Liam Patterson-White credited a “you miss, I hit” philosophy for his five-wicket haul against Warwickshire.

The Academy graduate blew away the home side’s tail to the extent that he claimed the final four wickets for the addition of nine runs as the home side were bowled out for 291.

“I feel like I bowled pretty well; not my best and not my worst,” he said, modestly, after collecting figures of 5-51.

“Bowling the majority of my deliveries at the stumps gives me the best chance of taking wickets, and that’s how it proved with that cluster at the end of the innings.

“My first spell didn’t quite go to plan, so I swapped ends. It was a good tactical move and it definitely worked.

“I adjusted my line, bowled stump-to-stump, tried to hold my end up and luckily for me I also got some wickets.”

The 22-year-old didn’t have things all his own way on day two in the second city. Defending a short boundary and with Tim Bresnan (65) and Henry Brookes (34) on the charge, his initial spell was a trifle expensive.

That said, it did bring the wicket of Craig Miles (11) caught by Joe Clarke at mid-on – by which time the former England Under 19’s international had already shown admirable presence of mind to run in, remove the bails and run out Matthew Lamb for 40.

A simple change of ends proved to be decisive, as the final four wickets fell in the space of 14 deliveries, all of them to Patterson-White.

Both Bresnan and Brookes were bowled attempting one adventurous shot too many, Liam Norwell was trapped lbw and the bafflingly flighted, decisively straightening delivery that saw off Vikai Kelley was thoroughly wasted on a number 11.

“During this part of the year, you don’t extract much from the pitches as a spinner, so it becomes a case of aiming to dry up the runs,” Patterson-White continued.

“If you do that successfully, wickets can often follow, as they did today. It’s down to me now to continue bowling like that.

“I was taught from a young age that if the batsman misses, you hit. It’s quite a simple plan, but as long as I can execute it, I know wickets will follow and that’s what I want to do.”

Now firmly embedded back within the Nottinghamshire first team squad, Patterson-White looks back on his previous two summers with understandably mixed emotions.

A breakthrough campaign in 2019, claiming 20 First-Class wickets at an average of 21, was followed by a zero-appearance campaign in a pandemic affected summer last time around.

In a bid to make himself indispensable in 2021, the Kimberley Institute all-rounder is working to hone all three aspects of his game.

“I want to get to a stage when I can be picked as a batsman, a bowler or a genuine all-rounder,” said the 22-year-old, who scored three Second XI Championship centuries in 2019, prior to his first team debut.

“Having both weapons in my armoury, and being the best fielder I can be as well, are all things that will help me get selected and give me the best opportunity of contributing to the team during the course of the season.

“Things didn’t go my way last year, unfortunately, but it’s great to be back and I’m really looking forward to the season.

“We have a great bunch of lads to be around and it’s firmly my aim to remain part of this first team group.

“My performances during the previous campaign in 2019 made me believe in myself a lot more. I got confidence from taking five wickets in my first game because that demonstrated that I can do it at this level.

“Capitalising on that and proving it on a consistent basis is what matters to me more than anything now. Hopefully today can be a stepping-stone towards that.”

Stream playback, full scorecard and video highlights are available via Trent Bridge Live here…

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