Nottinghamshire return to LV= County Championship action this week, hosting table-topping Yorkshire at Trent Bridge. 

Trailing Yorkshire by 26 points with two matches remaining, Second-placed Notts could remain in the title hunt with a handsome victory over their rivals, and Director of Cricket Mick Newell has insisted his side are keen to upstage the champions elect. 

“We’re very focused on this game,” he said. 

“There’s a chance for us to get back into the title race and our job is to win our next two games to make sure Yorkshire have to win their last match. 

“The weather looks fair so there’s every chance of a positive result after four days of cricket.

"Our job is to win our next two games to make sure Yorkshire have to win their last match." Mick Newell

“It’s a big challenge for us because we didn’t win last week and we’re one or two bowlers shy who would be in our team but we’re full strength in our batting lineup and it gives the bowlers a chance to show what they can do.

“The good thing is we have one chance, one opportunity to end this season on a high and we have to make sure the disappointment from Saturday is gone by the time we start. 

Both Yorkshire and Nottinghamshire will be boosted by the return of their respective England internationals to their matchday squads. Notts will welcome back Alex Hales and Harry Gurney to their ranks, while Joe Root and Gary Ballance will represent the White Rose.

With such international quality on display, Newell is looking for his side to draw inspiration on their performance at Headingley earlier this season, in which Notts batted excellently to secure a well-earned draw.

"We need to be consistent with the ball and build on what we’ve done with the bat.” Mick Newell.

“If we play as well as we did at Headingley earlier in the season we’ll do well this week,” he said. 

“We batted excellently in the second innings, showed determination to get ourselves out of a difficult situation.

“Our bowling as an attack was consistent, and for the most part this season we’ve done alright, we shouldn’t be ashamed of what we’ve achieved but we need to be consistent with the ball and build on what we’ve done with the bat.”

While boosted with the return of their opening batsman and bowler, Nottinghamshire will be without Andre Adams, who has been ruled out of the rest of the season with injury. James Franklin has also ended his stay with the Club, and will represent the Barbados Tridents in the Champions League T20.

Gary Keedy is expected to represent Nottinghamshire, with Jake Ball and Ajmal Shahzad likely to be the players fighting for the final spot in their County’s seam attack.

“We’re going to play Gary Keedy because the pitch has been used recently and we have to give ourselves the best chance of taking 20 wickets with what needs to be our best bowling attack,” said Newell.

“We have injured players so they aren’t much use to us, and then it’s a case of which of the seamers we’ll have to leave out.

“In Alex and Harry’s absence we’ve been able to take a look at one or two options but we know what our best eleven is and we have to be as close to that as we can be without Andre.”

 

 

Nottinghamshire squad to face Yorkshire: Steven Mullaney, Alex Hales, Michael Lumb, James Taylor, Samit Patel, Riki Wessels, Chris Read, Luke Fletcher, Jake Ball, Harry Gurney, Gary Keedy, Ajmal Shahzad.

Yorkshire squad to face Nottinghamshire: Jonny Bairstow, Gary Ballance, Tim Bresnan, Jack Brooks, Karl Carver, Jack Leaning, Alex Lees, Adam Lyth, Steven Patterson, Rich Pyrah, Adil Rashid, Joe Root (captain), Ryan Sidebottom.