Steven Mullaney is determined to replicate the success achieved by Nottinghamshire in the first half of the season as the business end of the LV=Insurance County Championship nears.

The first of their six remaining games will see the Green and Golds travel to Cardiff to face Glamorgan (11-14 July, 11am start), the only side to have beaten Notts in red-ball cricket this year. 

A 13-man squad has been named for the fixture, with Ben Duckett called up to England Lions’ squad for their 50-over fixtures against South Africa, Tom Moores missing out with illness and James Pattinson absent due to the impending birth of his child. 

“We’re just past the halfway stage and we are top of the table,” Mullaney stated, “So if we have a second half like the first then we’ll win the division.

“Of course we are not taking anything for granted, we know Glamorgan are a good team and we are going to have to play well because they beat us last time. 

“But we’ve shown we can win in a number of ways and we’ve got the players at our disposal to beat anyone if we have a good day.”

The trip to Wales marks the beginning of three consecutive games in the Championship before the squad breaks for the Royal London Cup and stints in The Hundred.

It follows a week off for the Nottinghamshire squad, having missed out on qualification for the Vitality Blast quarter finals on net run rate alone.

For Mullaney, a consistent run of long-format cricket with fresh players raring to go presents a perfect opportunity to extend their lead at top of Division Two.

“I thought we were magnificent in the two games we played against Leicestershire and Middlesex during the T20 block. We were on top in both for long periods in both games and came away with one win and a draw,” Mullaney said. 

“But our focus on red-ball cricket is even greater now, which certainly helps. We would have preferred to qualify in the Blast, but the bonus has been that we’ve had four days of downtime. 

“One of the things we do is ensure that training is intense, so the standards on our return were second to none. That doesn’t guarantee results but it gives us the best chance. 

“This is the time of the season when you start to see gaps appearing between the top two or three, so hopefully we can get a positive result this week and start to stretch away from the middle of the pack.”

Mullaney also heaped praise upon Duckett, who received his call up to the Lions off the back of tremendous form across both red and white-ball cricket this year. 

His omission from the Nottinghamshire squad, along with Moores and Pattinson, provides opportunities for the likes of Matthew Montgomery, Joey Evison and Sol Budinger. 

“Ben has been phenomenal,” Mullaney said. 

“He has got runs in more or less every game that we have played; he is consistently effective, he has taken his game to a new level in recent years and this is deserved recognition for him. Hopefully he can make an impact in England colours. 

“Obviously, we’ve got a number of people who could take that spot, and a number of players who give us options with the balance of the team.

“It is good to see guys like Sol, Monty and Joey making their case in the Second XI. Regardless of the side we go with, it’ll be one capable of winning what is a difficult game.”

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The Royal London Cup Final

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