Nottinghamshire Director of Cricket Mick Newell will pursue an overseas bowler in a bid to revive his side's LV= County Championship fortunes.
In a candid interview with BBC Cricket Correspondent Kevin Howells, Newell said that he has a plan in place should Chris Read decide not to continue as captain, expects to find a way to allow Alex Hales to feature in the Indian Premier League and realised his Nottinghamshire side lacked title winning credentials early in the season.
“I felt very early on that we weren’t going to win the Championship simply because we didn’t have enough quality in our bowling,” he said.
“Andre Adams has been our best bowler for some time now and when he broke down in the first game we were quite exposed.
“We’ve had a huge turnover of bowlers and we’re trying to replace them but we haven’t been able to find the quality and experience that we need to trouble the top three.
“Darren Pattinson had had enough, Ryan Sidebottom wanted a longer deal and Charlie Shreck wanted to play every week but whatever the circumstances, our bowling attack is weaker now than it was three years ago.
“We think that Luke Fletcher and Harry Gurney can develop to that standard and I think that Jake Ball will emerge next season after a great year in one day cricket.”
“I’ve got a plan in my mind as to what I’d like to do if Chris decides it’s time to step down and we may even start to consider a split captaincy situation.” Mick Newell
The relative strength of the batting group, who secured more batting bonus points than Nottinghamshire did in their last Championship winning campaign in 2010, has led to a change in overseas recruitment with Newell targeting an overseas bowler.
“The big policy change is that we’re going to look to recruit an overseas bowler after ten years of favouring a batsman,” said Newell.
“Discussions will have to start soon because the best players need to look at fixtures, consider the IPL and get clearance from their board.”
Newell is braced for discussions with Chris Read who he hopes to persuade to sign a new contract at Trent Bridge, regardless of whether or not he chooses to surrender the captaincy.
“Chris has had a tough summer with the bat, but that’s on the back of 14 outstanding summers so I think the only conversation we’ll have is whether he wants to carry on as captain because I think he’ll want to continue as a player,” said Newell.
“You’ve picked two players there in Michael Lumb and James Taylor; one of which has expressed a serious interest in doing it and one is no doubt a future captain. The question around Taylor is whether captaincy will affect his four day game.
“I’ve got a plan in my mind as to what I’d like to do if Chris decides it’s time to step down and we may even start to consider a split captaincy situation.”
Newell will also conduct discussions with Alex Hales who anticipates a lucrative offer to feature in the Indian Premier League, and acknowledges that a negotiated stance that allows him to fulfil his ambitions may be the only way forwards.
“If we are to offer players the security of a long-term deal then the IPL becomes less attractive unless they can make life-changing amounts of money,” said Newell.
“We have to be aware that, for part of our summer at least, he doesn’t want to be here. The IPL is played throughout April and May and if that’s the only cricket he’s going to play outside of Nottinghamshire then we have to find a way to live with that.
“Alex Hales can make life-changing amounts of money so we may have to allow him to do that so we can find a way to keep him here for a big part of our season.”