Nottinghamshire’s professional staff will be returning to begin their initial preparations for the 2015 campaign from Monday, and will welcome a couple of new additions to the squad for the first time.
Will Gidman, signed from Gloucestershire after another excellent summer with bat and ball will be meeting his team mates for the first time, and is keen to hit the ground running for the season ahead.
“I think the key word for me is preparation,” said Gidman.
“As long as I prepare well for this year I hope it’ll show in my performances.”
Having spent the last four years in Division Two, Gidman will be under pressure to make a marked step up a notch with Nottinghamshire, but he is well aware of the task at hand.
“There are obvious things I’ll need to look out for,” he said.
“I’ll be playing at grounds where I haven’t played before, against players I haven’t played against before, with the exception of the occasional one day game.
“There are four or five clubs that have played regular first division cricket for a long time so I haven’t come across them.
“There are some challenges but the key thing for me is to make sure I’m prepared for those challenges.
“I’ll do the right training, think about what I’m doing and why I’m doing it and I keep communicating with my team mates to get as much advice and feedback from them to give myself the best chance to succeed here.”
Gidman will be joined at Nottinghamshire by batsman Greg Smith, who will make the short trip from Leicestershire to Trent Bridge after scoring 116 against the Notts Outlaws at Grace Road in last summer’s NatWest T20 Blast.
Director of Cricket Mick Newell has also confirmed that his squad will be bolstered by an overseas bowler for the coming campaign.