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Nottinghamshire used 19 players during the CC2 campaign in 2017. Of those 19, only 9 would be expected to be available for Notts duty for an entire 2018 season either because they have subsequently left the club or have a likelihood that England will take their services elsewhere at some point of the season.
The two newbies then only brings the staff up to eleven that might have considered to have 100% availability but then again PC must have International ambitions too, so again we are only at threadbare resources level, throw in a few injuries - like LF or MF aren't going to be sidelined through injury at least once over a season - and then we are short staffed!
Questions before 2018.
After a season of success on the field in 2017, although with a touch of fortune with regards to getting over the line of promotion (by virtue of Northants' points deduction), the future holds several unanswered questions:
- Will Tom Moores be given Readie's gloves in all formats?
- Will the obvious successor, Steven Mullaney, be the next club captain?
- Who will replace the experience of Michael Lumb at 3/4/5?
- Who will come in for Brendan Taylor in similar order positions?
- Who will lead the bowling attack if James Pattinson isn't to return?
- Who will replace the bowling consistence of Brett Hutton in the second half of 2018?
Rumours surrounding Sam Billings and Luke Wright proved to be mutterings around smoking shelters held together with duck tape, so who will come into the squad from outside those that were already available in 2017?
Who is available, now that counties are in a holding pattern until after 2019, waiting to see what the new City Franchise claptrap landscape will offer?
From within, Billy Root might be the answer to one of the vacant slots in the higher order but not both and if the other is Tom Moores, then that would require both to make dramatic leaps forward over the winter to be ready for Division 1. Of course Luke Fletcher will be back and Mark Footitt will in theory be here, probably, perhaps, maybe, but a blend of bowlers capable of taking 20 wickets per match needs to be formulated. Will Paul Coughlin be the answer beyond white ball cricket?
Peter Moores is a fantastic coach at County level, but can he work miracles? Another Andre Adams and Ali Brown is perhaps what will be needed to make us competitive in the CC1, but do they exist and are they without a current contract?
Perhaps a clue to the intention of the club re Mullaney is in the length of contract he has signed. He can certainly do the job and given the lack of an obvious alternative elsewhere in the club maybe that is the way the club sees the future.
ReplyDeleteAs to others joining the club ... Well it's November today and so far we have signed one player to fill one of the obvious gaps in our playing staff . I know signing players can be a long drawn out affair but other teams seem to manage it rather quicker than we have .Hopefully Mick and co have a few surprises in store for us ..,We certainly need them !!
Chris Nash fills one available berth, but is he still a T20 player? Do we need someone for T20 in that BT role that won us the Final?
DeleteNot the marquee opening batsman I was hoping for. Hope I'm proved wrong, but doubt I will be.
DeleteAt the moment,there are more questions than answers
ReplyDeleteNash's recent record would suggest he will be more useful to Notts in limited overs cricket.
By my reckoning, we need one more batsman and two bowlers
(one of which will be an overseas signing)
If Gurney is largely innocuous again and Footitt spends most of his time on the treatment table and Jake Ball is on international duty then who is going to take the wickets?.
Pattinson, more than any other bowler, helped to propel Notts up into the top tier.
With the news today that is he about to undergo major surgery to repair his chronic back condition,it seems highly unlikely that he will be spearheading our attack next season.
I expect Notts to bid for Morkel if he decides to turn his back on international cricket.
"There are More Questions than Answers" was indeed a great record by Johnny Nash
ReplyDeleteIt depends on your age if you consider 1972 to be recent, or not.
DeleteBut with google at everyone's finger tips at least we all have a chance of being in on the clever quip, old or young.
Oh I have the benefit of having the single still in my collection somewhere....which indeed places me in the older bracket
ReplyDeleteEnough of Popmaster gents back to the cricket! I see on cricinfo that cracks are already appearing in BT’s (and Jarvis of Lancs) Zimbabwe dreams! Enticed back into international cricket by Cricket Zimbabwe on presumably a quite lucrative deal he has apparently been told because of cash flow problems he will, along with others, only be getting around 50% of his wages for the immediate future. Let’s hope he bought a return ticket.
ReplyDeleteAm I alone in hoping that Andre Russell returns to Notts next season after his one year ban for non-compliance with dope-testing procedures?
ReplyDeleteWhat he offered in 2016 was certainly more committed than the efforts of Pujara and Sodhi who can disappear without trace as far as I'm concerned.
bws
Chris S
As a now non Notts member, objective view of chances in the CC ? Although a fine 1 day side, Notts in 4 dayers have exciting, but flaky batting, "samy" pace attack & no spin threat. Essex, Lancashire & Surrey strong; Hants, Yorks, Worcester, Somerset fair. Notts will struggle
ReplyDelete