NO SODHI AND PERHAPS NOBODY
- 13:22, 4 MAR 2019
Nottinghamshire may not sign a second overseas Twenty20 player this summer after investing heavily in the squad last summer.
Notts signed Ben Duckett, Joe Clarke, Ben Slater and Zak Chappell late last season as they looked to revamp their squad.
With a budget in place, the club will now prioritise signing a 'world class' overseas player to strengthen a side which collapsed in the County Championship in the final weeks of last season.
They are also mindful of the players coming through, such as Matt Carter, who broke into the England Lions squad this summer.
The club, who made a profit of £908,000 for the year ending last September, are keen to ensure young talent is able to get a chance in a T20 side which will be among the favourites to lift the Blast trophy again.
"T20 second overseas is very much up in the air. We'll see how much we spend on the Championship and 50-over overseas and go from there," director of cricket Mick Newell said.
"We invested heavily in the squad last year. We knew that would impact on this year.
"We've decided the Championship overseas is the priority. A second T20 overseas is possible but not definite.
"We're aware we don't want to block off certain players who are doing well and getting into the Lions set-up.
"We are conscious of giving opportunities to improving players. We feel the four day side needs the most strengthening.
"We see that format as the most important."
Australian all-rounder Dan Christian, one of the most established T20 stars in the world, will be back once again to complete the second and final year of his current deal. He is set to captain the side.
However, Notts are yet to speak to New Zealand leg spinner Ish Sodhi, who has spent the last two summers at Trent Bridge. They are yet to speak to any players.
They are instead focusing on their search for a player to join the club in mid-March for approximately the first three months of the season in four-day and 50 over cricket.
An Australian Ashes contender could be a fruitful line of inquiry with the club keen to bring back fast bowler James Pattinson, if he is fit and made available by Cricket Australia following a string of serious back problems.
Pattinson had a sensational spell at Notts in 2017, but has not played since January 10, when he suffered a side strain in the Big Bash. He is reportedly in line to play for Victoria in their second Sheffield Shield match next month.
"Yes, Australians are always attractive because of the quality of cricketers and availability. It's a market we're scouring definitely," Newell said.
"James Pattinson would be right near the top of our list if fit and availability. He's not played for a while so we've got to monitor him.
"With James, it will come down to Cricket Australia as much as anything.
"We tend to look at who the player is. We get a list of who is available.
"If they're world class we don't mind if they bat, bowl or both."
Pattinson could lead a formidable attack if he were to return. Stuart Broad could play in around seven Championship games, while England seamer Jake Ball is fit again.
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T10 Good or Bad Idea?
It's got several England players cashing-in in UAE but is the T10 tournament format a good idea or not?
Alex Hales 87* from 32
Jonny Bairstow 84* from 24
Derby's Hardus Viljoen 2-0-6-3
Is it better or worse than The 100?
It makes me shudder, but I think it is better than the Hundred in that the laws of our game, like 6 ball overs remain intact. I am losing count, does that mean our sport now has 5 formats ?
ReplyDeleteYes, Richard I agree, as daft as it sounds I think T10 is better than the new incarnation as it still resembles cricket as we know it and Sunday league games(remember, they were played on a Sunday once upon a time)when rain hit sometimes were played as a 10over slog anyway.
DeleteAs much as I dislike T10 I would much prefer it to the proposed Hundred. In fact it could have been slotted in much easier, not disrupted the county game’s already over crowded schedule, and at a very minimal cost unlike the millions shelled out to people outside the game etc to launch the Hundred. It would have satisfied at a stroke both terrestrial TV and those who want and see a need for an even shorter format.
ReplyDeleteHow many more formats are they going to spew out at us?? It'll be a 5 over competition next.
ReplyDeleteYes, the DoC is right, but, we also offloaded Wessells, Fraine, Milns, Root&Kitt off the wage bill, though we assume and hope only Wessells was on the sort of contract our new recruits will have demanded? Surely, our red ball overseas will not demand the sky high wages that would mean we could not afford a second one in the blast? All a bit concerning really. The main problem last year was very little competition for places due to a small squad, do not fancy us to get past the quarters stage in T20 without a second top class batter/spin option
ReplyDeleteThey had a problem, so they threw money at it. Problem solved?
DeleteA good leggy in T20 does seem to be a prerequisite for a successful T20 side. It could be suggested that Sodhi did as well as could be expected, playing half our games on the dolls house TB and we did win it in 2017 with him.
Carter is a different kind of bowler. He bowled well in the Cup last season, esp against Bears when the others were getting mashed but he has to get his chance in 2019.
Yes, Sodhi did a decent job considering half of his games were at TB. However, assuming reports are correct he is very expensive for someone who does not win that many games with his bowling, like an Imran Tahir or Rashid Khan etc. I'm very curious as to who this world class overseas target is(as our DoC put it)who may drain the budget and leave us without the possibility of a second in T20. Patto would have come into that category but there are not that many else now who want to play red ball. The days of Greenidge, Richards and Hadlee etc have sadly gone forever.
Delete