MATCH PREVIEW: Nottinghamshire v Lancashire
Lancashire travel to the East Midlands to face a newly promoted Nottinghamshire side who have won one and lost two so far to begin their first Division One campaign since 2019.
Nottinghamshire v Lancashire
LV= Insurance County Championship, Division One
Trent Bridge
Thursday May 4 - Sunday May 7, 2023 (11am)
Notts sit seventh, level on 29 points with Lancashire, who are eighth in the early table having drawn all three games so far - the latest being against Somerset at Taunton the week before last.
Amidst the battle for points, and ultimately prizes, this fixture should see a meeting of England’s two leading wicket-takers in Test Match Cricket, the new ball partnership of Stuart Broad and Jimmy Anderson.
Between them, they have taken 1,261 Test wickets and sit inside the top five wicket-takers of all time. In fact, no other fast bowlers have taken more than Anderson (685) and Broad (576).
Opponents:
Since being relegated from Division One in 2019, Nottinghamshire have had to be patient for another bite at the top-flight cherry in the Championship.
Coronavirus forced a couple of years of Conference based cricket - one under the guise of the Bob Willis Trophy in 2020 and then in the Championship in 2021.
Last summer, they were promoted as the champions of Division Two, winning eight of their 14 matches. It was success for the county’s leadership duo of coach Peter Moores and captain Steven Mullaney, the ex-Red Rose pair.
There is, of course, a further Lancashire flavour to the Notts team in the form of batter Haseeb Hameed, who has so far scored two fifties in three matches and should open the batting with current England Test opener Ben Duckett.
South African overseas seamer Dane Paterson is their leading wicket-taker with 13.
Notts lost their season opener at Hampshire before beating Somerset at Trent Bridge. Last time out, they lost out in a thrilling finish to Middlesex at Lord’s.
Middlesex chased 249 in the final 40 overs of the match to win by four wickets. It was a finish Broad said was a privilege to be involved in, despite defeat.
Like Lancashire, Notts have since had a week’s break from Championship action.
Opposing player to watch:
Haseeb Hameed, the England fringe opener and the captain of the Lions, is playing a different way to what Lancashire fans would have seen from him during his time at Emirates Old Trafford.
Before being released and signing for Nottinghamshire at the end of 2019, his first-class batting was built on defence and wearing down bowlers.
Now, he has become more expansive to fall in line with England’s attacking brand of Test Cricket.
For example, in a winter three-day friendly between the England senior team and his Lions side in the UAE in late November, he scored 145 off 172 balls. Ironically, he was trapped lbw by Jimmy Anderson.
Hameed, 26-years-old, has posted 217 runs in the opening three Championship matches of the season, including scores of 65 and 55.
What they said:
Tom Bailey has spoken of a satisfying start to Lancashire’s season, admitting of this week’s trip to Nottingham: “If we can get a win, we’d have taken that start (to the summer).”
The county’s leading wicket-taker with 12 across the first three rounds of the Championship believes he and his team-mates have been unrewarded for their endeavours.
In two of the draws, Lancashire have driven the game and been the ones searching for the win - at Essex and at Somerset. In the opening round against Surrey at home, they had to battle back during the second half of the fixture to avoid defeat.
“We’re playing better cricket each week as we go on,” said the new ball seamer, 32.
“We went to Somerset wanting to win the game, but I don’t think Somerset did. They seemed happy with a draw on a flat wicket. That’s just the way it is.
“It felt like we were pretty dominant at Taunton. We’d have liked a few more runs with our middle order, but it felt like we were the guys on top for most of the game.
“We’ve played on three decent wickets, and it’s been tough trying to force a result.”
On this week’s fixture, Bailey added: “It will be a tough game - Notts have got a strong side. But hopefully it’s a result wicket and we can manage to get our first win on the board.
“We’d have liked to have had a couple of wins on the board already, but the lads are playing pretty strong cricket. I feel like we’re going in the right direction.”
How’s Stat!
Jimmy Anderson has a stunning first-class record at Trent Bridge, claiming 86 wickets there at an average of 18.19 with eight five-wicket hauls and two 10-wicket matches.
Anderson’s 18.19 average at Trent Bridge is his lowest at any venue at which he has taken more than 50 wickets.
He has, for example, taken 177 first-class wickets at Emirates Old Trafford at 22.84.
Seventy three of Anderson’s wickets at Trent Bridge have come in Test Matches for England, the other 13 across two Championship appearances for Lancashire against Notts.
Unfortunately for Anderson and England, there is no Ashes Test at Trent Bridge this summer.