05/09
Day 4
ENTERTAINMENT!
WAKE ME UP WHEN THERE'S SOME MEANINGFUL CRICKET
As expected, the Leicestershire game yesterday ended as a draw with Notts taking 15 points out of the fixture. They now lie second in the championship table four points behind new leaders Somerset. Warwickshire lie in third place, one point behind Notts. The game was alive for the first 71 minutes of play. Once the Foxes had avoided the follow on, the game shut down as a spectacle with endless overs of spin and batsmen obtaining runs in the most easiest of circumstances possible. The comatose pitch winning the day.
Notts started the day hunting two wickets in five overs to obtain the last bowling point. It took Notts 28 balls to claim their first wicket. Pennington (Radcliffe Road End) obtained his fifth wicket having Holland (6) caught by Patterson-White at first slip, 259 for 8 off 109.4 overs. Notts though failed to get the last bowling point with Scriven keeping out the final two balls of Pennington's over. Leicestershire 259 for 8 off 110 overs.
Ironically, Cox (15) was dismissed off the very next delivery lbw to Giles, 259 for 9. Davey edged his first delivery off Giles through the vacant third slip position. But this was as close as Notts got to removing the last pair during the “active” phase of the day as Scriven and Davey scored the 43 runs they required to save the follow on. Stone came on for the 114th over. Patterson-White replaced Giles for the 117th over. At 11:41 an offside single for Scriven off Stone took Leicestershire to 302 in the 122nd over and the game was over as a contest. None of the front-line seamers bowled again in the innings. Sheat replaced Stone for the 124th over with the 50-partnership coming up in 83 balls. McCann came on for the 134th over. Lunch was delayed 30 minutes with Leicestershire 9 wickets down. Scriven got to his 50 off 119 balls with a four through fine leg off Patterson-White in the 145th over. Haynes came on for the 147th over and bowled a single over for six runs with the 100-stand coming up in 221 balls. Leicestershire 361 for 9 off 148 overs at lunch with Scriven on 52 and Davey on 47.
A lot of crowd had drifted away by the time the players reappeared at 13:40. At 14:00, Scriven finally fell lbw to McCann for 54. The last wicket stand had added 106 runs in 45 overs. It was highest 10th wicket stand for Leicestershire v Notts beating the 89 added by Ben Mike and Will Davis at Grace Road in 2022. Leicestershire 365 all out off 155.1 overs. Davey 49 not out. Pennington 5 for 49. Notts led by 86 runs.
Leicestershire minus three on the over rate opened with spinners Rehan Ahmed and Rishi Patel opened the and never turned to their seamers with Hameed and McCann having a gentle net in the middle. The 50 partnership was achieved in the 15th over. Hameed reached his 50 off 63 balls after hitting Patel for successive fours in the 22nd over. Notts got to tea on 100 for 0 off 25 overs with Hameed on 66 and McCann on 34. Leicestershire had bowled their overs in 58 minutes, the over rate deduction easily erased.
They sped through a further 16 overs in 50 minutes after tea. McCann departed off the first delivery after the interval caught at slip by Holland off Patel for 34, 100 for 1 in the 26th over. The fourth and last wicket to fall on the day. It was Patel's fourth first class wicket in 70 appearances - taken @91.50. It summed up the farce of the contest. Verreynne, who now flies home to a South African training camp was promoted to number three.
In the 30th over, Hameed hit the sole six of the day off Patel over square leg. In the 36th over, Hameed got to his ton off 109 balls with a four off Patel. The real part timers (Shaikh and Gumbs) then came on. The game which had been on a life support machine since 11:41 was finally put out of its torpor at 16:21 with Notts 178 for 1 off 41 overs with Hameed with an average boosting 109 and Verreynne, in his last innings for Notts, 35 not out. That's entertainment, that's entertainment...
La la la la la la!
Notts have only won one home game out of five this season with the games against Warwickshire, Surrey and Leicestershire all being played on strips that have got increasingly flatter after repeated use of the heavy roller. The pitches against Hampshire and Yorkshire have to more helpful for bowlers for Notts to have a realistic chance of retaining the championship for the first time since 1886. MAG
04/09
Day 3
NIGHTWATCHMAN HULL FRUSTRATES NOTTSOn an attritional day Leicestershire frustrated Notts by adding 227 runs for the loss of five wickets in 92.3 overs. They still trail Notts by 201 runs with three first innings wickets standing.
After heavy overnight rain play commenced at 11:15 with a further 12 overs lost, making it a 92.3 over day. Notts were hoping to make early inroads into the Foxes batting card but despite beating the bat early doors the overnight pair of Rehan Ahmed and nightwatchman Josh Hull batted out the 21.3 over session adding 50 runs. Pennington (Pavilion End) and Stone opened up and with the score on 50-2 off 23 overs. Hutton and Sheat came on but it was now clear that the wicket had got considerably slower and taking wickets with the older ball would become somewhat challenging. Patterson-White came on for the 32nd over. Leicestershire 73 for 2 off 34 overs with Hull on 14 and Rehan on 37.
Sheat and Stone were bowling after lunch. Patterson-White came on for the 41st over. Pennington replaced Stone for the 44th over with Rehan reaching his 50 off 86 balls via a single. In the 45th over, Hull hit Patterson-White for six over mid-wicket. Rehan (54 off 93 balls, 7x4) edged Pennington to Patterson-White at first slip; 110 for 3 in the 46th over. The third wicket had added 87 runs in 33.2 overs. Any hope that this would lead to a clatter of wickets was extinguished as it took Notts a further 37.2 overs to take the next Foxes wicket.
A two for Hull off Hutton in the 54th over took him past his previous first-class best of 35 not out made at Canterbury last summer. Hull though clearly has a good defence, having in early May scored a 42-ball 7 not out and 37-ball 0 not out against Notts. He has now faced 326 balls this summer against Notts with an average of 104!
Hutton replaced Pennington for the 54th over. In the 57th over, Hull hit Patterson-White for six over mid-wicket. In his following over, Patterson-White had Hull on 44 dropped by Verreynne behind the stumps. Hutton, struggling with a leg injury, was only given two overs being replaced by Sheat. The Kiwi looked completely innocuous on the slow flat deck. McCann came on for Patterson-White for the 63rd over with Hull reaching his 50 off 158 balls via a two. Patterson-White replaced Sheat for the 66th over. Leicestershire 159 for 3 off 69 overs at tea with Hull on 59 and Shaikh on 19. Notts’ hopes of making further incisions appeared to rest with the new ball. Hutton pulled out of the game during the interval and was replaced by 20-year-old Scunthorpe right-arm seamer Tom Giles who was thus making his first-class debut. Giles himself has missed three months of cricket this summer due to a back injury and only came back to second team cricket a fortnight ago.
Notts stuck with McCann and Patterson-White after tea. Hameed then turned to Giles for the 75th over. Giles, not the tallest of bowlers, had impressed playing against Surrey in the Metro Cup game last August pitching the ball up with his skiddy action. In the 80th over, Shaikh swept Patterson-White for six over square leg. Stone and Pennington took the new ball with Leicestershire 198 for 3 off 81 overs. As was the hope, the new ball changed the dynamic of the game with Leicestershire losing 4 wickets for 40 to keep Notts’ now faint hopes of victory alive.
Shaikh (39) was caught by Haynes diving to his right at third slip off Stone, 204 for 4 in the 84th over. Hull was dropped on 90 in the 87th over- a difficult return catch to Pennington low to his left. Slater, who had been off the field during the middle session, had a recurrence of his nagging hamstring injury trying to stop a four through third man by Hull off Stone in the 88th over and went off injured. Giles replaced Pennington for the 89th over and started to get the new ball to wobble and picked up his first two first-class wickets during an impressive seven over spell from the Pavilion End. Pennington replaced Stone for the 92nd over. Hull, who batted so stubbornly during his 247-ball 97 (10x4, 2x6) was lbw to Pennington; 233 for 5 in the 92nd over. He rode his luck at times but deserved a ton. Pennington who worked tirelessly throughout the Leicestershire innings currently has figures of 19-5-42-4.
Kelly was dropped on 15 by McCann at second slip off Giles but next ball Giles, coming in from round the wicket, bowled him off stump as he shouldered arms, 233 for 6 in the 93rd over. Stone returned for the 98th over. Eskinazi (5) was lbw to Giles, 244 for 7 in the 99th over. Holland survived a run out attempt by Hameed (positioned at mid-off) after Cox went for a quick single to the skipper off Giles in the 101st over. Sheat and Patterson-White came back for the 102nd and 103rd overs respectively but experienced pair Cox (9*) and Holland (3*) saw Leicestershire to the close at 18:22. Leicestershire 250-7 off 105 overs. Notts have five overs to collect 2 wickets and gain the last bowling point. Leicestershire need 52 to avoid the follow-on.
Leicestershire will be happy with the draw, although with Surrey winning, will be hoping that they do not lose the points gained following their recent victory over Glamorgan on a two-tone pitch at Grace Road. Notts now lie third in the table following Somerset and Warwickshire’s victories today. Losing an equivalent of a day’s play from this crucial match could not have happened at a worst time particularly after completely dominating the rain curtailed match at Edgbaston last week. MAG
03/09
Day 2
TONS FOR HAYNES AND PATTERSON-WHITE ON NEAR PERFECT DAY FOR NOTTS
After yesterday's near wash out this was a wonderful day for Notts, Leicestershire closing with a deficit of 428 runs with 8 first innings wickets standing.
Today was a much better day weatherwise with warm sunshine until mid-afternoon when it clouded over somewhat.
Notts got off to a circumspect start against Davey and Holland. In the 18th over, Slater (15), with little foot movement, was caught behind by Cox off Holland, 54 for 1. In the following over and without addition to the score, Hameed (39) was lbw to Davey. Clarke and McCann provided some acceleration. Scriven came on for the 23rd over - the first bowling change of the innings. Hull came on for the 26th over. McCann (17) was adjudged lbw to a swinging Hull delivery which was drifting towards leg side, 94 for 3 in the 30th over. Clarke and Haynes added 41 in 10.3 overs for the 4th wicket. A single for Haynes off Scriven took Notts to 100 in the 31st over. Davey and Holland returned for the 37th and 38th overs respectively. On the stroke of the interval, Clarke (37) was bowled by a Davey delivery that kept low, 135 for 4 off 40.1 overs with Haynes on 20. Lunch was immediately taken. Leicestershire's morning - Notts losing 4 wickets for 93 runs in 29.4 overs.
Notts looked to be heading for a disappointing total when ten minutes after lunch Verreynne (8) was caught at second slip low down to his left by Gumbs off Davey, 143 for 5 in the 43rd over. The game then turned on its head with Haynes (159 off 183 balls, 17x4, 1x6) and Patterson-White (111* off 173 balls, 7x4, 1x6) added 257 in exhilarating fashion for the sixth wicket in 51.1 overs. It was the fifth highest partnership for that wicket in the club’s history. Patterson-White seems to save his best innings to pressurised situations and hit the ball extremely cleanly in what was his third first-class ton.
Scriven returned for the 49th over replacing Davey. Hull made way for Holland for the 52nd over. With the ball getting older, batting was getting easier. Both batsmen were taking advantage of the short Bridgford Road boundary. The 50 partnership between Haynes and Patterson-White came up in 70 balls. Rehan came on for the 55th over. Haynes reached his 50 off 79 balls with a single off Rehan in the 57th over. Notts got to 200 via a two for Patterson-White in the same over. Notts were now accelerating. Haynes hit Rehan for six over mid-wicket; 12 off the 63rd over. The 100 partnership came up in 128 balls in the 64th over. A single for Patterson-White off Scriven took Notts to 250 in the 66th over. Davey came on for the 67th over and conceded 10 runs. Scriven also went for 10 off the following over, boundaries for both batsmen with Patterson-White reaching his 50 off 81 balls. Hull returned for the 70th over. Haynes reached his third championship ton of 2026 off 118 balls in the last over before tea with a four through mid-wicket off Hull. Notts 293 for 5 off 72 overs at the second interval with Haynes on 104 and Patterson-White on 62.
Notts smashed the demoralised Foxes attack for 158 runs in 27.5 overs after tea. Rishi Patel came on for the 74th over and went for 23 in 4 overs. The Notts 300 came up in the 76th over. The new ball was taken with Notts 328 for 5 off 80 overs. The 200 partnership came up in 247 balls in the 84th over which went for 11 runs plus a leg bye - Patterson-White hitting Hull for six over square leg with Notts reaching 350. Davey bowled two no balls in the following over with another 11 runs added to the Notts total. Holland and Scriven came back for the 87th and 88th overs respectively. Haynes hit Scriven for four through mid-wicket and next ball got to his 150 off 164 balls with a cover driven four; 11 off the 88th over. The 250 partnership came up in 304 balls with a four through extra cover off Scriven in the 93rd over. Next over, a four through mid-wicket by Patterson-White off Scriven took him to 100 off 163 balls. A single by Patterson-White off Scriven next ball took Notts to 400. Haynes was then out caught at wide third man by Davey off Scriven for a magnificent career best 159, 400 for 6. It beat his 157 versus Somerset at Taunton last season. Haynes has scored 791 runs @52.73 in the 2026 championship.
Rehan came back for the 97th over and Sheat (15) hit him for six over mid-wicket but departed two balls later caught behind by Cox off Rehan; 422 for 7. Hull came back for the 98th over and went for 13 - Hutton hitting him for three consecutive fours. Hutton hit Rehan for six over mid-wicket, five balls later Hutton hit the leg-spinner for four through mid-wicket; 12 off the 99th over. Hutton (26) was caught at mid-off by Holland off Hull and Notts immediately declared on 451 for 8 off 99.5 overs with Patterson-White on 111 not out. Five batting points for Notts. Davey was the Foxes best bowler with 3-88. Rehan had a disappointing day going for 70 off his 12 overs and Hull despite picking up two wickets went at 5.15 per over.
Leicestershire had 13 overs to bat with Hutton (Pavilion End) and Stone sharing the new ball. With Leicestershire 17 for 0 off 8 overs Pennington and Sheat replaced Hutton and Stone. Rishi Patel (9) edged Pennington to McCann who took the catch low down at second slip; 18 for 1 in the 11th over. At 18:42, Pennington, bowling the last over of the day, ended a perfect day for Notts bowling Gumbs (10) off stump via a well-pitched up delivery. Leicestershire 23 for 2 off 12.3 overs with nightwatchman Hull on 4. With Somerset and Warwickshire both heading for huge victories, Notts have got to keep up the good work over the next two days. It will be hard work. Davey who has opened in first-class cricket is now down at number 11 on the batting card! MAG
02/09
Day 1
NUISANCE LIGHT RAIN HOLDS-UP PLAY
It was a frustrating day for Notts; only 63 balls were possible in the miserable drizzly conditions at Trent Bridge today.After morning rain play commenced at 1330 with 29 overs lost.
Leicestershire won the toss and elected to bowl. Slater and Hutton returned to the Eleven replacing James and Martindale. Davey (Radcliffe Road End) bowled the opening over. Hameed hit the first delivery for four through third man and then leg glanced the fifth ball to the fine leg boundary. He ran a single off the last ball of the over which took him to 9,000 first-class runs. Rain then stopped play at 1334 with Notts 9 for 0 off 1 over with Hameed on 9 and Slater on 0.
Patchy rain persisted with slate grey clouds overhead.
Play recommenced at 1625 with a further 40 overs lost. The light was marginal throughout the 41 minutes of play. Hameed hit the second ball of the restart bowled by Holland for four through third man. Both openers looked relatively comfortable at the crease with Davey and Holland bowling unchanged.
Bad light stopped play at 1706 with Notts 42 for 0 off 10.3 overs with Hameed on 32 and Slater on 14. Play was called off for the day 24 minutes later.
The forecast tomorrow is much better with 104 overs on offer. MAG
01/09
The announced squad:
Ben Slater
It seems so long since Notts last played a match at its own HQ: 36 days since comfortably dispatching the Foxes in the one day cup and a wapping 79 days since the championship thrashing given to us by Somerset back in mid-June.
So what's happened since then? Nothing, we're stilll top of the pile in a challenging position to successfully defend the title; and loads have changed: we're lost our premium overseas strike bowler (O'Neill) and a succession of other overseas bowlers brought in for other compeitions, we now a have a promising Kiwi in shape of Fraser Sheat, we've had injuries to key players such as Slater, Haynes and James with not all are back in convincing fine fettle yet, Ben Martindale has made a steps in right direction towards stepping-up at last to the senior side filling more than one gap potentially, the strong cohesive unit / squad has bonded even more tightly under The General's guidance in the Metro Bank competition through adversity resulting in recent strong away wins in the championship (at Essex and Surrey), the club has lost its CEO poached away/driven away to Old Trafford but his legacy of multi-tier memberships dividing the club's members remains in place, the summer's drought has broken big time (no Minister for Drought required this time), Olly Stone has risen to the fore with the best form he's seen in many a year (perhaps since his Northants days) and Joe Clarke has become the first player this season to reach the thousand run milestone.
The Title three horse race is still a three horse race with this round;
Somerset hosting Glamorgan and the Bears travelling to a resurgent, basement dwellers Hampshire.
The Notts squad is likely to include:
(Ben Slater)
The bracketed players didn't play last time out with there being a suggestion of rotation of the bowlers happening, so Stone or Pennington could have their feet-up this week as Hutton was rested last week.
83 NOT OUT
ReplyDeleteNo doubt Hutton and Stone appreciated an extra days rest , with hopefully another one today . Somerset and Warw look well set for a big points haul .
Notts have to really apply themselves and score 100/110 runs for each of today’s sessions . Would be nice to go into the third day with 400+ runs on the board . Looks like a full days play will be possible in all today’s matches.
Will it be Clarke yet again today who rises to the occasion .? Or will Captain H come really good and score a big hundred?
Very interesting days play ahead .
Both Notts and Leicester need points playing catch-up at either end of the table. There should be no Graham Dilleys or Harry Dallyings today and for the rest of the match, hopefully. But, looking out of the window now at 8.50AM, it's raining - forecast gives 10% chance of precipitation, so I guess I'm just unlucky here.
DeleteDoes anyone know what the hours of play are for the rest of the match? Are there going to be extended sessions to try and claw back some of the lost time.
ReplyDeleteJon
200 overs left - 104 tomorrow and 96 on Saturday
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