Peter Moores is hoping a positive start to the T20 campaign will energise his Notts side for the rest of the campaign.

The Notts Head Coach has named a 13-man squad for the Outlaws’ Vitality Blast curtain-raiser, which pits them against reigning champions Worcestershire Rapids.

Notts Outlaws squad: Jake Ball, Matt Carter, Dan Christian (c), Joe Clarke, Ben Duckett, Luke Fletcher, Harry Gurney, Alex Hales, Jake Libby, Tom Moores, Chris Nash, Samit Patel and Luke Wood.

Nottinghamshire have endured a difficult red-ball season, but Moores feels the shift to white-ball cricket has come at a good time.

“It can give people confidence without a shadow of a doubt,” he said.

“You get a chance to free up and hit the ball in T20, and hopefully the release will do everybody good."

The game will mark Dan Christian’s first appearances of the season in green and gold, while Alex Hales and Harry Gurney will also return – and Moores feels the experience of the trio could prove crucial.

“The injection of new players with Christian, Gurney and Hales gives us a bit more experience within the side – they are all mature performers in this form of the game,” he continued.

“They give us more depth straight away, which gives us plenty of options when it comes to picking a team.”

Thursday’s clash is being seen by many as the tie of the opening weekend, with a Worcestershire squad featuring two World Cup finalists in Moeen Ali and Martin Guptill travelling to face a much-fancied Outlaws outfit, themselves Blast winners in 2017.

And Moores is hoping his side can settle quickly into the change of format.

“They are a good team and they will be very competitive, but the game will be about which side settles fastest,” he said.

“In previous years we haven’t started as well as we wanted and have got better as the tournament has gone on. This time, we hope to start well.

“This is a real chance to focus on T20 skills, and by the time you get to the knockout phase – if you are lucky enough to be there – you feel like you are ready to go.”

A bumper crowd is expected at Trent Bridge in the aftermath of England’s Cricket World Cup heroics – and Moores feels his side have benefitted from the atmosphere in the ground in previous years.

“Hopefully the success of the world cup side is going to put more bums on seats, but our fans have always been brilliant,” said Moores.

“It’s a form of the game that fits everybody, and you get some great matches in this format of cricket, so hopefully we will have some strong support at home again.

“To win in tournaments you need your home ground to be somewhere where you are very strong, so I hope we get great crowds.”

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A Notts Outlaws squad brimming with international talent will commence their T20 Vitality Blast campaign against Worcestershire Rapids at Trent Bridge on Thursday 18 July, with adult tickets priced at £10. Secure your seats…