Haseeb Hameed is relishing the opportunity to become the first Nottinghamshire captain for 15 years to lead a defence of the County Championship title.
The path that Hameed’s troops must tread in order to retain the Lord’s Taverners Trophy has been revealed with the release of the fixture schedule for 2026.
The Green and Golds will begin their six-month defence with a long trip to Taunton from Friday 3 April, before finishing at home to Yorkshire from Thursday 24
“It’s always exciting when you see the fixtures for the first time,” said Hameed. “Starting against Somerset will be tricky, but it’s an exciting thought.
“It will also be great to finish the season at home again. Doing that this summer was extremely special for obvious reasons, and we can’t wait to get going.”
Most notably on the Championship programme for next summer is the fact that the Green and Golds will face Surrey, their closest challengers for the
It will be the first time the sides have met twice in the red-ball arena in the space of one summer in seven years.
“We had an amazing game against them at the back end of last season, so getting them down here, to our home ground, will be great,” smiled Hameed.
“Hopefully, we can put in another great performance here and do the same at the Oval too, and going there again is another exciting thought.”
Also on the agenda is a pair of East Midlands derby clashes with Leicestershire, who, after winning the Division Two title, will partake in the top flight for the first time since 2003.
“They obviously had a great season last season in coming up as champions, so I’m sure they’ll be high in confidence,” said Hameed.
“It will be great to have that local rivalry reignited, and it’s even better that it will be in Division One too!”
Away from the red-ball programme, Hameed will also continue his role as skipper of Notts’ Metro Bank One Day Cup side.
While the Outlaws will retain a fixture at Trent Bridge in the 50-over competition, the regular visits to several outgrounds remain a key feature that Hameed is looking forward to.
Hameed will again lead his side to Welbeck CC for two fixtures to start the group stage, while also playing a home game at Queen’s Park in Chesterfield for the first time.
“Any opportunity you get to play at outgrounds is great, and we usually get really good crowds there,” he said.
“There’s a special connection for one of our players in particular, with Chesterfield being Slats’ [Ben Slater’s] home ground, and I’m sure he’ll enjoy that homecoming.
“We’ve had some great games over the last couple of years at Welbeck, and it’s a ground that we should know well, having played on it quite a bit over the last few seasons.
“Hopefully we can take all our learnings and our knowledge into every game that we play and start off well across all competitions!”
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