The format and thinking behind England’s mini-tour of the Caribbean raises the possibility of three Nottinghamshire players being handed their One Day International debuts over the next few days.

Alex Hales, Michael Lumb and Harry Gurney have all been included in the 16-man party selected to face the West Indies in three ODIs in Antigua, before island-hopping to play the same opposition in a three-match t20 series in Barbados.

With the trip being used as an opportunity for an extensive warm-up ahead of the ICC World t20 in Bangladesh, which follows, the ECB have decided to use the same squad of players for both the 50-over and 20-over matches against the West Indies, to afford them extra match practice.

This strategy should enable proven short-format specialists Hales and Lumb to appear in ODIs for the first time and possibly enable Gurney to make his full senior debut.

A fourth Nottinghamshire player, Stuart Broad, is of course no stranger to the discipline but is scheduled to captain England in an ODI for the first time in what will be his 106th cap at this level.

Broad is currently one of thirteen Trent Bridge players to have represented England in ODIs, be they of the 60, 55 or 50 over variety.

Derek Randall became the first Nottinghamshire One Day International cricketer when he appeared at Lord’s against the West Indies in August 1976. Three years later he was a member of the England side that lost in the World Cup Final against the same opposition at the same venue. Randall won 49 ODI caps in all, making a highest score of 88.

Off-spin bowler Eddie Hemmings made 33 ODI appearances for England, beginning with a match against Pakistan on his home turf of Trent Bridge. A member of the side that played against Australia in the 1987 World Cup Final, his haul of caps also included six on the West Indies tour of 1990.

Wicketkeeper Bruce French played in 13 One Day Internationals between 1985 and 1988. Curiously, they were all played overseas, with appearances in India, Sharjah, Australia, Pakistan and New Zealand.

Should Hales and Lumb make their debuts together, they won’t be the first pair of Notts batsmen to open together for England.  The international careers of Tim Robinson (26 caps between 1984 and 1988) and Chris Broad (34 caps between 1987 and 1988) overlapped but they only appeared in the same ODI side in 10 matches.

Memory might suggest they walked out together at the start of an innings on a number of occasions together but that wasn’t the case. The left-handed Broad opened in nine of the matches with three other players, Graham Gooch, Martyn Moxon and Bill Athey, with Robinson batting at three or, on one occasion, even four.

The only time in their ODI careers that the two Nottinghamshire internationals opened together for England was in the Bicentennial Match against Australia in Melbourne, in February 1988.

Broad’s 106 against New Zealand in Napier in 1988 remains the only occasion in which a Notts batsman has scored an ODI century for England, with Robinson’s best being an 83 against Pakistan at Sharjah.

Chris Lewis played in 53 ODIs, 34 of them during his stint with Notts which ran from 1992 to 1994. Eight of his caps were gained in the Caribbean, four in Trinidad, two in Barbados, with further matches in St Vincent and Jamaica.

Between 2000 and 2006 Chris Read played in 36 ODIs, five of them on the 2004 tour of the West Indies.

The same opposition featured in Paul Franks’ only ODI appearance. A dramatic final over, bowled by Chris Gayle, brought West Indies victory by just three runs in front of a packed, sun-drenched Trent Bridge crowd.

Ryan Sidebottom played in a couple of ODIs in 2001 as a Yorkshire player but after moving to Trent Bridge he gained a further 23 between 2007 and 2010.

Graeme Swann had also gained international experience before moving to Nottingham. His first appearance had been as a Northants player, in South Africa in 2000. His return to the international fold came seven years later and heralded the start of a successful era which saw the off spinner become the number one ranked ODI bowler.

His eventual tally of 73 caps brought him 104 wickets, with a best of 5-28.

Samit Patel remains in contention to add to his 36 appearances. The all-rounder made his debut against Scotland in 2008 and last featured a year ago in India. He has a top score of 70 not out in ODIs and best bowling figures of 5-41.

England’s current t20 captain was a Leicestershire player when he made his ODI debut for England in 2006. Stuart Broad has taken 165 wickets from his 105 matches so far, with his best bowling performance coming at Trent Bridge, when he took 5-23 against South Africa in 2008.

James Taylor gained his second ODI cap last summer when he played against Ireland in Dublin – almost two years after winning his first cap as a Leicestershire player – also against Ireland in Dublin!

Hales, Lumb and Gurney will be hoping to add to this illustrious list, with matches being played at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium at North Sound on Friday 28 February, Sunday 2 March and Wednesday 5 March.

India return to Trent Bridge for the first Investec Test Match of the series and the final Royal London One-Day International. With tickets selling quickly, don't miss out and secure your seats here.