Luke Fletcher feels the pursuit of continued improvement has been central to his longevity, after chalking up his 500th wicket for Nottinghamshire in the 310-run win over Derbyshire.

Fletcher is part of an unchanged 13-man squad for the visit of Essex to Trent Bridge – an encounter you will be able to watch live online via Trent Bridge Live.

The right-armer’s removal of Harvey Hosein brought up his 350th wicket in First-Class cricket, while Fletcher’s 500th scalp across all formats came with the comprehensive castling of Fynn Hudson-Prentice.

“I didn’t know I was that close to those landmarks – and I never expected to reach those kinds of figures when I was starting out,” he admitted.

“I think over the years you continue to improve as a cricketer. You understand bowling a bit more, and you probably understand your body a bit more as well.

“The key is to adapt to everything as best you can, and strive to be better every year.”

Nottinghamshire’s victory over their local rivals was crowned by an astonishing piece of athleticism from Dane Paterson to bring about the dismissal of Sam Conners on day three.

Paterson’s one-handed catch on the boundary’s edge was followed by an exuberant celebration which ended in the arms of Fletcher – and the pair’s joy was reflected by the rest of the squad.

“It was incredible,” Fletcher recalled.

“I remember the ball going up and thinking ‘he's got absolutely no chance here’ and then everything almost seemed to go in slow motion.

“It just went straight into the middle of his palm, and it was a proper celebration as well!

“He’s a great lad and he’s fitted in well, so all the lads were chuffed for him, and his bowling is getting better and better as well.

“He was out of the game a long time, so it does take a bit of time for everything to get back to the way it was. But you can see that he's improving game-on-game, so hopefully he continues along that path.”

While Fletcher, Paterson and Stuart Broad shared the plaudits for twice dismissing Derbyshire cheaply at the Incora County Ground, the Nottingham-born seamer was quick to credit Nottinghamshire’s batsmen for setting up the result.

“Ben Slater was the man who teed that game up for us really with that hundred on day one,” he said.

“They were difficult conditions to bat in – if the ball was in the right area regularly, it was tough to score, and there can always be a ball out there with your name on it.

“Credit to the likes of Joe Clarke, Ben Duckett and Haseeb Hameed as well for setting the game up so nicely for the bowlers.

“There’s been a lot of hard work going into our red-ball cricket, so I'm chuffed for the lads and all the coaching staff.

“With the Essex game being the last one before a little break, there’s a real incentive to push hard over these next four days to get another positive result.”

Catch every ball of Nottinghamshire's clash with Essex online via Trent Bridge Live.

*******

Tickets to witness Notts Outlaws’ defence of their Vitality Blast title in 2021 are now on general sale.