Notts Outlaws now stand just one match away from reaching the Royal London One-Day Cup final at Lord's, as the side travel to the Emirates ICG at Chester-le-Street to face Durham Jets.
Durham have performed well against Nottinghamshire in all formats this summer, and Assistant Manager Wayne Noon is keen to see his side return to winning ways in the North East.
"They are the only team to beat us in the group stages, and they’ve turned us over in the Championship this week and in the T20 earlier in the summer, we definitely owe them,” he said.
“It’s more than that though, everyone who went to lord’s last year had a fantastic day out, not just the players but the supporters, the entire club.
“We want to get back there, but we have to get past Durham first. Chester-le-Street is a tough place to go, and we’ll have to play our best cricket.”
With a Lord’s final the reward for the victorious side, the Notts players will not be short of motivation on Saturday.
With an LV= County Championship defeat at the hands of Durham still fresh in the memory, Noon is looking for his side to approach this fixture in the same state of mind that saw them reach Lord’s twelve months ago.
“Only last year we were in the semi-final and hammered Somerset. The players all know what’s at stake those that had a taste definitely want to go back again, me included,” he said.
“We’ve seen them prepare their pitch alongside the strip we played on in the week. It’s a new pitch in the middle of the square, and looks a good track.
“We know the make up of our side first and foremost though, and it’s a case of getting up there, getting everyone reasonably calm and ready and taking it from there.”
Last year’s Yorkshire Bank 40 trophy spelled the end of 24 years in waiting for success in a one-day final at Lord’s. Now, with the prospect of back-to-back trophies a very realistic possibility, Noon expressed his pleasure that Notts were finally beginning to reap the rewards having played a long period of high quality limited-overs cricket.
“We’ve played some very good white ball cricket in the past few years, T20 included,” he said.
“We dominated the groups we’ve been in. We’ve missed out at a few quarter-finals but we haven’t lost a lot of white-ball games.
“Winning back to back one-day trophies is hard to do, but why not? The chance to leave a legacy would be something we would all be incredibly proud of.
“As a player I won absolutely nothing and as a coach there have been a couple of championships and a one day trophy. It’s what the job is all about, either winning trophies or producing players for England.
“We have a chance of doing that, we’re in September and we’re still in the hunt, definitely for a one-day trophy and also an outside chance of winning the championship.”
Notts Outlaws will be without Harry Gurney or Alex Hales, who continue to represent England’s national side. James Taylor, however, will represent Notts before joining England’s squad for their sole T20 international against India on Sunday. If, however, weather affects the fixture and Sunday’s reserve day is required, he will remain with Nottinghamshire and lead his side in the semi-final.
Notts Outlaws squad to face Durham Jets: Michael Lumb, Steven Mullaney, James Taylor, Samit Patel, Riki Wessels, James Franklin, Chris Read, Sam Wood, Ajmal Shahzad, Luke Fletcher, Jake Ball, Brett Hutton, Luke Wood.