hampshire will turn to young batsman Michael Roberts to fill the hole left by the departure of George Bailey as they head to LV= County Championship Division Two leaders Northamptonshire today.

As planned, Bailey has left the Ageas Bowl for a couple of weeks in order to compete for Australia in next month’s ICC Champions Trophy.

“It’s a shame to lose George, but we are losing him for the right reasons,” said coach, Giles White. “We were aware when we signed him that he was going to go off to the one-day competition and we will wish him well and we’ll follow him closely.

“He’s been a really good influence in the changing room and is a very popular player and hopefully we will see him again before too long.”

With Bailey absent and Neil McKenzie not returning to the club until the month is over, 24-year-old Roberts will be given the nod at Wantage Road.

Roberts made his County Championship debut in the draw at Gloucestershire earlier this month, making nine and 44 in his two innings.

White is confident that he will prove to be a solid replacement for Bailey this week.

“He obviously made his debut against Gloucestershire and performed well there,” he said. “I think he looked very comfortable for a first game. It’s early days for him, but he’s shown he can hold his own and he will be looking to push on now and put pressure on the other batsmen and see whether he can hold a place in the side.”

Northants are unbeaten in their opening five County Championship matches and have opened up a 25-point lead at the top of the table. Fifth-placed Hampshire trail them by 35 points.

White insists they cannot afford to let their opponents get too far ahead of them in the standings.

“I think they’re a good outfit, a well-balanced side, so I’m not surprised they have had a good start,” he said.

“We have to put in a good performance, because we don’t want them to get too far ahead of the pack.

“They’ve got a strong seam bowling department and had an overseas player (Trent Copeland) that’s done very well for them, so we’ll have to be at our best.

“Again, it’s about taking each ball at a time, making sure that we are ready for each ball, and build some partnerships and hopefully build a competitive score too.”

Hampshire will again be without wicketkeeper Adam Wheater, who is still out after injuring his side in the warm-up against Durham last week. Michael Bates should continue behind the stumps.

Northamptonshire’s opening batsman and four-day captain Stephen Peters is sidelined.

Hampshire: Jimmy Adams, Sean Ervine, Liam Dawson, Michael Roberts, James Vince, Michael Carberry, Michael Bates, David Griffiths, Danny Briggs, James Tomlinson, Chris Wood, David Balcombe.