Steven Mullaney believes breaking down the final day of Nottinghamshire’s LV= County Championship clash with Glamorgan into equal periods will prove key to the Green and Golds’ hopes of saving the game.

Having resumed on 53/0 at the beginning of the third day at Sophia Gardens, the hosts went on to post 421/5 declared, before Notts reached stumps on 19/1 with Ben Slater and Matt Montgomery unbeaten.

“It’s pretty simple now; we have to bat 96 overs tomorrow!” said the skipper. “I think, if you break it down, they’ve got to get a wicket every nine-and-a-half overs, and every time we bat longer than that, they’ve got to get it in fewer overs.”

“If we take it in little stages – the first half-hour will be crucial – then it’s pretty simple for me. We’ve got to see off two good bowlers who will be fresh tomorrow morning, then get through to 12:00pm, then 12:30pm, and then reassess at lunchtime.”

Though the visitors find themselves in a position that will require much tenacity to escape, the team retain the full backing of their captain having worked hard throughout the penultimate day of the contest.

Alongside Mullaney himself, Brett Hutton, Liam Patterson-White, and Luke Fletcher all picked up wickets, and the 35-year-old has a great deal of respect for the way the side carried themselves.

“I can’t fault anyone’s effort,” he said. “I thought we were going to be batting for a lot longer than we ended up doing, so for us to stretch it out to only face nine overs tonight was good, even if we did unfortunately lose Hass.

“Credit to Glamorgan, I thought [Eddie] Byrom and [Sam] Northeast batted really well, and I think if we can get through the new ball tomorrow, we stand a chance of batting the day out.”

Mullaney takes heart from having observed the innings of centurions Byrom and Northeast at close quarters, viewing it as a learning opportunity with regards to how the wicket may play on the final day.

“It’s a good pitch. The new ball’s got a bit of uneven bounce in it, but there’s been a bit of uneven bounce in it throughout the whole game, and you can’t control that. If you get out to one of those, then that’s the way it is.

“What you have seen, though, is that if two batters get in, it can be very hard to get wickets, so hopefully we can do that tomorrow.”

The captain went on to highlight a particular quality amongst his team as being instrumental in their efforts to keep morale up on a testing day.

He also adopted a matter-of-fact approach when reflecting on certain areas, but with flashes of doggedness on display throughout day three, Mullaney is backing his charges to display that in greater quantities tomorrow.

“We’re a team that enjoys having fun, so we try and make things as fun as we can. We had a period where Liam and I bowled for a while where we kept them quiet, which lifted spirits,” he said.

“At the end of the day, you’re out there, so there’s no point in moping about, you’ve just got to keep going. To me, it’s now pretty simple what we have to do tomorrow.”

*******

The Royal London Cup Final

The timeless pomp, ceremony and tradition of county cricket's historic 50-over final. 18 First-Class counties go head-to-head in this prestigious competition, aiming to emerge with the spoils at our historic venue. Secure your seats here...