Nottinghamshire are back on home territory when they face Worcestershire in the LV= County Championship on Monday. The four-day contest pits together two sides that will be looking for improved results over the second half of the season. Only two points separate the sides, Worcestershire have 74 points and Notts, along with Hampshire are on 72.
The Pears have won one and lost five of their opening eight matches but have been helped by a healthy haul of bonus points, having secured joint-most batting and joint-most bowling points in the first division so far.
Head To Head
Nottinghamshire and Worcestershire have met on 126 previous occasions in first-class cricket, with the first contest taking place at New Road, Worcester, in 1921.
The overall advantage lies in favour of Notts, who have been victorious on 43 occasions, with Worcs winning 35 matches. There have also been 47 draws and a tie.
Notts have hosted the fixture 64 times, with all but six of the meetings taking place at Trent Bridge. Three were played at Elm Avenue, Newark, two at the Town Ground, Worksop and the 1980 clash actually took place out of the county, at Cleethorpes in Lincolnshire.
Notts have triumphed in 27 of their home clashes, with Worcestershire winning 16, a further 20 matches have been drawn and the 1993 encounter finishing in a tie – the only one in Nottinghamshire’s history.
Notts last five home wins against the Pears have come in 2001, 2002, 2009, 2011 and 2012, whilst Worcestershire’s last five successes were in 1980, 1989, 1992, 1995 and 2000.
Last Time
The last time that Worcestershire came to Trent Bridge for a county championship match was in the opening round of fixtures in April 2012.
James Taylor and Michael Lumb were making their championship debuts for Notts and Michael Klinger was making his first appearance for Worcestershire.
The opening day was pretty sensational, with both sides being bowled out in seamer-friendly conditions. Notts tumbled for just 118, after being put in, and were rescued from complete humility by an unbeaten 51 from Paul Franks,
Richard Jones led the visitors from the field after taking six for 32.
It has taken only 41.4 overs to bowl Notts out but Worcestershire were unable to fare much better as they were shot out for 130, having gained a narrow advantage of just 12.
Notts batted right through the second day and into the third before being bowled out for 403, with Riki Wessels having made a splendid 113, Chris Read contributed a useful 68 and the ever-reliable Alan Richardson claimed five for 95.
Needing 392 for an unlikely win, Worcestershire were on track at 235 for two but then lost two of their big guns, Moeen Ali for 94 and Daryl Mitchell for 102.
Luke Fletcher and Andre Adams took four second innings wickets apiece to seal the win and kick off the 2012 season in style for Notts.
A Look Back In Time
If ever there was an away trip that Worcestershire dreaded it would surely have been for the Trent Bridge fixture.
They first travelled in 1921 yet, astonishingly, they didn’t pick up a win on the ground until 1960 when they were able to skittle Nottinghamshire out for 113 on their way to winning by an innings.
1993 – The Tie
In all their long history Nottinghamshire County Cricket Club have only ever played out one tie in first class cricket and it came against Worcestershire in April 1993. The county’s current bowling coach, Andy Pick was right at the heart of the drama.
Wisden records the details: Pick, suffering from a badly-bruised foot, missed the third day’s play, on which he became the father of a son. He returned to be at the centre of the drama. He was beaten by Adam Seymour’s accurate throw from the square leg boundary and just failed to complete the second run that would have given Nottinghamshire victory off the last available ball. The last pair (Pick and Andy Afford) had needed five when Phil Newport began the final over.
2000 – The Pears’ last success
Worcestershire’s last win at Trent Bridge came in 2000, in a game that was dominated by their outstanding overseas player, Glenn McGrath. The Australian took ten wickets in the contest, including eight for 86 in the first innings, although there was a long wait between the seventh and eighth wicket.
Usman Afzaal, with an unbeaten 151, and AJ Harris with 39, put on 152 for the tenth wicket – equalling the Nottinghamshire record for the final pair.
They had drawn level with the 152 put on by E B Alletson and W Riley, achieved against Sussex at Hove in 1911, when Harris went back to McGrath and trod on his own stumps.
Since 2000, centurions in the Trent Bridge fixture have been Usman Afazaal, Greg Blewett, Darren Bicknell, Bilal Shafayat, Chris Read and Riki Wessels for Notts, with David Leatherdale (twice), Graeme Hick, Steve Rhodes, Steven Davies, Alex Kervezee and Daryl Mitchell all reaching three figures for the Pears.
Stats (Notts v Worcs)
Highest Team Total
Notts 540 (Worksop) 1934
Worcs 493-9dec (Worcester) 1996
Highest Individual Score
Notts 243* RT Simpson (Trent Bridge) 1950
Worcs 227* GA Hick (Worcester) 1986
Best Bowling
Notts 8-20 B Dooland (Trent Bridge) 1956
Worcs 8-55 NV Radford (Kidderminster) 1987
Played For Them Both
Nottinghamshire’s Alex Hales was briefly loaned to Worcestershire early in the 2014 season and he played one LV= County Championship match during his time there.
At the SWALEC Stadium in Cardiff he made scores of 15 and 63 in a drawn match against Glamorgan.
Others to play for both counties include Bobby Chapman, AJ Harris, Phil Jaques, David Lucas, Nadeem Malik, Paul Pollard and Chris Tolley.
Did You Know?
Nottinghamshire’s most famous fast bowler, Harold Larwood, always enjoyed his matches against Worcestershire. Home and away, he took a total of 110 wickets against them at just ten runs apiece – a truly phenomenal success rate.
Milestones
Alex Hales (4901) needs 99 runs to 5,000 in first-class cricket for Nottinghamshire. He has also scored 92 for England Lions and 78 for Worcestershire.
Michael Lumb (2964) needs 36 runs to reach 3,000 in first-class cricket for Nottinghamshire.
Steven Mullaney (44) needs six wickets for 50 in first -class cricket.
Samit Patel (8964) needs 36 runs for 9,000 in first-class cricket.
Samit Patel (95) needs five catches to reach 100 in first-class matches for Notts.
Riki Wessels (149) needs one more appearance for 150 in first-class cricket.
Will Gidman (2943) needs 57 runs to reach 3,000 in first-class cricket.
Will Gidman (198) needs two more for 200 wickets in first-class cricket.
Coverage
BBC Radio Nottingham will be providing full match commentary on-line. Please access the links via the BBC Sport website or app.
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