The importance of Nottinghamshire’s first Specsavers County Championship game for a month, at Somerset, has not been lost on Head Coach Peter Moores.
The Green and Golds’ return to red ball action tomorrow (Saturday) sees a trip to take on their nearest challengers at the top of the Division One table.
With three wins from their opening five matches, Notts are the pacesetters, but they now face a huge test against their unbeaten opponents at Taunton.
A year ago Moores’ side pulled off an impressive victory in a Royal London One-Day Cup tie at The Cooper Associates County Ground, but that was a rare good day for Notts in the West Country.
“We know we are going to have to play well but it’s quite an exciting fixture to have right now.”
They haven’t beaten Somerset in the Championship in Taunton since 1985 and have only managed six draws in 16 visits since. They did break the sequence in 2004, with a win when the fixture was staged at Bath.
“It’s a big game, Somerset away,” said Moores. “We know we are going to have to play well but it’s quite an exciting fixture to have right now.
“We had a good start to the season, but we know we’ve got areas to work on and we will be battling hard to keep up there. The goal for every side is to be in the top three coming into the run-in.
“The pitches might have settled down a bit now, so there might be more of a chance for the batters to build some bigger scores and create pressure that way. It should be a great game.”
The fixture could enable off-spinner Matt Carter to add to his tally of five first-class appearances should the wicket take some turn or bounce.
The Lincoln-born player’s Notts debut came at Taunton in 2015, when he picked up 10 wickets in the match.
Carter has recently been involved in the one-day side for the first time and his Head Coach has been impressed with what he’s seen from the 22-year-old.
Moores added: “He’s bowling very well. We’re pleased for Matt because he worked really hard during the winter.
“He’s just come off a period where he had to bowl over 100 overs in a week for the second team and he’s also had a game for Lincolnshire.
“We’re pleased for Matt because he worked really hard during the winter.”
“He’s got his overs in, which spinners need to do, and then he’s done well when we brought him into the one-day side. We’ll see what the pitch is like when we get to Taunton, but there’s a chance he could be involved.”
Stuart Broad is unavailable after England duty and Harry Gurney is recovering from a calf injury, so there’s a chance that either Mark Footitt or Luke Wood may be included in the squad.
Footitt has recently completed a short loan spell with Derbyshire and Wood is now over an ankle knock which prevented him playing in the Royal London matches.
“Luke is now fit for selection,” confirmed Moores, “so all credit to him and the physio, James Pipe. We’ve almost been trying to dovetail things, when one player goes down another one comes back.”
*************
You can watch every ball of Notts’ scheduled home matches in 2018 - including all seven Vitality Blast (T20) group games - by joining our family as a Member. Adult prices start from £38 and Under-16s are £28, and you can become a Member by clicking here.