Will Hawkes: Experience has taught Hall to seize the day and Northants are enjoying the moment

Being shot at point-blank range tends to give you a new perspective on life. Andrew Hall, Northamptonshire's South African captain, was the victim of a mugging 12 years ago in his homeland that left him with a bullet in his hand but, more importantly in the long term, a desire to succeed that saw him picked to represent his country soon afterwards.

"That had a massive impact on my approach to life and cricket," he says now. "After that I focused on putting 100 per cent into whatever I'm doing, and really working towards reaching my goals and achieving them. It showed me that you don't know how much time you've got left. It was a big turning point."

Hall, now 35, went on to represent his country more than 100 times in all forms of the game. He has also played cricket across the world, including a stint captaining the Chandigarh Lions in the ill-fated Indian Cricket League. He's brought that experience to bear this season as Northants have begun in fine form: they're second in the Second Division of the Championship and have won three out of three 40-over games. Today they face Gloucestershire at Bristol in confident mood.

"The atmosphere at the club is very good at the moment," he says. "We spoke a lot during the winter about what we wanted to achieve. I'm really chuffed. Mentally and physically, we're in a great place."

Beating Gloucestershire, as Hall acknowledges, will be a tough task but he is bullish about the rest of the season. The focus is on promotion to the top flight, a level that Northants haven't played at since 2004. "We want to compete in all competitions but the main aim is to be promoted," says Hall.

As a South African, Hall is not quite a member of an endangered species in county cricket, but there are certainly far fewer of his countrymen in the English domestic game than, say, five years ago. Few, though, could resent the presence of a cricketer as focused and experienced as Hall.

"At the moment the mix is right [between foreign players and home-grown cricketers]," says Hall. "There are a lot more local players, which is what English cricket wants – but at the same time, it's good for the local players to play against foreign talent. It's a case of those home-grown players getting the right experience so that when they get into the national side they're ready."

Hall is not the only foreigner at Wantage Road (there's Chaminda Vaas, the infatigable Sri Lankan seamer, and wicketkeeper Niall O'Brien, brother of Ireland's World Cup hero Kevin, who yesterday joined Gloucestershire) and he's also far from the only man in the side with plenty of experience. He believes the Midlands team's early success has a lot to do with this accumulated knowledge. "It's great to have so much experience in the side," he says. "It's nice to be able to pick four or five people's minds before making a decision.

"I really enjoy captaining this side, the workload. It's going well – that's the main thing, getting the guys in a good frame of mind and happy with what they're doing. When we take the field the guys are raring to go."

One manifestation of the squad's experience is that every player is expected to take responsibility for their own preparation. It's a mature approach that appears to be paying dividends.

"We've put a lot more emphasis on the players preparing themselves, so when we do get to practise we give them a bit more leeway – we say 'what do you have to do to get ready for the next game?' It's about people taking responsibility for their own game. We judge them on how it goes on the field – and it's gone really well because the guys have worked hard."