New Nottinghamshire Captain Steven Mullaney says he felt it was important to attend the club’s pre-season tour in South Africa – however briefly – before jetting out to Barbados to skipper in the North-South series.

The all-rounder has been given the honour of leading the North into battle against the South for three 50-over matches that aim to give individuals an opportunity to shine ahead of the 2019 ICC World Cup.

With a warm-up game in the Caribbean on 15 March, followed by matches at the Kensington Oval on 18, 21, and 23, the series clashes with the latter part of Notts’ tour in Potchefstroom, from 5 to 18 March.

“It’s the first time in Potch we are going to get the majority of the squad together.”

Even so, Mullaney wants to take every opportunity to ensure preparations for the 2018 county season are fine-tuned, meaning he will be clocking up the air miles to fulfil both engagements.

“We had a couple of discussions about it and I think if I hadn’t been captained then I wouldn’t have gone to Potch and gone straight to the North-South Series,” he said.

“It’s the first time we are going to get the majority of the squad together, although Riki and Samit are playing in Pakistan, and good for Chris Nash to get involved and a couple of the younger who are coming along as well.

“We will get a few chats going in groups and getting together how we want to go about our business and our mantra across the three formats.

“So even though it will only be three days for Franksie (Assistant Head Coach Paul Franks) and myself, it will still prove to be very useful before flying to Barbados for the North-South series.”

Along with the likes of other senior bowlers such as Harry Gurney, Luke Fletcher and Mark Footitt, Mullaney has only recently returned from a bowling camp in Oman.

“It was a great camp in Oman and very interesting to spend some time with our up-and-coming young players.”

That saw those senior professionals mix with the Academy players, who were also out in the Middle East practising ahead of the 2018 season.

Mullaney said: “It was a great camp for the nine days and very interesting to spend some time with our up-and-coming young players and see how they are progressing.

“There was some amazing talent there and I’m looking forward to seeing how they move on in the next 12 months.”

************

Vitality Blast tickets for summer 2018 are now on general sale. Secure you tickets by clicking here.