Buoyant Nottinghamshire have rewarded Mick Newell for leading them to the County Championship with a new three-year contract.The director of cricket still had a year to run on his existing one but has put pen to paper on a deal which will keep him at Trent Bridge until the end of the 2008 season.Explained Notts’ Cricket Committee chairman, Stuart Foster: “Mick has done a fantastic job for us and not only did we want to reward his efforts, we’re also keen to ensure that we have continuity going forward.“Some people saw it as a gamble when we asked Mick to take over from Clive Rice but he has fully justified the faith that we showed in him. You cannot ask for much more than to win two promotions in 2004 and then top the Championship.“He identified the players who could bring us success, moulded them into a unit and has generated a tremendous team spirit.“As Mick knows only too well, there’s still a big job to be done if we are to get back to the situation in the 1980s when Notts were in contention for everything. That’s the challenge over the next three years.”Newell, who made his Second XI debut for the county in 1981, joined the playing staff in 1984 and has been at Trent Bridge ever since. He became Second XI captain in 1991 and then operations manager under Rice.He said: “I see the new contract as recognition of the team’s achievements over the past couple of years but obviously, I’m delighted to be given the extension.“The next three years will be a very important time. With an ageing team, there is bound to be a big turnover of players and the challenge for us is to keep winning while we go through the transitional period.”