As Stuart Broad and James Pattinson do battle on the field for the famous Ashes urn, the Notts teammates are clearly full of respect for each other’s skills.

Broad’s muted celebration upon dismissing the man he’s shared a dressing room with on two occasions with the Outlaws was an indicator of the esteem in which his Australian pace counterpart is held at Trent Bridge.

Before a ball was bowled, the duo had already exchanged compliments in their respecticve press conferences.

"He's a fantastic guy. One of those people you like to share a dressing room with; he's full of knowledge and stuff like that,” said Pattinson of Broad.

"Me being Australian he could easily not have shared anything with me, but he's been fantastic."

"He's a fantastic bowler and someone I look up to a little bit in terms of how he goes about it over here and how many wickets he's taken.

"In 2017 I pretty much played all season with him at Notts and learnt a fair bit from him then.

“He's a great competitor and someone you like playing against."

Broad was equally admiring of the skills and attitude of the man dubbed the Dandenong Destroyer during his two stints in the East Midlands.

“I know the dangers Pattinson poses from playing with him,” said the England paceman.”He’s the sort of guy you want in your team.

“He’s one of those Aussies who’s aggressive. He spits, there’s snot everywhere.

“When he played for Nottinghamshire, I could imagine what it was like when Hadlee was there or when Michael Holding was playing for Derbyshire.

“It’s like the members got in their seats to watch him bowl, which was pretty special in the fact that he’d only played half a season for Notts.

“He had that x-factor that you wanted to see in county cricket, that was there throughout the 80s and early 90s.

“So, he’s great to have on your team. He obviously will pose a threat to our batting unit.”

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There are four further opportunities to catch the Outlaws in T20 action at Trent Bridge this summer, with the next home game under the lights against Birmingham Bears on this coming Friday 2 August.

Secure your seats….