It was clearly not a game for batsmen, but that doesn’t mean that Jake Libby, or any of the other top order Nottinghamshire players for that matter, didn’t enjoy the first match of the new season at Lancashire, given that the team survived a wobble to ease to a six-wicket win.

Expectations among the bookies and media for the Green and Golds this season were, generally speaking, not huge following promotion from Division Two in 2017, the retirement of experienced skipper Chris Read and several ins and outs.

So it was an enormously satisfying win when Jake Ball, with match figures of 9-57, and Harry Gurney, who took 8-43, together with nuggety knocks from Riki Wessels (44) and Tom Moores (38) in Notts’ first innings, inspired a 20-point success for Peter Moores’ side.

Getting off the mark in Specsavers County Championship Division One so quickly will, opener Libby insists, not only bred a significant amount of confidence in the squad that they can compete at a higher level, but it will also extinguish any lingering doubts or nervousness.

“It’s nice to get that first win to settle us down and show our intentions of finishing at the top end of the table.”

The challenge now is to prove that victory in Manchester was no one-off as the focus moves to Leeds and a match with Yorkshire at Headingley. It’s clear that there’s absolutely no complacency among players or off-field staff ahead of the journey up the M1.

“It’s a long winter and there were a few questions thrown at us with regards to our signings and us going back into Division One and no-one know how we were going to get on,” says Libby. “So it’s nice to get that first win to settle us down and show our intentions of finishing at the top end of the table.

“We lost a good day and a bit to the rain and the bad light, but I always thought there was going to be enough in the pitch at Old Trafford to get a positive result.

“We competed really well and everyone chipped in. We got some big wickets at crucial times with the ball and a great partnership between Riki (Wessels) and Tom (Moores) was crucial in giving us a good lead.

“It was getting harder to bat, but we didn’t think we would be on the road having won by lunchtime on the final day. Harry and Jake bowled fantastic spells, consistently putting balls in the right areas, and we backed it up in the field with some excellent catching.

“On early-season pitches we have the bowling attack to bowl sides out and we have put down a marker. The next step is to keep to that level as we go through the first five County Championship games before the start of the Royal London One-Day Cup.”

There was plenty of conjecture during the close season as to who would claim the two opening berths, following the signing of Chris Nash, who has performed that role all his career at previous club Sussex.

But Libby has been given the nod to continue to face the new ball alongside skipper Mullaney – and is delighted to be doing so.

“For them (the team management) to back me this season and show that faith is appreciated.”

He adds: “It’s a massive thing for me with Nashy coming in, who is widely respected within the county game at the top of the order and who has considerable Division One experience.

“For them to back me this season and show that faith is appreciated. At Old Trafford tt wasn’t easy to bat and there was no great success for many of the players.

“The first game at Lancashire for me personally was what it was.  I was a bit unlucky in the first innings being strangled down the legside and in the second innings I got a good ball on a crazy morning.

“But I feel that my game is coming along nicely and the coaches believe in me. Hopefully over the course of the season, especially when the wickets get easier to bat on, I can repay them for that.

“I feel like I am a lot better player now after working on my game over the winter. I scored quite a few runs in pre-season and, although last season was not a write-off, I feel I have improved technically.

“I think it’s showing in how I’m playing, but batting at the top of the order, you have to be patient. You have to stick with it for the runs to come.

“There were a lot of low scores all over the country, which you expect with a lot of rain and moisture. The highest score in our match was 49. It makes for exciting games and if you come out on top then you don’t mind.”

Yorkshire are still to get their own competitive season up and running after their game at home to Essex over the course of last weekend was washed out without a ball being bowled.

Libby knows the Tykes – County Champions in 2014 and 2015 – are likely to be a tricky proposition on their own ground.

“They will be fresh and we know we will be in for a heck of a game in what will be my first game playing at Headingley.”

The last time the two sides met in a four-day fixture came in August 2016, when Yorkshire beat a Notts team bound for the drop by 305 runs at Scarborough as Tim Bresnan took match figures of 8-51.  

“They obviously had a wet weekend up in Leeds last week, with no play at all, so they will be raring to go and eager to play their first team having only got five points as a result,” says Libby.

“They will be fresh and we know we will be in for a heck of a game in what will be my first game playing at Headingley.

“It will be nice to tick that one off the list and hopefully I can get some runs on the board in what will be my first look.”

Nottinghamshire squad to face Yorkshire: Jake Libby, Chris Nash, Steven Mullaney (c), Mark Footitt, Riki Wessels, Harry Gurney, Luke Wood, Matt Milnes, Luke Fletcher, Samit Patel, Tom Moores (wkt), Ross Taylor, Jake Ball, Billy Root.

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