As Nottinghamshire’s Rothesay County Championship campaign makes a mouth-watering return with a trip to Surrey, captain Haseeb Hameed has underlined his squad’s excitement to resume red-ball action.
“These are the games that you get excited about as a player, and as a captain,” said Hameed. “Surrey are a really good team, and to come here to London and play four days at the Oval is a great opportunity.
“It’s one that we’re really looking forward to. Surrey have been the top team for a few years in recent history. They’ve got extremely good players, they’re on their home patch, and they’ll be ready for it.
“It’s our job to make sure we’re ready for it too. The Oval has some unique characteristics, but that’s one of the great things about cricket at this level, that every opposition ground has some unique challenges.”
Hameed leads a squad of 13 to the famed old Oval on the south shore of the River Thames, with Ben Martindale and James Hayes among the names vying to play.
Notts come into the clash, their first in the Championship since a three-day thrashing of Essex in June returned them to the summit, off the back of a run to the semi-finals of the Metro Bank One Day Cup.
Hameed believes the strong form shown with bat and ball in the 50-over format bodes well for a strong finish to the 2026 summer, with the Green and Golds firmly in contention for a defence of their title.
“We’ve had some really good performers in the 50-over competition, and I think that means that everyone can take some confidence into these six games,” he said.
“With us having a few lads that have been away at The Hundred, others have been given their opportunity, and they did really well too when they had that.
“Although we all know that it’s a different format, the skills are very transferable between the two, which makes that exciting and hopefully we can build off it for the last six games.”
One thing Hameed will certainly not do, however, is believe in any kind of edge after Notts’ stirring victory at this venue last year.
The Green and Golds triumphed by 20 runs last September in a thriller that all-but-ended the Brown Caps’ three-year grip on the Championship, but Hameed is all too aware that this is a new challenge.
“It’s a fresh game and a fresh start,” asserted the captain. “Yes, we’ve got some good memories here to look back on last year, but we know we’re going to have to play well again.
“Overall, it’s just great to get the red-ball lads back together, and we’ve got the start of six busy weeks coming up, but this is where it’s all to play for, and the lads are really excited.”