Notts Outlaws Vitality T20 Blast 2023 Preview

 

25/05

After last night's capitulation by Northants after being in the box seats for 75% of the game, only to succomb to Worcestershire's battery of spin in the last 10 overs and falling well short (I think I've watched that game before, a couple of times at Trent Bridge in previous years), the next North Group game is at lunchtime today.

Yes, Old Trafford have the men playing the undercard game for the Charlotte Edwards game at tea time.

Lunchtime on a Thurday?

It's not even half-term so the potential next generation of supporters will be at school or getting home from school for both of these games. It would be interesting to hear an explanation as to why they have sidelined both of these games. Foxes are the visitors.

There are also a couple of SET20 games at Weetwood where Notts 2s are taking on Bradford and Bingley Leeds/Bradford UCCE.

Will the Eagle land there for a warm-up?

Peter Moores' Notts Outlaws Plan A Plan B Plan C

If Peter Moores had a plan for Friday, then he doesn't anymore. Two late loan signings have been begged from the South Group; one we're familiar with and the other we're very familiar with. The loans will last for two weeks, after which we'll be over half way through the group stages. 

Ben Martindale scored an unbeaten 91 today - no sign of the big guns at Weetwood.

24/05

For those worried:

Nuts the squirrel

Nottinghamshire’s favourite woodland mischief-maker is back for 2023 – and he’s feeling cheekier than ever.

Meet Nuts the Squirrel as he roams around our venue during each matchday – and you may even get the chance to join him on the big screen during the game.

Your matchday DJ

From his home underneath the giant scoreboard – or The Principality, as it shall come to be known – renowned Nottingham DJ Jez Prince will add a little sparkle to your matchday, spinning Vitality Blast favourites and summer hits.

There'll be plenty of opportunities for you to get involved along the way, and we’re sure there’ll be room for a rendition or two of Sweet Caroline too.

23/05

As Toby Pettman and all and sundry of the remains of the bowling were found wanting at Westhoughton yesterday, mauled twice by Josh Bohannon, Notts have signed Surrey's misfit, who seems to be on loan more than Toby Pettman, Conor McKerr (of the clan McKerr, perhaps).

Also found wanting at Westhoughton were those fringe batsman: Ben Slater, Haseeb Hameed, Matt Montgomery and Liam Patterson-White. Only Ben Martindale came home having increased his chances of playing for the Outlaws over the next couple of weeks.

Lyndon James didn't play against Lancashire, in either defeat, so hasn't damaged his chances of selection on Friday.

21/05

ANYONE'S GAME

You have to assume that the Eagle landed yesterday, as there has not been any reports on TV of missing aircraft. Shaheen Shah Afridi wouldn't be the first Pakistani to go missing after agreeing terms with Notts, however. Remember the Rawalpindi Express that never arrived? More recently, the club shop was trying to sell-off, at reduced rates, replica shirts emblazoned with Mohammad Abbas' name on their backs, for a couple of seasons, when his flight from Pakistan landed at Southampton instead of EMA post pandemic in 2021.

Yes the silly season starts, the Vitality T20 Blast 2023. Complaints from players, coaching staff and supporters about matches coming too frequently after previous games in 2022 have not been addressed - in fact they feel even worse with shorter blocks with more games crammed into them. (see below)


Jalopy Corner

For the Outlaws in 2022, it was widely believed that too many of the XI were too long in the tooth, hence we failed to even make the quarter-finals; so the Club have announced (repeatedly) that they have replaced the then 39 year old Camperdown Campervan of 2022 with the 36 year old Leigh Land Rover in 2023 as captain.


Who will be included in the Outlaws starting XI?


Joining Shaheen Afridi (23) as our second overseas player is Colin Munro (36) who has two pairs of boots that he will have to fill, Dan Christian's and Ben Duckett's, now that Ben's been drafted by Team ECB for the rest of the season(?)

Alex Hales (34) and Joe Clarke (26) must be our openers but then the side becomes a little less obvious in the batting slots. You can't imagine a Peter Moores T20 side without Samit Patel (38), Matt Carter (26) or even Calvin Harrison (25) bowling a chunk of the overs.

Of the pacier bowling options, you have to look at the injury list: Luke Fletcher (34), Olly Stone (29) or "young" Jake Ball (32!) for at least one bowler, so that still needs another batsman or two, but who?

Any takers?

In this Bazball era, perhaps everyone is in contention for all formats. In previous seasons the likes of Haseeb Hameed (26) or Ben Slater (31) wouldn't be automatic selections in the Blast. But, Ben Slater had his Outlaws break-through in 2022, as did Lyndon James (24), but neither player being of the typical muscle-framed slogger T20 mould. More in that mould is Tom Moores (26) but he's still on the sick list after breaking a finger, so could he play just as just a batsman, allowing Joe Clarke to continue in his "franchise" duel-roles of opener and keeper?

Jake Libby managed to surprise us all and reinvented himself to great effect in 2019, before he toddled off to New Road, so perhaps there could be a secret new weapon up Peter Moores' sleeve.

As you will have noted, I have given the ages of the players. Where are the youngsters coming through? Shaheen Afridi is the baby of this bunch, yet he makes the headlines for other reasons, not because of this age (anymore)!

Month	Date	Day	Opposition	Venue	Number of days rest beforehand
May	26	Fri	DERBYSHIRE FALCONS	Trent Bridge	4
	27	Sat	Lancashire Lightning	Old Trafford	0
	29	Mon	Durham	Riverside CLS	1
	30	Tues	YORKSHIRE VIKINGS	Trent Bridge	0
June	2	Fri	WORCESTERSHIRE RAPIDS	Trent Bridge	2
	3	Sat	Bears	Edgbaston	0
	4	Sun	LANCASHIRE LIGHTNING	Trent Bridge	0
	8	Thurs	DURHAM	Trent Bridge	3
	9	Fri	Derbyshire Falcons	Derby	0
	18	Sun	Northamptonshire Steelbacks	Wantage Road	3
	20	Tues	Leicestershire Foxes	Grace Road	1
	22	Fri	Worcestershire Rapids	New Road	1
	30	Fri	BEARS	Trent Bridge	1
July	2	Sun	LEICESTERSHIRE FOXES	Trent Bridge	1