2015 Season Countdown Preview Part 3

As the lucky few depart on their trip to the sun in Barbados and the World Cup trundles on in Australia and New Zealand; thoughts and hopes for the approaching cricket season in England increase.

Last year; June 2014 continued with the D of C’s plans unravelling due to injuries and International call-ups but also with a Championship win over Somerset at Trent Bridge by 7 wickets, guided to victory by Phil Jacques and Notts were up to third in the table. T20 fortunes were on the up too with a home win over Yorkshire Vikings in a low scoring match which also took Outlaws to third place in the Northern division. Jacques accidently had become intrinsic to the team in both the long and the short game and hopes were that his stay would be extended further.

In Jacques’ final game for Notts at Edgbaston, he and the other top order batters scored well but the side now hampered by a lack of penetrative bowling were unable to dismiss the home side in the fourth innings and lost the game but ended the game top of the Championship league table. Jacques then departed these shores with a promise to return in 2015 (later dashed by a better offer in his homeland). A match at the same venue in the shortest format resulted in another Outlaws win, Steven Mullaney filling the opener role in the absence of Lumb and the departed Australian.

As Trent Bridge became a Test venue, Nottinghamshire moved to Liverpool and returned with a narrow one wicket win; Harry Gurney the surprise batting hero. Unlike the Trent Bridge Test, the encounter at Aigburth was a thrilling nail-biter with edge of your seat tension as Michael Lumb returned to enjoy the win.

Mid- July saw Jake Libby arrive on the scene with bang, but in the Seconds; scoring 264 not out over the two innings. Luke Wood also took 10 wickets in the same match against Warwickshire Seconds.

With squad held together by sellotape another big crowd saw the Outlaws beat Foxes to put Notts almost into the quarter finals of the T20 Blast with just the matter a couple of away fixtures to negotiate. The first was a bruising battle with the Vikings at Headingley where Notts chased down their target of 201, securing a home tie for the quarter final in the process against Hampshire.

As with English cricket; when one completion is almost over, it’s time to start another one. The One Day Cup, on paper looked to be Outlaws’ cup of tea; players like James Taylor being well suited to the 50 overs format. The new competition replacing the more spectator friendly 40 over format that Notts had won in 2013 was reintroduced to enhance England’s chances in ODIs and World Cups. Reflecting today when England have just been dumped out of the World Cup 2015 by Bangladesh, makes a mockery of the whole situation. It’s clear that the World has moved on whilst in England we’re still in Benson and Hedges mode, happy to chuff along at 5 runs per over for the duration of an innings without much injection of brutality in key stages, unlike, say Australia, India or South Africa.  Oddly, long standing players within the England set-up only play list A cricket playing in ODIs and appear to have been by-passed by all of the innovations coming out of the opposition’s dressing rooms.  The bludgeoning power of the senior nations can’t have been a surprise but unfortunately England have been totally out-gunned by Australia, New Zealand and Sri Lanka in this World Cup.

Peter Moores and Paul Downton have set themselves up at the start of their tenure and now the wolves are circling. Agnew wants someone like Stephen Fleming brought in, “it’s time someone non-English took the reins”, Jason Gillespie denies that he has been approached, Alec Stewart and Alan Butcher are singing in harmony “you don’t know what you’re doing” to the pair at Lord’s and all the time Geoffrey Boycott is baying for blood whilst the spectre of KP’s shadow hangs long and foreboding over the proceedings.