Nottinghamshire return to LV= County Championship cricket this weekend with the arrival of Warwickshire to Trent Bridge.
After suffering their first defeat of the season at Middlesex, Notts have had a week to fine tune and refocus in time for the arrival of a side in good form, captained by Ian Bell, but bowler Peter Siddle has his sights set on a return to winning ways.
“We’re all disappointed with the result at Middlesex and want to turn things around so we’re going to go out there against Warwickshire, one of the toughest teams in this division and really perform,” said Siddle.
“It will be a stern test, Ian Bell has a few runs on the board already but I think we’ll do fine.
“We played some good cricket in London but fell short and if we can get back to the form that the lads showed against Lancashire we can definitely get a result.”
Siddle is set to make his home debut this weekend, after arriving in Nottingham midway through the county’s first LV= CC outing against Lancashire. After taking wickets for his country against England in the Ashes last summer, he is relishing the opportunity to take to the Trent Bridge turf and call it his home ground for the first time.
“Just arriving for the last couple of days of the Lancashire game, seeing the crowds and seeing the supporters was fantastic,” said Siddle.
“I’d love to see that happen again, and people get behind us and it’ll be a good game.
“I’ve had a bit of success in the test the last time around, the team didn’t but I got a few wickets. Hopefully it’ll be the same again this time.
It’s a beautiful ground and beautiful place to play. The temperature’s a little chillier than normal but I’m feeling settled here now and looking forward to the cricket.
“I never really get nerves, it’s a great job and career to have and every game is another match. We play for the enjoyment and come Sunday morning I’ll be up early and excited to get out and play.”
Nottinghamshire’s players have taken advantage of a break over the Easter weekend, and undertaken a series of one to one sessions to aid their preparations for Warwickshire’s arrival. They will also be boosted by the return to fitness of Ajmal Shahzad, who has shaken off the groin injury he sustained ahead of the season.
“It’s a great setup, it’s a great set of players and we get along well,” said Siddle. “The staff have been excellent, all the support that we get from them has been great.”
The boys have put in a good week so far, we’ll have another session before the match and I think everyone just wants to make amends for the result against Middlesex, get some good performances on the board and look for a positive result.”
Nottinghamshire squad to face Warwickshire (from): Steven Mullaney, Phil Jaques, Michael Lumb, James Taylor, Samit Patel, Riki Wessels, Alex Hales, Chris Read, Peter Siddle, Luke Fletcher, Ajmal Shahzad, Jake Ball, Andy Carter, Harry Gurney.